First impressions count. Updating your office space design can boost your brand as well as employee morale. The look and feel of the office affects everything from business performance to employee retention.
Here are three important factors to take into account if you are considering modernizing your office:
1. Boosted productivity and morale
More than two-thirds of U.S. employees aren’t working to their full potential. Such disengagement is costing the country’s economy between $450 and $550 billion in lost productivity per year.
Furthermore, productivity has stagnated over the last few months, despite employees working harder and faster than ever before.
Poor office design could be the crux of the problem. Only 55% of the world’s workplaces provide a productive environment, research reveals.
There are many different ways to boost productivity and morale without breaking the budget on your new office design. A simple splash of color or the addition of some neutral tones can do wonders to invigorate or calm the mood of your office. You could also introduce different office furniture – a ping pong table, comfy sofas or new chairs could really change the atmosphere in your workplace.
If you want to do something more drastic, you could redesign your workplace to incorporate a different range of spaces. Anyone who’s worked in a closed-off cubicle or noisy open-plan office knows how such constraining designs can impact both their day-to-day work and health.
A recent report found factors including better air quality, more natural light and ergonomic spaces to encourage movement can all positively affect your employee wellbeing.
Further research reveals that hybrid spaces with a mixture of office areas designed for different purposes drive collaboration and boost productivity. You could integrate breakout areas, private cubicles, meeting rooms and open-plan layouts, for example. A modular design will also provide more flexibility if you need to change the layout in the future.
2. Attract and retain the best talent
An outdated workplace design doesn’t just harm your internal culture – but your external brand as well. In 2017, one-third of employees were too ashamed of their office to bring back clients or colleagues.
Your employees should be proud of where they work. Speaking in a statement, Trevor Cheung, senior designer for office design experts Morgan Lovell, said: “An organization’s culture does and should impact office design and its culture should manifest itself through design. The crucial thing is that how a company works is reflected in where it works. If your teams constantly communicate, work with each other and there is a constant interaction, it makes no sense to have tiny cupboards separating everyone.”
Many businesses use their workplaces to distinguish their brand and attract talent. Facebook, for example, was named the best workplace of 2018 and its open office layout reflects its high-energy company culture.
There are plenty of different ways to incorporate your company values into an updated office design. For example, most traditional offices isolate staff from the leadership team. During your redesign, you could reflect an inclusive nature by bringing all of your employees together in one space.
A new office layout and design also give you the opportunity to review your existing working practices. It provides the perfect opportunity to introduce new concepts such as agile working or activity-based working.
Outdated offices may also give current staff members the wrong impression. Your employees could think that the company isn’t progressive – and start looking elsewhere. You also may need to change your design to match the needs of your changing workforce by, for example, integrating accessible spaces.
Your office will also leave one of the strongest first impressions when you’re interviewing potential staff members. This is an important point for the millennial generation, who are predicted to make up nearly half of all workers by 2020.
Millennials tend to seek out nontraditional working environments. Google’s campus is another good example of unusual office design, which integrates spaces such as nap pods and indoor climbing walls.
3. Reduce your overhead
An office revamp allows you to integrate new technologies into your space. As a result, you will also achieve cost savings for your company. Research reveals sustainable building designs can reduce your annual energy costs by up to 50%, creating an ROI in five to 10 years.
Sustainable technologies won’t just reduce your energy bills. Further research reveals they also help strengthen your overall office community.
Another joint study between Harvard, SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University found that people working in green environments scored higher on cognitive tests, doing twice as well, on average, compared to individuals who work in environments with artificial light and limited choice.
In conclusion
An up-to-date office will do more than just improve the aesthetics of your space. It will help you to boost the productivity and morale of your current staff, attract top talent and integrate innovative and cost-effective practices into your design.
