Month: May 2022

There’s never been a more confusing time for business leaders regarding the “right” way to encourage office-based employees to return to work. Some are experimenting with hybrid work models while others are looking for 100% participation in returning to the office.

The catch? What’s best for one business may not apply to another. This is why companies must expand their horizons and introduce fun incentives and meaningful benefits to get employees back into the office.

But first, let’s dive into the pros and cons of hybrid versus traditional (5-days/week) work models.

Hybrid vs. Full Return Work Models

When COVID-19 had us locked in our homes, we had no choice but to find new norms in every aspect of life: family, friends, school, and work. But now we’ve established new normals, and many business leaders are considering resuming a traditional workweek – or something relatively close. The last few years have been particularly hard to create and maintain workplace culture. Zoom meetings can only go so far, especially when you’re onboarding new employees or introducing fresh policies. As a result, many employers want to entice teams back to the office and provide a space for connection and collaboration.

Most employees on the other hand have come to know and love working from home, so much in fact that they’re seeking hybrid schedules to continue this take on work-life balance. And who can blame them? This ongoing struggle of not wanting to return to the office, but needing to have a designated space for collaboration has employees and employers seeking common ground to find a win-win solution.

4 Ways To Get Your Team Excited About Returning To The Office

It’s ultimately up to business leaders if they want to implement either a hybrid or 100% in-office model. We encourage all leaders to listen to their team and consider the true cost of completely eliminating a hybrid model. If your business allows for it, work towards finding that sweet spot that supports work-life balance through days at home and in the office. With that said, encouraging employees to return to the office has more opportunities than one may think. Morale can be boosted across the board when there’s something to gain for coming to work. If you find yourself at a crossroads, consider these unique ways to get everyone excited about coming into the office.

Host A Welcome Back Party

Even workplaces adopting hybrid schedules can benefit from a welcome back party. Hosting this event in your office’s conference or break room is a great way to bring employees together. Send out a poll prior to the event and get a group vote on catering or any games you have planned to break the ice.

Provide Peace Of Mind With Safety & Cleaning Procedures

Sanitation and cleanliness is top of mind for most of us nowadays. Make sure employees know they’re in-office working environments are being cleaned with commercial-grade products to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

Revisit Company Goals & Objectives

WFH life showed us the majority of meetings can be summarized just fine via email. However, holding a meeting to revisit company goals and objectives should be done in-person. You can use the current climate to draw parallels on how you plan to move your company in the right direction. Most importantly – how your employees and their presence in the office contribute to the bigger picture.

Expand Your Employee Benefits To Include Wellness Packages

Many of our clients see major employee participation when they upgrade their benefits package in the form of a return to the office incentive. Incorporating wellness packages that aid stress management are one of the top benefits employees are looking for. Corporate massage is huge when it comes to keeping stress levels at an all time low. It not only gives your team a well deserved break, but communicates that you – their employer – see them as people who deserve benefits that prioritize their mental (and physical) health.

Implementing corporate massage is a breeze for any kind of office or corporate setting. Our process is designed to work with hybrid, virtual, and complete in-office environments. Never worry about safety, cleanliness, or professionalism. We use the best massage therapists in the country to ensure your experience is one-of-a-kind.

Help Your Employees Grow With Your Company, Not Against

Today’s business leaders are finding themselves in uncharted waters. When deciding how to return to the office, keep in mind that there are pros and cons to both hybrid and 100% in-office work models. Should you decide to transition employees back to work, consider welcoming them with a company-sponsored party and use that time to bring them up to speed on new goals/objectives, as well as incentivize new work models with benefit upgrades that promote overall wellness.

Body Techniques is well-versed in preparing businesses just like yours to come back to the office. Get a customized return to work plan when you schedule a call today.

Moms truly do it all. On top of being full-time caregivers and teachers, they also have to factor in how to support their children and make ends meet. The pressure COVID-19 added to working moms made it nearly impossible to be fully present at work, home, and in their childrens’ lives.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the time is now to introduce supportive practices that set working moms up for success. Some may argue that we should leave our personal life at the door when we start our work day… And to that we say: there is no clocking in and out as a parent. It’s a full-time, 24/7/365 role that has zero breaks. Because of this, employers must implement progressive benefits to set moms up for success.

