Sustainability means endurance. A sustainable approach can help the environment endure and even recover from exploitation. Sustainability in society can help improve state health and well-being, allowing a community to flourish. Even in businesses, sustainability can mean many things, from cultivating a healthy and productive workforce to ensuring your profits stay in the black. While each version of sustainability needs its own approach, those looking to adopt a more sustainable approach to working can start right here with this guide.
Relocate Your Office
If your office is currently thick in the downtown area, it may be unsustainable for a few reasons. Everyone has to commute to get to you, which isn’t great environmentally even with public transportation as an option. Two, it’s expensive and can cut into your ability to self-sustain. The best option for a sustainable working approach is simple — move. Get your business out of the downtown area and into a place that’s more friendly for your employees. You may also want to downsize and pick up a hybrid or fully remote work schedule instead. Don’t worry, as you can still keep that downtown address and phone number with the help of a virtual office. Virtual offices in London give you access to a London address and phone number, without the cost associated with actually renting that space out.
Be Flexible
If you want to get the best out of your employees, then you need to shift your focus from time to task. What many managers who are scared of remote work fear is that their employees are using their time at home to do things other than work. Employees don’t work at 100 per cent capacity and with zero distractions at the office, either. Only focussing on the time it takes isn’t effective and can result in high turnover. Instead, focus on results and deadlines. Shifting to this approach allows workers to use their time as they see fit at home, yes, but that may mean doing hyper-focused work in the morning, taking an extra hour to go to the doctor’s office, and then spending more time after usual hours to finish off the task.
Offer Training
If you want your staff to consistently be on the razor edge of progress, then you need to offer training. Only so much can be done by learning on the job. You will need to inject your business with new ideas at a certain point. Investing in training for your employees, both inside and outside the office, can help you make your company more sustainable and reduce employee turnover.
Put Health and Wellness First
If your employees are physically and mentally well, they will naturally produce higher-quality results. You can encourage this through the use of healthy snack stations at work, offering a subscription to meal plans to cover lunches at home, and so much more. There are many easy, simple ways that you can offer benefits that boost your employees’ productivity. In some cases, you may even want to consider paying for cleaning services once per month at their home, since that can help boost productivity and ensure your workforce remains focused and present.