The biggest asset to your organization is your staff. They are the people that manage the processes, product development and service experience to keep your customers happy. The fact is, many people are doing the job for a paycheck. They want to have job satisfaction, but the thought of working for someone or having their freedom restricted causes discontent and even disengagement from the work that they are doing.
Happy workers will usually rave on about their working environment, citing the way the office looks and feels, as well as the positivity that they receive from other workers. Boosting your employees’ morale will unlock productivity surpluses that will make your business more profitable.
Below are tips on how you can implement this for your business.
Get your employees moving!
Employees can easily get into a routine where they enter the office and stay seated in exactly the same position for seven hours or more. This can make them feel as though they are just a functioning part of a cog in a machine. A clever office design will encourage employees to be a bit more mobile. This may see them passing colleagues, taking well needed breaks to refresh and recuperate taking walks that will maintain their blood flow and mobility.
Good office design will take into consideration temperature and airflow.
This is one area that can be overlooked when people are doing their office designs. The people that end up suffering are the employees. It is important to consider how the airflow is within the office and that the temperature will be comfortable for employees to work in. Discomfort can lead to discontent, thus leading to reduced productivity.
Get the balance right between open plan and closed office spaces.
Different people need different environments to boost their productivity. When collaboration is needed to be more productive in job roles, an open office plan can be a blessing. However, when a distraction free environment is needed for employees, open plans can cause extreme disruption. To create more privacy for employees, businesses can install office partitioning systems to create more closed office spaces as a part of their overall office design.
Keep your office neat and tidy.
Clutter can easily influence your employees to become counterproductive. Clutter creates distractions which reduces the productivity that employees will have in their work. Office designs are a culprit in creating clutter. This can arise from working in tight or closed spaces, as well as having inefficient office storage solutions. To minimize the threat of clutter disrupting your workplace, your office should adopt a minimalistic design that leverages space and few objects.
Make good use of light.
Employees work better in well-lit areas. Your office design should make good use of natural light when possible. Install glass barriers and objects, as well as mirrors to make your office appear more lit. Open windows wide or make good use of skylights to make your rooms brighter. If there are dark areas, invest in artificial light solutions that will illuminate the area well.
Use nice scents and smells to enhance your office environment.
Offices environments can be improved by implementing air dispensers that emit pleasant aromas. Make good use of lavender, lemon and jasmine scents, which can help boost productivity in your workplace.
Provide your employees with an ergonomically friendly office.
People want to be as healthy as possible. Your office should promote this through ergonomic design. This means your employees should receive ergonomic-friendly workstations (desks and chairs). The office should also be setup to promote their health and safety as they get around. Workers that succumb to injuries or illness will cost the business more in absenteeism and will generally perform a lower output.
Office design is beneficial to the success of your business. Many of these factors are overlooked, but you can make a difference to your workplace by implementing an employee-friendly office design.