Avoid Burnout With Supportive Employee Benefits

Factoring in the amount of pressure on working moms already, failure to introduce benefits that help working moms could result in burnout. This doesn’t require you to create a special program specifically for moms only. Think about new perks or incentives that benefit everyone – including working moms. You’ll find that when employees see you’re doing your part to create a healthy work-life balance, morale is higher and productivity levels rise across every department.

Give Employees Some Breathing Room With Progressive Working Norms

So, what programs can benefit all employees and give moms some time to catch their breath? How are employers supposed to keep operations humming in a way that keeps everyone sane? It all starts with taking a step back (and a deep breath) to look at the bigger picture:

Hybrid Work Schedules

Hybrid work models are quickly becoming an optimal solution to offer employees the work-life balance they need – especially for working moms. Some days are reserved for remote focus work and others are spent in the office to collaborate and move the company forward. This model replaces the corporate norms we once knew and gives us opportunities throughout the day to tune in with our personal lives, be it catching up on some laundry in between tasks or making lunch for the little ones at home.

Finding a win-win hybrid work schedule gives workers the space they need to put their heads down and knock out tasks, while creating a supportive workplace culture at the same time.

PTO: Paid Time Off aka Prepare The Others

Depending on who you ask, PTO can mean a few different things. While universally understood as “paid time off” younger generations like millennials and Gen Z joke that it stands for “prepare the others”.

And they have a point…

It’s not so much about what PTO stands for, rather the principle of employees giving proper notice that they will be out of the office and employers should do their part to equip their team for said employee’s absence. This falls into the work-life balance mentioned earlier. Working moms need PTO just as much as the rest of your staff and how they choose to use their PTO is entirely their prerogative. Instead of finding yourself amid the thousands of businesses suffering from the ongoing Great Resignation try implementing a reformed PTO policy and set expectations that make sense with today’s working norms.

Workplace Amenities For New Moms

If a hybrid work model isn’t feasible with your operations, consider providing resources at work for new moms. Designating a private lactation room new moms can reserve for 30-minute time slots would go a long way in creating a supportive work environment for new moms on your team.

Another way to bridge the gap between family and work life is access to childcare. Progressive businesses have found that employer-sponsored childcare has helped not only attract, but retain the best workers out there. Interestingly enough, ​​55% of parents said they would accept a lower salary if childcare were to be offered as an employee benefit.

Offering workplace amenities like these not only helps working mothers, but shows your entire staff you care about their wellbeing and lives outside of the office.

Equal Maternity & Paternity Leave

New dads only get a small fraction of the time off from work that new moms do. And while that’s for a variety of physical reasons that doesn’t mean that paternity leave should be any less than maternity leave. New parents need some time to find their footing in this new chapter of life as they get used to the ebbs and flows of parenting. The benefits of extended paternity leave are not only personal, but also helps working moms ease back into the office successfully. With dad at home too, moms have more support behind the scenes to focus on their careers instead of a newborn 24/7.

Workplace Wellness Programs To Empower Mental Health

Implementing workplace wellness programs not only builds chemistry between your employees and their departments, but promotes long-term mental health. Stress management programs like corporate massage, yoga and meditation, and virtual wellness keep the creative juices flowing and productivity levels at an all time high. We all know moving bodies are happy bodies, which ultimately improve our mood, cognitive function, and communication as a whole, so why not explore how workplace wellness can empower your employees?

Working Moms (And Dads) Benefit From Employer-Sponsored Support

Corporate America is evolving right in front of us. Employers must learn that in order to attract the best talent out there, they must have programs in place that support work-life balance. This is imperative for new moms (and dads). Hybrid work models and amenities like lactation stations/rooms, employer-sponsored childcare, and stress management programs all play a huge role in supporting working parents so they can give their children the attention they need without getting behind on daily tasks. When we create environments that empower our employees, we retain people who move our company forward.

Is your workplace shifting? Body Techniques has helped thousands of brands implement progressive policies to support new moms and sustain healthy work-life balances. Talk to us today about your goals for 2022 and get professional insight on the best next step.