The workplace environment has changed significantly from the times when uniformity was the order of the day. Staff generally dressed alike and office surroundings looked largely the same from room to room – but that now isn’t the case.
Health and Wellbeing
Employers are paying more attention to staff health and wellbeing and companies are actively encouraging a level of individuality within the team structure. It’s a great way of aiding wellbeing and has the knock-on effect of helping productivity. One way of achieving this is to allow employees to personalise their workspace by:
- Using their own colourful accessories
- Displaying photos which evoke good personal memories
- Personalising screensavers and desktops
- Having access to music
- Bringing plants into the office
Companies too can play a major role when it comes to how they lay out offices – which is where our team at Chrisbeon can help. We have vast experience in planning office spaces of all shapes and sizes, so why not take full advantage of our expertise and the very latest technology in the form of our Computer-Aided Design service.
A 3D wonder
CAD is a modern wonder in planning, giving a detailed 3D insight into how your office environment will look – meaning you can iron out any problems in the planning stage before pressing ahead with the refurbishment or installation.
You will also need to consider Display Screen Assessments (DSE), a risk assessment that looks at the health risks of working with display screen equipment such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. It’s a legal requirement which applies to workers who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time and is another area our team here at Chrisbeon can help with as we have a qualified DSE assessor on staff.
Office space can also be personalised in the areas of:
- Furniture requirements
- Lighting needs
- Sound
Lighting the way
Depending on the location of a workstation you will need to think about the employee having enough light to work by, with natural light, desk lamps and LED lighting all factored into the equation. There is also a potential problem with too much light becoming at best a distraction and at worse impossible conditions to work in.
You will need to think about the types of blinds best suited to employee needs and your CAD planning again plays a role in deciding where to position workstations within the office for optimum efficiency.
Going for the right equipment
Office desks and chairs need to be personalised to the requirements of the employee. This may include the use of standing desks which can be height adjusted for the individual and sitting desks which help aid good posture.
Chairs are also an important consideration in terms of comfort, practicality and being functional. Office staff probably spend the vast majority of their working day sitting down so need to be able to do that without potentially putting their health at risk.
We stock a wide range of desks and chairs, including ergonomic chairs, which are designed to benefit your employees and minimise the chances of them having to take time off through preventable health problems.
Sounding out the options
The final thing we will look at is the effects of sound on the workplace. Some areas of the office may be too noisy for employees to work effectively while others may be extremely quiet.
Excessive noise affects the ability to interact with colleagues, take phone calls or those live Zoom meetings. Concentration can be easily affected; noise causes unnecessary distraction and mistakes can be made as a result.
Your choice of furniture and where it is placed can help absorb sound and make life a little easier for staff. Upholstered chairs and sofas produce the best results in quietening things down and placing furniture against walls between offices reduces noise levels.
The use of carpets, couches and plants also have the desired effect of reducing sound levels and another good option is the partitioning of areas of the office – particularly between individual staff members.
If you are looking to personalise your offices for employees do get in touch with us about the sorts of ideas and plans that would work for your site – or your employees at home.
