Wherever possible consult with your employees. Not one size fits all and flexibility has always been a strong factor in employee wellbeing. Not all teams need to work nine till five, Monday to Friday. Some may wish to work three days from the office and two days from home. Others may view the home as a sanctuary and would rather be in the office full time. Rather than work from home, team members may wish to work near home, in a local coworking space, for example. If you are a larger company a survey can be a useful tool to determine what team members want, however in a smaller organisation an all-hands team meeting may be more appropriate.

At Clockwise we have further diversified our offering to include ‘Flex Passes’ where we allocate additional swipe cards to members who have larger teams but perhaps a smaller office. This allows our members to rotate their teams working remotely and in the office. We see this ‘hybrid’ way of working as a smart choice for many companies who wish to save on costs but still provide their team with a base to meet with their colleagues and collaborate with like-minded individuals.    

As we ease out of lockdown, brighter days are ahead however members of your team may be feeling apprehensive about returning to the workplace. Employers need to be able effectively communicate with their teams the precautions they are taking to ensure a clean safe workspace. If renting space your landlord or workspace provider should be able to support.

Throughout the pandemic our workspaces have stayed open; both for those who need the space to operate their business and for those who need the space to maintain their wellbeing. To ensure the safety of our members we took multiple precautions including reconfiguring our spaces to promote social distancing, increasing our already high hygiene standards, and treating all surfaces in public areas with a specialist long-life chemical, Zonitise, that kills harmful pathogens on contact. A detailed risk assessment was also carried out on each location and this was all communicated to our members.

There are several ways to improve employee wellbeing beyond providing flexibility, such as offering a designated collaborative or chillout space or allowing team members to bring their dogs to the office. Plants, such as air-purifying snake plants, are also shown to significantly improve certain areas of health.

At Clockwise we have spaces flooded with natural light, dog friendly private offices and plants throughout. Beyond that we send our members a ‘Wellness Weekly’ newsletter, a curated edit of tools to support mental and physical health. Our colleagues have access to free mental sessions through our partnership with MYNDUP and all our people leaders are put through a mental health first aid course to break down the stigma of mental health and to best support their teams at this challenging time.