Truthbomb Tuesday

Influence of Design on Employees

In a work environment where the well-being and happiness of employees matter, it is important to know the factors that majorly impact employee satisfaction levels. As a business, you want to spend your time, money, and energy on programs, processes, and factors that have a positive impact on improving employee satisfaction. Office design and layout allow people to work together as a team. It supports joint creation and helps to exchange ideas without interruption. Communication and interaction in the office space play a major role in the mental health of employees, further contributing to how supported they feel within the organization. As a business owner, you may not have enough time to design a layout for your office space and therefore chose to contact an interior design fit out company.

The design of your office can have a major impact on the efficiency, productivity, and motivation levels of your employees. These elements can ultimately impact the success of your business. When everything in your work space is organized and within easy reach, how do you really feel? Opposing this feeling, compare it to that the feeling of it being unorganized with your necessary tools out of reach. The difference in your mood can be quite dramatic. One provides you with an environment where you can easily get to work while the other causes frustration and delay. If the layout of your office makes it difficult for employees to get work done effectively and efficiently, then it can lead to a decline in morale. When employees are constantly frustrated it will impact the way they interact with you, each other, and your customers. Think about ways you can design your office space. This could be something simple. For example, relocating the copy machine to a more centralized location or adding more storage for items that are only used occasionally.

It is a lengthy process setting up a work area and ensuring it optimizes high performance whilst considering occupational health and safety laws. It is a bit complicated and there is no single ‘right’ approach to innovative workspace design. There are several factors currently contributing to changing trends in workplace design, however, understanding the characteristics of workplace design that suit YOUR employees is crucial. To maximize its performance, an organization should view the workplace as an ecosystem of space that allows people to have choice and control over how they work. The physical environment shapes the behavior, feelings, and attitudes of employees towards their employer and the experience of working there. The more people feel supported, the more powerful they are.

A 2009 survey of employee job satisfaction by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that one of the highest positive attributes of work is in areas that promote skills. Skills are a direct consequence of cognition, the need for people to think, feel, and act intuitively in a certain sense. On the positive side, according to the survey, access to the workplace enables working relationships with other employees, acknowledgment of people’s needs, team dynamics, and the ability to work with others to excel in their roles. The degree of team dynamic consciousness is directly proportional to the strength of team relationships. Design that understands the deep emotional needs of the team will deliver something relevant to the workplace. Design that is tailored to people’s intuitive needs and provides something for the workplace will further strengthen the belief and confidence that people can achieve results.

Workplace satisfaction can come down to something as specific as furniture. How many hours do you spend every day sitting at your desk? Research shows that on average we spend 40 hours a week at work, and we spend the majority of those at our desks. The average office worker spends 5 hours and 50 minutes sitting down at work every day. So, it’s no surprise that your choice of office chair has a very big impact on productivity levels. No matter how much time each day your employees spend sitting down, ergonomic office chairs are a must-have. These are designed to provide adequate lower back support and can be adjusted so that each individual can maintain correct posture while sitting down. As we are stuck inside all day, it is important to connect with nature. This could be through incorporating plants and some nature inside the office space or locating desks near windows for natural light. Research shows that this increases productivity levels as well as increases employee satisfaction. Simply being able to see nature in your vision has been shown to increase both self-esteem and overall happiness (mood), particularly among younger people. Attention restoration theory believes that looking at nature can cause the brain to shift into a different mode of processing. Researchers studied the brain scans of people who were randomly picked to look at pictures of a green meadow or concrete for 30 seconds. Amazingly, even this brief look at nature was enough to shift the brain into a more relaxed mode. Something as simple as ordering new chairs with back support or putting a small indoor plant at each of your employee’s desk could make a world of difference.

It is also important to remember that different cultures have different perceptions of workplace layouts and employee satisfaction. Dedicated workers come from emerging economies, where people have different opinions on their ideal working environment, different from those in established economies. Workers in developing countries such as India and China work in more of a hierarchical based organization whereby the layouts are often clean, with minimal colours, and quite repetitive. For example, black flooring and white walls. These workspaces often stick to the ‘minimalistic’ approach. Typically, wooden furniture or white furniture is used.

A good workplace design can help employees become their best selves. Aesthetics and interior design encourage employees to feel motivated to work. Walls dedicated to team awards and testimonials can also have a positive psychological effect. It is important to have a meeting with the team prior to the office upgrade so that employees feel listened to and involved in the office layout and design.