Workplace environment, does wellbeing have a gender ?
Wellness at work is an important element in enhancing the employee productivity as well as employee retention. Employees need to feel happy at work and look forward to coming to their desk every morning.
However, the perception of a great workplace environment differs from one gender to the other. Some elements would have high impact on the men and not on the women and vice versa. Here are a few areas where the definition of a great workplace environment may vary according to the gender.
Light
Light, especially, the natural light is good for improving alertness, relaxing the mind and making it easy to go about reading on the desk. While men would love to have as much natural light as possible, they can also work with artificial light comfortably. As long as they can see, most of them do not have problems with diminished natural light.
However, for the ladies, natural light has a great impact on the productivity. You can experience a higher engagement and productivity by bringing in some more natural light into the workplace.
Noise
Noise impacts on the ability to concentrate on the task on the table. A quiet environment enables employees to tackle problems fast and prevents mental fatigue. When it comes to noise, the impact of reduced or increased noise at the workplace depends on the type of work rather than the gender. Both genders will perceive noise almost the same way and adjusting its levels is likely to bring the same results.
Temperature
The office should not be too hot or freezing. The temperature extremes cause discomfort and may slow down the ability to perform. Women are more likely to withstand a little variation is temperature without lowering their productivity levels than men. In case of the cold, the women are more likely to make adjustments in attire to keep warm than men.
Flexibility at work
Flexibility involves the ability to work from different places and sometimes at different times. Men perceive flexibility more favorably when evaluating their workplace environment than the women do. Women too love flexibility but are likely to work at one place even when there is opportunity to move out and about.
Creating a healthy office cookbook
Healthy dishes and snacks at the office is a great way to enhance the general health of the employees. It helps ensure that every employee is getting the right nutritional nourishment and avoiding junk for them to stay healthy and fit for productivity.
When it comes to healthy diet, women are more of the idea than men. Women take some effort to see that they look and feel physically fit as well as managing weight. Introducing such wellness initiatives is most likely to get more women happy at work than men.
Allowing the employees to customize their workplaces
Employees spend much of the day at their workplaces. It is a good gesture to allow them to customize their workplaces as they wish so that they create the kind of ambience that will enable the work better.
Women are more likely to take up the challenge and customize their workplaces than men would do. Women have a high love for colors, flowers, photos and other elements that define their style. Some men do but many of them would still work in the standard workspace.
Creating games clubs at the workplace
You may encourage a healthy physical activity by encouraging the employees to enlist in company sponsored sporting activities such as soccer, tennis, running and so forth. Not only do the sporting activities keep the employees healthy, they also help reduce stress and improve their quality of sleep. Men would be more enthusiastic about participating in sporting activities than the women. However, you can look for a wide range of sporting activities so that you include as many of the either side as possible.
Try to diversify your wellness initiatives to enhance employment engagement from both genders. Each of the genders perceives certain activities different from the other. However, with diverse programs, you will improve the employee experience across the board, increase productivity and employee retention among other benefits.
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