Blog
Workplace Design Tips for Well-Being
Date: February 3, 2022
In years past office design prioritized one thing only: productivity. But in recent years, especially after working from home becoming widely accepted, the workplace culture has made a big shift. Instead of focusing on work and work only, workplace culture is focusing more on how the workplace contributes to the employee’s overall wellbeing. When businesses help employees focus on physical, mental, and social wellness they also get more productive, engaged, and healthy employees. This change in workplace culture greatly impacts workplace design. We always make sure our client’s workspace helps them achieve their goals, here’s how workplace design can help boost employee wellness.
Younger Design For A Younger Workforce
In decades past workplace culture emphasized a clear separation between personal life and work life. This impacted design by making workspaces much more utilitarian, focusing only on the task at hand.
As younger generations are entering the workforce, they’re bridging the gap between personal and work life. They desire a workplace environment that helps them build connections with their fellow workers, and helps them to work together collaboratively. This collaboration and sense of belonging helps to increase employee engagement, and boosts business productivity.
But, the utilitarian cubicles of the ‘80s hinders this collaboration. Instead we’re focusing on design that helps build collaboration. This looks like making more spaces for large and small group collaboration, rather than many individual workspaces.
Teams can gather in conference rooms with larger tables that support their meetings with the tools they need. The Encourage table, pictured above, features integrated power and hidden cable management that allows for a clear workspace that helps groups stay focused.
Smaller groups or individuals can work at less conventional seating for a change of pace. The Cabana Lounge Island also provides integrated power, with integrated or external table options to give your employees a workspace that suits their need for comfort and style. These workspaces should be placed within your office in areas that are still clearly a workspace, and not in more social spaces like cafeterias or lobbies.
Good Design Can Reduce Stress
Your office design still needs to afford your employees a clear understanding of how a space should be used. Individual offices or conference rooms shouldn’t be integrated with social spaces. This can lead to confusion, or frustration when employees aren’t able to accomplish their goal of either work or social connection.
Good design should make it clear: this is a place for “head-down”, focused work, or a place for teamwork, or a place for social gatherings. Floor plans should also help your employees to see and find each other easily.
Creating partitions doesn’t need to make your office feel like a “cube farm”. Most employees like to feel that they have their own space at the office. Using workspaces like the Compose line allows for individual desks that give employees their own space while still allowing for the team to see each other through low partitions or frosted glass.
Physical Wellness At Work
Physical wellness is at the forefront of most of our minds in recent years. While the office can’t help with every aspect of physical wellness, it can help to support your employees with appropriate accessibility, ergonomic chairs, height adjustable worktables, and good acoustics. All of these aspects can help to make your office healthier, reduce the risk of the office contributing to ill health, and can increase employee’s positive perception of their employer.
The photo above showcases adjustable monitor arms, an ergonomic Fern chair, and the Planes Height-Adjustable table. All of these factors can work together to help reduce back pain or injury, and can make employees more productive by allowing for a more customized work environment that suits their personal needs.
Creating a great environment for your employees to work increases their productivity, reduces turnover, and boosts your business . To learn more about how great design can benefit your business please get in touch with Marie Richoux and set up a meeting. Send an email to marier@kvworkspace.com to schedule.
