How Your Office Interior Design Could Be Impacting Employee Morale
Have you ever thought about how your office interior design might impact employee morale? As the owner of a business or property manager, you will likely be focused on providing a functional workspace, but this might be more damaging than helpful for productivity and team spirit.
Many factors can impact the atmosphere in your team, and these can often get ignored in favour of creating a professional and practical space.
At Jade Aden Interiors, we have been working with companies across the South Coast to create motivating spaces that allow collaboration, socialisation and productivity for over 30 years. During this time, we have learnt what impacts employee morale and how these can be used in our designs to positively influence it. In this blog, we share ways your office design could affect your team spirit.
Ergonomic Furniture
When sitting at a desk for seven hours a day, a simple chair doesn’t cut it. Back support, a comfortable foam seat and space to wiggle around are needed for your staff to find several comfortable positions during the day.
Additionally, adjustable standing desks mean staff can work on their feet for a bit to help with their posture.
Ergonomic furniture is vital for staff comfort. If your team is comfortable, colleagues will likely feel happier and will be able to focus more on work than fidgeting to try and get the blood pumping back to their feet.
Natural Lighting
It is no secret that natural light has a positive impact on human beings, especially in a workspace.
Natural light can affect us in several ways, as it helps the body produce vitamin D, essential for bone health, immune function, and overall well-being, reduces eye strain and headaches caused by artificial lighting and helps regulate circadian rhythms, improving mood and reducing feelings of stress and anxiety among employees.
Additionally, letting in as much natural light as possible can make the space feel spacious and brighter, preventing your staff from feeling claustrophobic at work.
There are additional ways that you can increase natural light in your office. The first is opting for large windows that allow light to enter the building. To make full use of this, you should also have an open-plan office. However, you will need to lay out the desks to ensure there isn’t any glare on the screens, as this could result in blinds being shut and your new windows being pointless.
Additionally, to extend the reach of the natural light, choose to install glass partitions as these enable the light to shine into various spaces and rooms rather than block it out.
Collaborative Spaces
Most workplaces will require team collaboration at some point, but people will avoid this if they feel there isn’t anywhere they can do it without disturbing others.
Get the most out of your team and encourage them to collaborate by providing separate collaboration rooms. This could be formal boardrooms, smaller meeting rooms and more chilled corners or rooms.
Working together offers a sense of achievement and enables your team to build strong working relationships. If they don’t have a safe space to do this, they will avoid it, creating a more individualised team.
Breakout Spaces
All work and no play make for a dull day… and a team that might struggle to focus and find motivation.
Provide plenty of breakout spaces where each staff member can relax and take a break. Giving them a space like this will encourage them to step away from their desk so they can stop and unwind, reset and head back with renewed energy.
To optimise this, make sure you have a fully equipped kitchen or canteen so your staff can refuel as needed to keep energy levels up throughout the day.
These relaxation spaces are also great for staff to continue building their relationships, this time extending it beyond the work they do, forming something more personal. Friendships are key to a happy environment, so facilitate these.
How Can Jade Aden Interiors Help?
Thanks to our 30 years of experience, the team at Jade Aden Interiors understand how interior design can impact employee morale.
No matter what industry you work in, we can provide helpful guidance and expertise in designing an office fit-out or refurbishment. Staff comfort and happiness are at the forefront of any design we create, and we will work with you extensively to ensure our designs meet your practical needs and fit your brand.
We provide a comprehensive service that will include the design and installation and complete project management, so you don’t have to worry about anything.
Looking to change up your interior design and improve employee morale? Contact our friendly and expert team by calling us on 01425 689199 or complete our online contact form to request a callback.