Healthy Workplaces
The way that people use the workplace is changing and the traditional office needs to adapt in order to provide a healthy working hub for all employees. What can facilities managers do to ensure the mental and physical wellbeing of their teams? Here, Ollie Plastow, Director of commercial interiors specialist, Consensus Workspace, gives some tips.
There is no such thing as a traditional workplace any more.
The last few decades have seen working environments change beyond all recognition, from physical design to HR. Flexible working, co-working spaces, working from home are now all the norm, meaning the traditional shared workspace needs to go that bit further in order to make employees feel more comfortable and work to their full potential.
A healthy workplace is vital in order to ensure your team is happy and can perform their role effectively - facilities managers need their premises to provide comfort and support - and there are a number of ways this can be managed.
Be Sustainable
Climate change is the number one concern for Generation Z. Almost half of UK companies say sustainability is key to their plans and 66% plan to improve their internal practices, according to HSBC’s Made for the Future Report. Your workplace can illustrate your commitment to this through the materials you use. Choose suppliers who incorporate recycled, responsible and reused natural materials – vegan furniture, cotton, hemp, cork, bamboo to help reduce carbon footprints.
Biophilia
Biophilia - the use of nature - is proven to have a positive impact on mental health, with American psychologist Eric Fromm first coining the term in the 1970s, describing what he saw as an innate love of nature in humans. Studies have shown that workers’ quality of life can be enriched by office landscaping: even if plants have no formal function, they lift the mood: and happy workers are more productive workers.
Bring Colour In
Our own boardroom has been filled with colours from the Dulux Colour Futures palette. The pinks and mauves are warm and welcoming and move away from the intimidating cliché of the boardroom. We have a thick multilevel loop carpet tile and this all works together with the aim of evoking a feeling of home, comfort and familiarity. People need to feel relaxed in the office, having got used to home comforts over the last 12 months - if possible, they will need to be replicated.
Get People Out
Zoom meetings have become the norm but face to face is still a great way to get business done - and all that walking we’ve done over the last year should not go to waste! The outdoors needs to be embraced, with walking meetings encouraged and exercise and fresh air incorporated into the working day.
Essential Lunch Breaks
Make sure your team takes proper lunch breaks and get some fresh air. Providing a kettle and a microwave is not enough: if there is room, create an open plan kitchen dining area in which people can feel comfortable creating healthy meals. Provide cold water, fresh fruit and consider having cooking sessions as part of team building activities to encourage healthy eating.
Open It, Zone It
Open plan is more conducive to a good workplace culture. Clever use of plants, paint effects, flooring, and furniture means that these elements, which already provide a role, can now create working areas within one larger space, helping people to feel more comfortable and give privacy where needed.
The communal workplace needs to be healthy. This is not just about work - the enforced isolation of the last 15 months means that for many, this is about company and community, as well as economy. It is about creating a space where people can thrive, feel safe and be productive.
