Are your associates not as productive as they could be? Is your office morale dragging?

While some companies promote employee morale and wellness through discounted gym memberships and healthy foods in the breakroom, another option is to take a look at your office design. According to the authors of Ethonomics: Designing For The Principles Of The Modern Workplace, the slump in our offices can often be solved by taking a different approach to office design.

How to promote wellness through office design.

Incorporate natural lighting to improve brain function and productivity.

According to the Harvard Business Review, access to natural light is the number one perk that employees crave. This even outranks perks such as onsite cafeterias, fitness centers and on-site childcare.

Harvard Business Review also found that the absence of natural light and outdoor views hurts the employee experience. More than a third of employees feel that they don’t get enough natural light in their workspace. 47% of employees admit they feel tired from the absence of natural light or a window in their office and 43% report feeling gloomy because of the lack of light.

In addition, research has found that workers in daylight office environments reported a 51% drop in the incidence of eyestrain, a 63% drop in the incidence of headaches and a 56% reduction in drowsiness.

All-in-all natural light is incredibly important to keeping your employees happy and healthy.

Encourage movement to promote health and employee interaction.

Did you know that during an eight-hour workday you should only be sitting for two hours at most? According to a study by biochemist Jack P. Callaghan, PhD, he found that employees long-term goal should be to stand more than you sit.

Why is moving so important? 1. It promotes better posture and passive exercise, leading to fewer health risks. 2. Employees are more alert after taking a walk or talking with a colleague, leading to increased productivity.

To promote movement in your office consider:

• implementing standing desks
• adding an on-site workout facility
• encouraging standing or walking meetings
• centralizing printers and other communal resources so that associates are forced to walk a distance to them
• and providing varied work spaces and collaboration areas.

Create flexible designs that can change when needed.

With the rise of telecommuting and startups, having a flexible workspace has become more important than ever. Workstations that convert into standing desks, movable walls and areas that can serve as meeting rooms and lounges are just a few examples.

Having a flexible design and flexible office furniture can help you easily reconfigure your workplace as your business grows and gives your associates privacy when needed.

Where do you start with a commercial renovation?

Start by contacting an office remodeling company. Office remodeling companies, like Indecca, specialize in commercial renovation and can give you guidance on the best ways to retrofit your space to increase office morale and productivity.

Ready to get started? Indecca is a commercial renovation company in Columbus, OH, servicing all of Central Ohio.