Is Office Design The Key To Work-Life Balance?

1. A more comfortable workforce will produce better results

The links between employee wellbeing and their productivity are quite significant. It's hardly a secret, in 2012 Google searched for the best way to boost workplace productivity and they discovered that the secret was to be nice to your staff. So make sure that your office design caters to their wellbeing and their needs, not just their role within the company.

With regards to office design and refurbishment, this includes things such as the lighting in the office environment. Whilst it is important to note that you do not want the office space to be too bright, you also do not want the lighting too dim either. Perhaps a useful way to find a good balance is to introduce dimmable lighting, which also has the advantage of giving your employees a sense of control in their workspace. However, don't neglect the importance of comfortable furniture and equipment. After all, your employees need comfortable furniture to sit on, and they need a plethora of office supplies to ensure that they are well equipped for the tasks at hand. For example, if your employees will by typing on keyboards all day, perhaps you could provide a selection of keyboards which are designed to reduce fatigue. Not only will this lessen the impact that typing for long periods of time will have on their hand and fingers, making them feel more comfortable, but as it reduces fatigue, it could have a significant impact on productivity.

3. Provide a working environment, with flexible design at its core

Another key area in which office design can help to provide a healthy work-life balance is through flexible working and the implementation of office spaces designed with flexible working in mind. Flexible workspaces are much more inclusive working environments, they provide help and support to people throughout both their work and life issues. A flexible workspace could be converted to meet the needs of the people who are using it, when they are using it. This not only provides for their workplace needs, but it accounts for their needs during their personal lives. For example, returning parents can benefit greatly from flexible working as they can adjust their work hours to times whilst their child/children are at school. Additionally, it can also be very useful for people suffering from physical or mental health issues, as the flexibility allows them to keep working in an area they feel more comfortable in with easier access to support.

According to the International Workplace Group, flexible working is considered a deal breaker for many in the recruitment stage. In fact, not only did over half of respondents in research say that having a choice of work location is more important than the prestige of the company they are working for, “research shows that 83% of workers around the world would turn down a job that didn't offer flexible working".