5 Surprising Ways Tech and Décor Affect Employee Productivity
Improving productivity in the workplace is the Holy Grail of business success. When employees are more productive, employers spend less money while also increasing their profits. When they can increase employee productivity without stimulating a burnout or drop in morale, the goal is achieved.
Employers often look at options like streamlining workflows to improve employee productivity, but here are some simple and surprising ways that your tech and your décor can improve the productivity in your office.
1. Desk Organizers Save You Hours Per Week
How many times a day do you find yourself combing through your desk to find a paperclip, a pen, or a post-it note? Sure, the paperless office is a good goal, but for many offices, these office supplies are still necessary, and probably will be for some time in the future.
Instead of having desks with big drawers where items are constantly lost, equip workstations with desk caddies and organizers that hold paperclips, highlighters, pens, dry erase markers, and whatever other supplies are commonly used in your office. These can be simple and utilitarian, or they can be carefully chosen to add to the overall beauty of your office. Make sure someone is in charge of resupplying them regularly so that you don’t end up with half-full organizers cluttering your office space.
2. Natural Daylight Encourages Focus
The more natural daylight your office has, the better. Studies have shown that getting exposure to natural light during the workday helps employees stay more focused and productive during the day while getting more and higher quality sleep at night. This cycle perpetuates itself; an employee who is well rested is more likely to be productive at work.
If your office can be designed with plenty of natural light, either through windows or skylights, it should be. If for some reason natural light is impossible, overhead lighting needs to be carefully chosen with an eye towards mimicking natural light as closely as possible. With LED bulbs and different color controlled light sources on the market, there’s no excuse for forcing employees to work under buzzing yellow fluorescent lights ever again.
3. Up-To-Date Tech Saves You Weeks Every Year
We live in a time where people debate about space programs and whether self-driving cars should be legal. However, there are so many businesses that don’t even consider advanced technologies or time management as a solution. How much time do your employees spend waiting to clear a paper jam in an old copier, waiting for a program to load on an old computer, or waiting for files to be accessed from an old server? The more tech that exists in an office, the larger these problems tend to get.
Tablets, office phones, smart boards, and more are all great tools for the modern workplace, but they need to be kept up to date. Employers should be constantly aware of when tech starts to take more time than it saves, and make sure to keep technology up to date and working properly.
4. Psychology of Colors Benefits Employees
While the influence of colors on employees is largely cultural and can be difficult to pin down, there is plenty of evidence that being in colored, beautiful environments absolutely has a positive effect on employee mood. Even the influence of furniture colors is important to creating a productive work environment.
It is important to be culturally sensitive regarding colors, however, this might be a difficult task when taking into account multiple cultures. For example, the color red signals passion and power to many Americans with European heritage. For those from other cultures, the color can signify purity, good luck, an old and outdated regime, or mourning. Before deciding on the appropriate colors for office decoration, make sure you’ve taken local culture into account.
5. Well-Ventilated Workplaces Increase Productivity
How often have you sat in a stuffy, overheated room, and found yourself unable to focus, concentrate, or even stay awake? The problem is universal, and the solution is a better ventilation unit.
Not all offices can feasibly have open windows (and open windows can cause separate allergy problems), but designing an office with high-quality ventilation that keeps air fresh and temperature controlled will help employees stay focused and engaged at work.
Tech and office décor have a direct influence on how your employees feel when they’re at work; how they feel has a direct effect on their productivity. It’s not enough to say that employees who are in a good mood will do better work, but the connections are still present. Employees who enjoy their work and their workspace are going to focus more on work and less on distracting themselves from their jobs.
Make the workspace functional for all types of employees with collaborative and private work areas, different levels of lighting and noise, and great choices of color and design, and you will see immediate results.
