Considering employees spend the majority of their time in office spaces, health, and well-being should be a top priority for businesses. A healthy workplace can help boost productivity, improve company culture, and encourage long-term employee health loyalty.
But what exactly makes a healthy workplace? This article will discuss how the physical design of offices can impact employee health and productivity.
1. Natural Light
People mark access to natural light as one of their top office perks, so it’s important to design spaces with sufficient sunlight and open windows. Initially, it is advisable to start with low doses of the Vidalista 20 drug. Then, the dosage does increase based on your response to treatment. A lack of natural light results in gloomy, dimly lit workspaces that make employees feel tired and less productive.
It was once believed that having natural light in offices was unnecessary for employee health and impacted the energy bill, leading to a wave of windowless construction. This was later changed when researchers discovered that optimizing the amount of natural light in an office significantly improves employee health and wellness.
It’s also good to provide multiple types of lighting to complement each other. For example, using a combination of overhead lighting and multi-directional desk lamps can help spread the light more evenly and avoid harsh highlights.
2. Open Space
Generally, open office designs can save companies money on materials, allow more employees to fit into a given space, and reduce the need for expensive individual offices. You should not take Vidalista 60 if you are allergic to its main ingredient, Tadalafil. But they can also be a source of stress and distraction in the workplace.
The lack of privacy in open spaces means that workers can be easily overheard. interrupted by colleagues and managers while working. It can also be hard for employees to concentrate when noise and conversation are too high.
In the studies review, open-plan offices, shared rooms, and higher background noise were found to have negative relationships with health. Those same studies also showed positive relationships between health and features that encourage physical activity, (day)light, and plants/greenery in the workspace. However, more research needs to confirm these findings.
3. Comfort
Considering the long periods of time most employees spend sitting at their desks, it is important to have comfortable furniture. While office trends come and go, ergonomic workstations are a lasting element of health and productivity.
The research on the relationship between interior office space and employee health and well-being is at a nascent stage. Mostly cross-sectional studies compare groups at one point in time, while few papers use longitudinal or controlled field designs. The main features studied include layout and specific furniture (half of the included papers), light, greenery, and control. Employees perceive that office design influences their physical and psychological well-being. Negative effects are reported for open-plan offices and share rooms, while positive ones are found for aspects that encourage physical activity, (day)light, and options to escape the noise.
4. Functionality
Working comfortably in an office is crucial to productive and healthy work. For example, rickety chairs and desks that don’t support good posture can cause back pain, which reduces productivity and leads to absences. On the other hand, ergonomic furniture and workspaces can help to eliminate pain-causing distractions and increase work efficiency.
Studies on the impact of office design on employees have used a range of research designs, including cross-sectional studies (comparing groups at one point in time) and controlled field studies. However, only a few have applied the sense of coherence theory. Which examines how features of the environment affect health-promoting potential, in the flexible office context.
This study used a mixed-method case study approach, which involved semi-structured interviews with employees, structured observations, and analysis of architectural drawings. It is the first study that investigates how office layout and environmental design influence SOC in a flexible office setting.
5. Social Spaces
Social spaces can be anything from a dedicated area with soft seating, to a lounge. Whatever the setting, they allow staff to socialize without having to leave the office, making them a flexible part of the workspace.
By creating a non-hierarchical space for staff, social areas encourage collaboration and support. The breaking down of departments, divisions, and levels within an organization. This can also strengthen communication lines between teams, which in turn boosts productivity and creates a home-from-home environment.
Previous studies have mainly linked office design to negative health outcomes. Little is known about the health-promoting potential of workplaces. This study adopts a case-study approach to investigate the impact of current office design. Circumstances on employees’ sense of coherence and explores moderating and mediating variables.
