Richard AgamaSlowly but surely, white-collar workers around the country are heading back to the office. Working from home has posed challenges for employees, employers, and hardworking IT departments. There’s a lot that businesses can learn from the sojourn to the home-based work space. Exploring how to design a healthier office that attracts employees will go far in keeping your workforce under one roof again.
Make Space for Exercise and Relaxation
One benefit of working from home is that workers have increased freedom to get up and move around—maybe even turning “work from home” into “work from patio” while still getting the job done. As we return to our cubicles and bring more work into the work-life balance, it’s important to make sure that we maintain space to move around or simply seek some peace. Provide a comfortable environment for office workers by providing on-site exercise options or relaxation rooms. Whether they keep everyone mentally well-rested or physically active, the benefits should trickle down to productivity.
Standing Desks
Part of how to design a healthier office space starts right at the work areas themselves. Staying seated all day is deceptively hard on the body. The human body is meant to move around, and 40 hours a week sitting at a desk in conjunction with commutes and idle leisure time adds up to a dangerously sedentary lifestyle. A standing desk can reduce back pain, normalize blood sugar levels, and even lower the risk of heart disease.
More Greenery
You can’t go wrong with adding more plants to the office for a healthier vibe. While the utility of certain plants as natural air purifiers may be a bit overstated, the aesthetic value is hard to ignore. Not only does a more verdant office feel like a healthier one, but supplementing a cool-toned color palette of blues and greens with actual plant life can make the office a more pleasant and soothing place. Just make sure the office plants get enough water—there’s nothing healthy about a dead, desiccated plant crumbling in the lobby.
Opt For LED Lights
Want better illumination in the office? Allow us to shed a little light on the subject. For energy efficiency and unrivaled brightness, the smart choice is not fluorescent lighting, but light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. LEDs eliminate the garish cool color temperatures of fluorescent bulbs as well as the persistent halogen hum that drove so many of us mad in high school. LEDs are an eco-friendly alternative to competing light sources at a time when environmental friendliness has never been more pertinent. More sensitive employees will appreciate the peace and quiet of LEDs.
