The “traditional” workplace model is changing rapidly. Lengthy commutes, dreary office cubicles, and water cooler conversations are slowly becoming a distant memory for many of us.
Remote and hybrid work opportunities have increased globally over the last two years. Since the onset of the pandemic, 61% of employees who have a physical workplace to go to say they prefer to keep working from home.
With this sudden reshaping of the way we work, it raises the question – what will the future of work look like?
The recent Apple TV series, Severance, paints a bleak picture of the future workplace where humanity is completely stripped away.
The office is now somewhere that only gives its employees brief (and scheduled) glimpses of compassion. It also requires the literal severing of people’s brains with an implant to ensure they only focus on work related tasks during work hours. They have no access to any people or memories that exist outside of the office.
It’s a creepy thought, and yet…somehow…possible?
So let’s take a look at how organizations can create and maintain a core focus on humanity, empathy, wellbeing, and compassion in the workplace – and avoid heading towards a disconnected, dystopian work future.
You might never have thought your workplace could (or would) end up fully remote or hybrid, or that your employees and contractors could work happily and productively from anywhere around the world – but that’s now a reality. And it’s not about to change.
With remote work and distributed team members in the workplace mix, it’s more important than ever to ensure your workers feel appreciated, understood, and valued as people.
Things you’ll need to think about:
Creating a human-focused work culture means it’s essential for you to develop a safe space with open lines of communication and plenty of feedback opportunities. And it’s even more critical that your employees feel comfortable about opening up and sharing the things that matter to them.
These cornerstones of empathy and compassion are critical for the wellbeing of the humans that work with you, to help your organization grow and thrive.
Creating a culture of feedback is an effective way of staying in touch with how your employees feel about their role, their work, your company, and their own wellbeing – all of which are connected and can affect engagement and productivity levels.
When people receive ongoing feedback, especially at a one-on-one level, they’re able to grow faster and produce their best work.
A comprehensive feedback strategy can take many forms, such as company-wide feedback, employee experience feedback, and developmental feedback.
Feedback should be gathered at every stage of your employee’s journey with your organization, from their onboarding to exit – so you can understand how people perceive your workplace at the different stages of their employment.
Simple processes like running regular employee experience surveys can help you:
Collecting this feedback isn’t enough though. You’ll need to figure out how to interpret the feedback you receive, and then take the appropriate steps to improve your work environment.
Ensuring open lines of communication throughout your employee journey is essential. Do your employees know that they have support channels in their workplace if needed, and do they feel safe about opening up about any problems and challenges they might be facing?
Creating these lines of communication and offering “safe spaces” for your workers to discuss health, work, or personal issues can help pinpoint problems like burnout, depression, and isolation earlier in the picture before they become a greater problem.
It’s helpful for potential employees and new hires to see that your organization has clear internal policies that demonstrate empathy and compassion at the outset.
When companies are invested in the wellbeing of their workers, it benefits the organization as a whole. If you have a holistic picture of your workforce’s wellbeing, you can use this information to both improve the lives of every employee, and reach your company goals faster.
Looking after your employees’ wellbeing means they will be:
With today’s work landscape being more competitive than ever, investing in your employees’ wellbeing can boost your reputation as a great place to work, and reduce your employee turnover.
Based in San Francisco, the Worksuite team is composed of a diverse group of people who are focused on building a great product, and creating a better work environment together.
Our company mission and core values center around our “3F Cultural Core Principles” – which work together to ensure the ongoing engagement, creativity, and wellbeing of our team.
At Worksuite, we keep a firm focus on the wellbeing of the people who are part of our awesome teams.
A family-first policy is a core part of our workplace. We’re also strong advocates for remote work, and we nurture a culture of mutual understanding and respect for each other.
We always encourage our team members to practice regular self-care, and also to extend that care to their loved ones, and to their local communities.
At Worksuite, we firmly believe that only when you are mentally, physically, and spiritually whole, can you bring the best to your workplace, your fellow teammates, and your customers.
We always give our employees the freedom they need to produce their best work. We see too many companies that are held back from reaching their full potential by clinging to “old-fashioned” ways of working.
So we don’t believe in micro-managing our team members. We don’t believe in clocking in at 9am and clocking out at 5pm – or tracking every time our employees leave their desk.
We give all of our team members the autonomy and authority to work however and wherever they need to – so they can deliver exceptional results and stay productive.
At Worksuite, we also ensure that everyone on the team takes a minimum of 25 days paid holiday leave every year.
We reward all of our employees fairly for the great work they do, and we encourage our teams to recognize the exceptional work of their colleagues.
Great things happen at Worksuite every single day – and we always acknowledge this – whether it’s from other team members, our partners, or our customers.