Build employee resiliency by creating a supportive physical environment

If you’ve been following our video series this year on strategies to build employee resiliency in your team or organization, then you know that many of the strategies I have shared have focused on emotional and mental resilience.  But in today’s tip, I want to switch focus – I want to talk about the importance of the physical environment in enhancing employee resiliency.

Create a supportive physical environment

It is well known that the physical environment that employees work in has a significant impact of productivity and performance.  In much the same way, you, as the leader, can take some simple steps and make some simple changes to create a physical environment that will positively impact employee resiliency.

Here are three ideas to build employee resiliency

Encourage your employees to take a break from their computers and/or desks, and to converse with each other, perhaps over lunch.  Asking your co-workers how they are feeling is rewarding both for the person asking and the person being asked. Sharing ideas and stories builds camaraderie and employee resiliency.

Provide comfortable meeting places in the building for your employees to gather and talk.  Make a quiet room available for a person who just needs to pause from the rush of the day-to-day and to collect their thoughts.  If possible, adjust the lighting in work areas so it is easier on your employees’ eyes.  If that’s too much effort, offer to get them a desk lamp for their workspace.

If one of your employees normally works in the office and needs to work from home a few days to concentrate, support them.  Or if you have remote employees who are online most of the time, give them permission to take themselves offline for a few hours in order to get something important completed.

A supportive physical environment can contribute greatly to employee resiliency, so don’t miss out on some easy changes that will yield big outcomes.

So what is your workplace like right now?  Have you already made some physical or scheduling changes that are contributing positively to employee resiliency?  Please share your ideas and examples with the reset of our community.

Here are some of our more recent tips in this series:

• Strategy #15: Check in frequently
• Strategy #14: Create a psychologically safe environment
• Or just access the entire series here