With never-ending conversations around home remodelling and renovating, we often forget to apply a little of that enthusiasm to our offices as well. More Britons are choosing to work from home now, and that means that if you want to attract top talent to your workspace, you’re going to need to make it as liveable as possible.
What you may not be aware of, is the impact on productivity and creativity a well-planned, decorated and spaced office can have. Studies have shown that offices that maximize natural light, have lots of greenery around, and have ergonomics built into their design, will increase workers’ abilities to think clearer, respond to situations more promptly and increase creativity. All of these are very desirable for obvious reasons.
Start by decluttering your spaces
An open, clean and clear space is the number one factor that inspires creative thinking. A cluttered workspace is literally a mental ‘cluttering’ to our brains, and disorganised spaces with overflowing in-trays and messy desks are creative thought killers. Instil a culture of ‘clean desking’ by close of business every day as a good place to start. Arriving at work in the morning to a clean, organised workspace sets the tone for that day.
Consider the placement of desks concerning windows
Access to natural light is cited as one of the biggest factors that office workers consider before starting a new job. It may seem surprising, but more of us are becoming more conscious about our mental health and mental states, and the workplace environment has a massive role to play in that field. If you have an office where you are in a basement or placed in the centre spaces of skyscrapers, then consider placing LCD screens with images of the outside playing on them, better yet – live camera feeds from the outside.
Lights, Colour, Action!
The intensity of white office lights, especially of the fluorescent kind, is linked to the increase in people suffering from nervous disorders and anxiety. Changing fluorescent lights to softer tones can change the overall mood in your office, but softer lighting also has an impact on the calmness and serenity of your office workers too.
Installing localised control over lighting allows for workers in certain spaces to decide how brightly lit, or otherwise, they want their workspace to be. This element of control also has an impact on how much control workers have over their lives. It may seem insignificant, but as with most things – God is in the detail.
Break time
Consider breakout spaces with soft cushions and comfortable sofas and chairs. Downtime should be exactly that, and for stressed-out office workers, soft, calm breakout space is just what they need to recharge over a coffee. Remember that the overall look and feel of your office is very important, so give some thought towards decorating, find the right commercial carpet suppliers for your office, and it will pay to plan for updated air conditioning with decent filters and if you work in contact or call centre environment, consider installing white noise machines to help drown out background noise.
It may seem new-age or like something from a sci-fi movie, but it turns out that workers are increasingly aware of their work/life balance, and the environment they work in has a lot to do with that.
