Have you ever worked in an office environment that felt like a cave, or had no natural light, or had plain drab colors everywhere you looked? Did you notice a tendency to being more tired or stressed in the atmosphere? I know that I have! What a lot of new studies have shown is a work atmosphere makes a huge difference in productivity. I read this great article in Utah Business Magazine this morning entitled "Office Deluxe" written by Sarah Ryther Francom. It discussed how a company could increase its productivity, decrease its turnover, and create a more positive corporate image by upgrading its work environment.The article quoted Pamela Ballo, business coach at Thrive Living, she discussed the importance of fitting your office to your employees. “Companies that want to be competitive and keep their [employees] have to be flexible and have a positive culture...Work hard to create an environment and culture that actively supports your specific workforce,”.
Francom discussed two ways to make this happen. First was to "Lighten Up". This was accomplished in two ways. First by bringing brighter colors into the work area and more light, preferably natural light. Second was to update the decor, new furniture or even knocking down some walls to give a more open feeling.
The second way was to "Keep it Sizzling" or "Work hard play hard". The article discussed how employees are going to take mental breaks if you give it to them or not, so why not provide an atmosphere that will allow employees to de-stress!
Francom ended the article by discussing the cost advantage in revamping an old, ad equated work environment. She made this point by highlighting the cost of losing key employees and how that can far exceed the cost of a couple buckets of paint or as large an expense as new furniture!
To read the articles in full follow the link below:
http://utahbusiness.com/issues/articles/7583/2008/11/office_delux
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