Belonging and feeling valued in a workplace is key for great employee experience. Whilst many companies are still trying to figure out the perfect hybrid working environment for their staff, it’s interesting how easily companies can get it wrong.
A former colleague of mine recently started at a new company and was told that he didn’t have a space in his new office and in order to secure a desk with a screen, they needed to be booked at least 10 days in advance. He was also not allowed to leave anything in his office, and needed to make a separate booking for a locker to use for his personal items on the day.
In today’s agile working world, we often don’t know what day a meeting or project will take place exactly 10 days before. Having to book more than a week in advance to use a desk at your company’s office also adds a layer of unnecessary administrative work for employees that takes time away from their work tasks and adds a level of frustration.
And needless to say, my former colleague did not feel welcomed and expressed some doubts about the company.
The early stages of onboarding are crucial to establishing a lasting bond between employees and the company according to research (Snell, 2006).
Other research confirms that if you get the onboarding process right, it leads to greater job satisfaction, commitment, engagement, performance and also leads to reduction in turnover (Klein & Weaver, 2000).
Thinking of how important it is for employees to feel welcomed and invited into a new organisation, we need to make sure that any practical arrangements around something as simple as booking a desk in the office is as easy and stress-free as possible – otherwise it risks alienating new starters and making them not feel welcomed. It’s also really hard to talk about being an innovative, fast-moving company, where the very structures around an employee’s day is difficult or overly cumbersome.
Even though you might not be able to provide your staff with their own desk, what can you do to make them feel like they belong in an office? Something that makes people feel rooted and grounded? And what can you do for a new starter to make them feel especially welcomed? It can be a small detail. A handwritten note, anything that makes the corporate world feel more human.
If the organisation wants employees to come into the office, they need to make it welcoming and worthwhile. These small details influence employee experience and can influence the level of safety, security and belonging we feel towards a workplace.
And don’t forget, always ask your employees how they would prefer to use a hot desk system. That way they feel involved, listened to and most likely happier with how the system works in the end.
How is your organisation welcoming and onboarding new people? We would love to hear from you!
