If you want to keep your employees motivated and productive, you need to make sure that their work environment is healthy and inspiring. Below are just some of the big things that can impact employee morale when choosing/decorating your office space.
Ergonomics
It’s important that employees are comfortable. Ergonomics involves designing around the human body and is one way to ensure comfort in an office. It could include investing in height adjustable office chairs as well as making sure that there is enough legroom beneath desks. If employees are complaining about aches and cramps, it’s a sure sign that ergonomics needs to improve.
Cleanliness
Cleanliness in an office is important for keeping employees healthy and for making the office a pleasant place to work from. If there are visible cobwebs and layers of dust on desks, it could be time to organise a deep clean. Many office-based companies hire office cleaning services to keep on top of cleaning so that the workplace always looks presentable. It’s also important to make sure that air is clean – make sure that your office is well ventilated and HVAC systems are serviced.
Light
The lighting in your office could also have an impact on the morale of your employees. It’s important that your office doesn’t feel dark and dingy – there should be enough overhead lighting to keep the place feeling bright and cheery.
At the same time, make sure that light is not positioned somewhere that can cause glare on monitors. Where possible, try to maximise natural light exposure. Studies show that not getting enough natural light can negatively affect our moods – this is why offices with large windows and skylights are now becoming more popular.
Colour
There was a time when it was popular for offices to rely on neutral colors. However, such colors are no longer favored – they can come across as drab and can make your office less cheerful. It’s better to embrace some color. Blues and greens are great colors for office environments – blues are very calming, while green can help inspire creativity. You can also try using oranges, purples, pinks and yellows. Red should be limited to spaces where there is a lot of action as it’s a very energetic color.
Location
The location of your office can also have an impact on employee morale. If it’s not somewhere that is easily accessible, you could find that it soon becomes a source of stress for employees – a good office should ideally have adequate parking facilities and good public transport links. The area should also be nice enough that employees want to go out on their lunch break. Finally, the office should be large enough that all your employees have enough space to comfortably work. Consider all of this when looking for an office building.
Community
Establishing an open and welcoming community of colleagues that can operate freely and enjoy working together is perhaps more important than all the other points combined.
Having weekly meetings, roundabout discussions and company events can light the mood for every colleague to get to know eacgh other better. Little by little, people feel more comfortable working in an environment where their colleagues can be friends.
