Architects juggle a lot at once: client demands, deadlines, project budgets, keeping up with the latest technologies and industry trends, and the stress of being responsible for an entire building (or city!) – and that can be overwhelming.
With the high demand for talented architects, it’s imperative to have strategies to attract the best staff and keep them motivated to stay with the firm.
Promoting a healthy office culture
Architects are in the business of designing places where people will spend most of their time – and hopefully, where they enjoy being. But the atmosphere at your office can make or break their own working environment.
Creating a healthy office culture isn’t just about having free coffee – it’s about creating an environment where employees feel valued and appreciated by their employers.
When companies recognise their employees’ contributions and help them grow as individuals, they create an environment that encourages them to stay with the company long-term.
You can create a healthy office culture by:
- Creating an open space where people feel comfortable asking questions and voicing concerns about their work environment or workflows. This will help avoid problems before they happen.
- Encouraging teamwork by allowing employees to talk about their projects and see different perspectives.
- Making sure that everyone feels included in the decision-making process regarding company policies and procedures.
- Giving your employees helpful feedback and helping them advance.
Working from home and hybrid working
In this day and age, remote work is a reality for many businesses, especially since the Covid-19 outbreak. And working from home often results in an overall increase in productivity.
Some people prefer a hybrid approach that gives them the option of spending time with their coworkers – a great way to build camaraderie amongst your team.
To make remote work easy, ensure your employees have access to tools like video conferencing apps.
A good compensation package
There’s no way around this. To attract top talent, your firm must offer competitive compensation packages to keep people engaged with your business. This can include salary increases based on performance reviews and bonuses.
It’s no surprise that fair compensation increases productivity and growth. But other aspects like pay transparency help to keep top performers who may be lured away by competitors offering higher salaries.
Improving your project management processes
The way you manage your projects can have a significant impact on your employee turnover rate.
Not having a good system can make employees feel like they don’t have the necessary tools to do their jobs well. As a result, they can experience burnout, which is quite common in this industry.
To ensure this doesn’t happen, you need a straightforward process for assigning projects and tracking progress, so everyone knows what’s expected of them.
The easiest way to do this is by investing in technology that can help increase efficiency around the office, such as budgeting and time-tracking software. This way, your architecture firm can cut costs and improve productivity.
When companies invest in technology and embrace adaptability, their processes are more efficient. And that means more efficient workflows, which means less burnout, which results in a lower turnover rate.
Advancing their career
As the industry continues to grow, architects have more and more opportunities to find their niche and build a career in this exciting field.
One of the biggest reasons people leave their jobs is that they don’t have opportunities for advancement within their companies. So if you want your people to stick around for longer, make sure there are clear paths for improvement within your company so that they feel like something new is coming up down the road.
Moreover, employees want to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves, so you must give them an idea of what they’re working toward and how their work contributes.
Get in touch for more advice from Multiproject.
