Sorry, But Your Office Space Is Probably Irritating The Heck Out Of Your Employees

According to a recent study of prospective workers in the UK, around 50 percent of them said that they would consider turning down a job offer if they didn’t like the offices at the target firm. Companies, therefore, need to think carefully about how their places of work appear. It’s not enough to shove everyone in cubicles and hope for the best. You need an environment that sells your company as a great place to work. 

So, how might your office space be letting you down? And what can you do about it? 

The Decor Is Outdated

Traditionally, the decor in offices has been poor. Companies just did the bare minimum to keep costs down. Aesthetics were not an important consideration. They had nothing to do with efficiency and the creation of value – or so they thought. 

Now, though, we know better. Aesthetics aren’t optional – they’re fundamental. The more attractive you can make business premises, the better the work that people perform.

The way things look have a meaningful impact on how people feel. And that inevitably trickles out into their work. The more that they can feel at home on the job, the better will be their performance. 

The Lack Of Natural Light

Natural light is yet another non-negotiable for businesses, and yet many managers still don’t recognize its importance. 

Natural and artificial light are two fundamentally different things. Artificial light is made of totally different wavelengths. It allows people to see what they’re doing, but it doesn’t chime well with their natural wake-sleep cycle. And that can have harmful knock-on effects for their work. 

Solving this problem will depend very much on the layout of your office. Where possible, try to allow natural light to enter the space. If you have the opportunity to install skylights and mirrors, do so. 

The Unhygienic Bathroom 

While your regular working areas might be perfectly pleasant, your bathroom could be a disgrace. If it is, then you might want to read more about commercial bathroom cleaning and sanitizing from Grime Scrubbers. They talk in-depth about all the problems that businesses face in their restrooms, and what you can do to fight the rot. 

Remember, workers don’t like unhygienic workspaces. They want to be able to go to the lavatory during the daytime without feeling as if they’re risking a nasty cholera infection. 

The Broken Furniture

Office furniture is the most abused in the world, so there’s a high chance that, somewhere in your office, there lurks a swivel chair well past its use-by date. And when it comes to the happiness of your staff, that’s a big problem. Remember, your people rely on this furniture day in, day out. They want it to work. If a chair or desk doesn’t do what they want it to, it can annoy them and lead to reductions in performance. 

The good news in all of this is that creating a better office space is much easier than you think. Often just a few alterations are all you need. 

© New To HR