Everyone wants their office to be the best it can be and ensure it’s an ideal office environment their employees will enjoy working in. Beyond giving your office a makeover with a new fitout, there are so many other ways to go about improving your workplace, but many of those solutions can come at a cost.
That’s why we’ve hand-picked five unique ideas and business practices that won’t cost the earth to lift your workplace up from something average to something extraordinary.
1. Positive Work Culture
Often, it’s not ‘things’ your office needs, but a changed mindset or workplace culture to get your business heading in the right direction. According to redii, the first step towards creating a positive work culture and a great place to work is to really take notice of the value each employee brings to the business, make sure each employee is aware of the value they provide and give them a clear purpose.
This will make the employee feel like a valued member of the team. Recognition and positive reinforcement will also push your employees to do their best in their roles. It will also encourage employees to treat each other in the same way.
It’s also vital that everyone at the business can celebrate as a team when success is achieved. Team get-togethers and bonding rituals bring your staff closer together and foster workplace friendships, which will, in turn, result in them working better together.
2. Pleasant Smells
Introducing pleasant smells into your workplace can do wonders to lift the mood of your employees and create an ideal office environment. Essential oils are a great way to invigorate a workplace with sweet smells that can help to evoke positive moods, stimulate socialisation and help with focus and clarity in a stressful situation.
At Future Fitouts, we diffuse oils in our office every day for concentration, memory, clarity and focus. Lemongrass is our favourite! According to the American College of Healthcare Sciences, rosemary, bergamot, geranium and clove are other wonderful scents that are perfectly suited to the workplace. Want to learn more about essential oils, have a read of this great article prepared by Autism Parenting Magazine.
3. Music and Sounds
Sometimes too much silence can be just as detrimental to productivity as office noise. Allow employees to have access to headsets so they can listen to music at their desk while they work.
According to Helpscout, music makes repetitive tasks more enjoyable. Music can also act as an escape in a noisy workplace. However, not every type of music will suit every type of work you do. Some forms of music, particularly fast paced music, could impede productivity while song lyrics can be too distracting, particularly for intensive work. Sound masking with ambient noise and natural sounds in particular such as waves at the beach or rainforest sounds have been shown to improve concentration.
Did you know that the frequency of the music and sounds you listen to also has an impact? Research has also shown that music frequencies between 432Hz and 528Hz can help to provide optimal happiness and productivity.
4. Improved Comfort
It’s important to maintain an ideal office environment that’s comfortable for your employees to work in. It doesn’t help anyone if every staff member is practically sitting on top of each other because cubicles are too close together and small. This could easily be fixed by changing the layout of your office desks so employees have some more breathing room.
It’s just as vital to keep the office clean and tidy. Appearances matter and employees should be encouraged to take pride in how their workplace looks. When an office is clean, tidy and free of clutter, it’s far more comfortable to work in.
Employees should also be allowed to personalise their own cubicle. Your employees spend most of their day sitting at their desk, and by giving them the freedom to customise the space with items they enjoy, they will claim more ownership of that space and feel more comfortable in it.
5. Office Perks
Office perks and kind gestures can go a long way towards boosting the mood and increasing positivity in the workplace. All the little office extras such as a water cooler, casual Fridays, free coffee and tea, a weekly fruit box delivery and regular company events can go a long way to show your appreciation for your staff.
Listen to your employees and ask them for input when choosing which new items, processes or perks should be included in the office.
Having office perks also makes your company more desirable to work for, allowing you to attract more competent and valuable employees.
Create a Better Workplace
This is just a small insight into the opportunities available to create an ideal office environment.
All these elements will greatly complement any new fitout you receive to further boost the quality, productivity and mood of your workplace environment.
When paired with a new office design and fitout, not only will your workplace look new, but it will feel new too. Get in touch with the team at Future Fitouts to learn more about how an office fitout can improve productivity in your workplace. Call us on 1300 368 461 or get in touch with us online today.