What makes your Office a nice place to work?

[Kbear]

I've been challenged with making our office a nice place to be, I've ordered fruit delivery and a water cooler, interesting teas and a new coffee machine but is there anything else your office does for staff, little treats etc that make it a bit nicer for those who are back in? Thanks for any ideas

I'd like:
Respect from upper management in the form of being trusted to know what's best in my role.
A decent living wage
Secure employment (no zero hours/fixed term or variable hours contracts)

If employees don't have this no amount of free tampons or fake plants will help.

If you're just dicking around the edges my preferences would be:
My own dedicated workspace
2 screens
Ideally also a second chair for collaborative working
A ergonomic chair
Free tea and coffee
Natural light
I can bring my own plants and tampons.

I WFH, but without being facetious the things I value are natural light, fresh air, plants, animals close by and easy access to refreshments. When I was in the office, we had some great pods for small meetings and quiet time.

I clearly have low expectations compared with some on here, but the important things for me are equipment that works (decent lap top, bigger screen if working there a lot).....photocopier that works....own desk (NOT hotdesking) ......ability to be able to control temperature - even if that is a fan for hot days and a small heater when it is cold.....toilets that flush......a ceiling that doesn't flake and drop bits onto your desk.....windows that open.....windows that aren't cracked....no ants......

If we are getting in to 'ideal' territory then natural light....separate space to go and eat your lunch (bonus points if there is an outside area)......coffee machine....

Things that I’ve noticed that make my team happy at work are:

Ordering stationery and equipment promptly. Also ordering a spare as there’s always someone else that wants one and it’s nice to offer it around or “take orders” before ordering. I always ask “would you like?” rather than “do you need?”

Making sure we have the right tea and coffee. My manager has one type of tea, but the secretaries prefer another. Coffee was also important to some members of staff so we get the one that they like. Some staff prefer herbal teas so I always make sure we have a nice selection and I make a point of getting new ones to try. We have tea making time 4 times a day (9,10,12 and 3), and support staff take it in turns to make.

Different team members bring in biscuits and cake from time to time and send an email around.

For birthdays, we all sign a card and put money in to the combined value of £10. It isn’t much, its just a gesture, but a nice one.

We have a WhatsApp group and meet up outside of work for different things. It’s very friendly and pressure-free.

Most importantly, everyone is liked and respected. We have opportunities through the day to chat about our evenings and weekends, kids and dogs, and it’s a nice team.

Breakfast (toast, pastries, bagels cereal)
Decent coffee machine with selection of coffees and milks
Snacks (cakes, biscuits, fruit)

Bottled water and soft drinks
Cleaning staff so toilets and kitchens are spotless
On prem services (gym, dry cleaning, car cleaning)
On site parking
Useable spaces and top quality equipment (stand up desks, wide screens etc)

Basically we have everything we need to make life as easy as possible.

Thanks for all replies, I just started new role and it's actually a really nice office, good culture, great people and I have no intention of changing or implementing anything without chatting to everyone first

Boss suggested fruit delivery weekly and asked me for other ideas to encourage staff back to the office but more so your ideas are really useful

Being valued for what I do. Being treated like a grown up. Flexible working.

(Gently) Ban food from desks and encourage people to eat in the kitchen, canteen, breakout etc.

We get tea and coffee provided as well as water. Work also provide butter as there were too many arguments about everyone using everyone else's butter on their lunch 🙄

I never wanted a double screen but have one and wouldn't be without it now, it's better for my eyes.

We used to have a fruit delivery but the prices were extortionate and the quality not great. 10,000 green bananas and a couple of Granny Smiths. Now someone goes to Sainsbury's on their way in on a Monday morning and buys a variety of taste the difference fruit at a fraction of the price.

All those things make it a nice place to work.
I would like plants though. I've asked millions of times but it's still a no ☹️

Me too.

If it's about encouraging them away from WFH, I'd have thought that would hinge on the quality of relationships and interactions when they are in the office rather than free apples. That's one of the key points of competition with WFH that the office can leverage - collaboration and connection.

Gimmicky stuff wouldn't make me want to give up my effective WFH set-up to spend time somewhere that doesn't mean my needs and makes my day longer due to commute - can they flex hours to do less on office days and more on wfh days?

Quite.
Surely nobody actually thinks staff want that sort of rubbish ?

Boss suggested fruit delivery weekly and asked me for other ideas to encourage staff back to the office but more so your ideas are really useful

That puts a very different slant on it.
So this isn't about treating staff well, your boss just wants to to bribe people back in ?

In which case I am changing my answer to this
Being valued for what I do. Being treated like a grown up. Flexible working.

Someone always doing the rounds offering to get drinks for people. Nice hand lotion etc in the bathroom.
Always a cake when it's someone's birthday and birthday club.
Air con.

for me, if you have all the basic things ie tea, coffee etc then the next biggest thing (this is literally my job lol) is to consider how the office should be best used to maximise the overall workplace experience for employees,

employee experience is super important right now:

• if things are broken in the office how easy is it and how quickly can they get fixed? Ie AV kit in rooms - are they intuitive to use and work effectively? In order for employees to work effectively, everything around them in the office needs to function well

• Creating purpose to come to the office ie don’t come in just to sit on n your laptop all day; you can do that at home! so intentional collaboration within the office is important. Managers need to lead this

• sustainability; employees expect their employer to provide a sustainable workplace eg at a very basic level get rid of plastic cups etc

• what is the employee journey of a day in the office ? Ie can they park without difficulty? If they have to book a parking/desk space,/meeting room, how clunky is the process to book? If they have a problem with their IT, can they easily get it resolved? If they want a quick snack, is there a vending machine with food and bad food? Can they find the right place to work for a particular task (activity based working) , for example if they need a quiet 1:1 is there a quiet space they can jump into immediately without having to book? Are there ample sit/stand desks? Employees need choice- choice to choose how they work best

loads more but haven’t got time to list them all!

I would LOVE this but I also do wonder how it is for people with allergies or who are afraid of dogs :(

My office has free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cold water, sparkling water, and fruit. There's also a cafe on site that serves lunch and cakes etc although I appreciate that's not possible in all offices.

The office has bookable meeting rooms as well as a few walk in meeting rooms (that you can't book)

There's tampons and pads in the toilets

Some double monitor desks and some single monitor desks, as well as the ability to lift your desk up to turn it into a standing desk.

There's also collab lounge areas and an overall nice social vibe but also spaces to go if you don't want to be social or just want to knuckle down with some work

God that sounds like hell!

In my experience, the only thing that makes for a happy working environment is a good office culture where staff are valued and supported from the most senior to the most junior.

I have worked in corporates and for small businesses and if the work culture is awful it doesn't matter what the surroundings are like.

I’ve never worked in an office where music is played, that would drive me nuts.

Air on!

That sounds a lot like my office 🤣 it doesn't happen to be in the west end?

Gah! Air con!

It's about the people.

Good culture and respect. Everything else is window dressing.

Don't have dogs. Bad idea.