Over the past few years the office floor plan has seen some remarkable evolution. In the early 2000s, newly-liberated office workers rejoiced as the cubicles were done away with and open floor plans became the norm. Then, in 2015 someone figured foosball tables and ping pong would be a brilliant idea and so here we are. Now companies are considering how to bring biophilic design into their offices and appointing an agency to help, such as Sandhurst Interiors, means you’ll get the biggest impact from your investment.
Office trends come and go, but the one thing that remains consistent through it all is the impact the working environment has on the well-being and health of employees.
Creating a quality work-space means producing a more productive and less stressful environment. But, this can only be done by fully understanding the space as it will be experienced by an employee working there.
According to a post in the Fellowes Workplace Wellness Trend Report, healthier work environments are very important to employees. Some of the most significant findings are listed below:
- 87% of workers from all types of working environments would like their employers to consider their health and include company fitness benefits, sit–stand desks, healthy food options, wellness rooms and ergonomic seating.
- Another interesting point is that employees who are concerned about these points are less likely to offered sit–stand desks, healthy food choices and other office benefits at a younger company (34%) than at a more established business (42%).
- In the tech industry, 93% of workers said they would be more inclined to stay with their present company if they were offering a healthier work environment complete with fitness benefits, ergonomic seating, healthier food choices and wellness rooms.
Because we ask our employees to give up 1/3 of their life in the office, it is very important to build an environment which will help attract top talent, where they can then think and operate their best. Seventy-five percent of office spaces today are open plan and this seems to be working out just perfect.
The most important point that must be properly understood is that all this is accomplished with the needs of employee productivity and creativity in mind. From offering quiet rooms for making phone calls to other rooms for a few minutes of meditation, it is imperative that successful businesses, or those that wish to be, create environments that contribute to the well-being of their employees.
Air
The quality of the air that employees breathe in their office space is very important to their health and therefore their happiness and productivity. World Green Building Council did a study and reported that 11% productivity could be expected by something as small as improving the air quality of the building and interior workstation.
Water
The human brain is made of about 73% water so as you can imagine, a healthy water supply is important to cognition which will be essential to performance in the workplace.
Nourishment
You can’t place a junk food machine in the lobby and expect your employees to be at peak performance. To get the brains working properly it is essential to provide healthy food options.
Light
In a report from the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell, those employees that worked within 10 feet of a window experienced an 84% decrease in blurred vision, headaches and eyestrain.
Comfort
If your employees are not comfortable in their workplace, you can expect they will not be happy or productive either. Proper ergonomics will allow for improved productivity with reduced muscle fatigue and the decrease of musculoskeletal problems.
Mind
The Global Impact of Biophilic Design found that those workplaces that provided natural features and environments also experienced 15% higher levels of overall well-being. Furthermore, employees expressed feeling 15% more creative and 6% more productive in a natural environment. If you are looking for some ways to improve the well-being of your employees in their office space, look here.
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