Not many employers are aware that the environment of their workplace can significantly impact their employees' mood, morale, productivity, and efficiency. Most employers are still conditioned to make their employees work like robots, that is, non-stop from 9 am to 5 pm.

Not ensuring a healthy workplace environment is one of the biggest mistakes that you might be making that's costing you your business. If you have never given much thought to how the type of furniture your employees use at work, the lighting conditions, the temperature inside your office, and the office layout affect your employees' productivity, now's the time you do.

The global recession might not be the only reason for the consistently poor business outcomes. The unhealthy work environment might be keeping your employees from giving their best!

Does the Work Environment Affect Employee Productivity Directly?

Yes. The environment you provide your employees can have a direct impact on how well the employees are performing. You may find it extremely hard to believe, but most of the problems that an organization faces are due to poor work conditions.

The work environment is an umbrella term that encompasses various aspects of an office. Some of the most prominent factors that have a direct impact on employee productivity and efficiency are:

Workplace furniture

Lighting

Temperature

Noise

Office layout

Work schedule (whether employees are given any breaks during work)

Why Invest in Ensuring Healthy Working Conditions

An employee spends most of their day at the office every day. This means that if your office environment isn't healthy, your employees are at the risk of getting sick. The increased risk of sickness isn't the only reason why you must ensure a healthy workplace environment.

There are numerous reasons why we say that it's extremely important (read: necessary) to ensure your office environment is healthy and safe for all your employees.

Healthier Employees

One of the most critical aspects that most employers often overlook is the quality of air and ventilation inside their offices. If there's a lack of ventilation and the air quality inside your office is poor, your employees are at a high risk of developing respiratory tract problems like asthma. It could also mean the worsening of existing respiratory problems. It can also lead to the onset of allergies in susceptible individuals.

If your office environment is making your employees sick, it will result in a greater rate of absenteeism. Absenteeism can cost your business a lot. Businesses lose billions of dollars worth of productivity to absenteeism on average every year.

If you ensure adequate ventilation in your office and install air purifiers and humidifiers or dehumidifiers (depending on your region's weather), you can ensure a higher quality of indoor air in your office, which will reduce the risk of your employees falling sick.

This, in turn, will save your business billions of dollars that are otherwise lost due to employee absenteeism.

Enhanced Cognitive Function

The efficiency of your employees depends on how strong their cognitive abilities are. With strong cognitive ability, your employees will be able to assess the problem well, work out solutions around these problems, and ensure there are no unnecessary delays in deliveries. All of this is vital for any business.

However, if your office environment isn't healthy, i.e., the air quality and ventilation are poor, and employees are made to work in physically uncomfortable conditions, there will be a significant drop in their cognitive function.

Their brains will be more focused on the discomfort that their unhealthy office environment is causing them, and they'll fail to work with as much concentration as they need to deliver the required results.

According to a study published in Harvard Magazine, improving the air quality in a workplace improved the employees' crisis response by 131%, information usage by 299%, and strategy by 288%. This can mean an increase in productivity worth thousands of dollars per employee per year, which is huge!

As far as the physical comfort of employees is concerned, OSHA states that there could be an increase in employee productivity by 11% if they were provided with an ergonomic working environment.

Improved Sleep Quality

One may not be willing to accept that office conditions can directly impact the quality of sleep at night. In truth, the two factors are closely related.

One of the most prominent factors of a healthy office is lighting. Research has proven that employees who work in offices where there's plenty of natural light and are bright sleep better at night. The better an employee sleeps at night, the fresher they will be in the morning. And that means enhanced focus and productivity at work.

Efficient and highly productive employees are always an asset for any business.

Active Workforce

Imagine having to go to work every morning knowing that you'll be seated in front of your computer placed in a dull room all day long. Does that make you excited to start your day or make you flinch at the thought of leaving your bed?

Well, that reflects the importance of a healthy office for a business. A healthy office, where the employees are provided ergonomic furniture, the lighting is just perfect, the office design facilitates the employee to focus and concentrate, and the environment doesn't put the employee under any undue stress, is sure to make the employee feel more motivated and naturally dedicated to their work.

The more dedicated an employee is, the better they'll be able to perform, and the better outcomes will be.

Increased Level of Employee Satisfaction

Today, an increasing number of employers are working on redesigning their workplaces to make them more suitable for their employees. There are several reasons for this approach. Firstly, the healthier the work environment, the higher the employee productivity. Secondly, when employees are aware of the fact that their employer is considerate about their well-being, they're naturally inclined toward meeting their employer's expectations the best they can.

Healthy offices enhance employee satisfaction levels, and with that comes higher quality, error-free work, which is just what an employer wants from their employees.

How to Make Your Office Healthy?

Knowing how important a healthy office is for a business, you may be eager to know the ways in which you can make your office healthier and safer for your employees.

Let's look at the many ways you can achieve a healthier office.

Invest in Ergonomic Equipment

One of the first ways to make your office healthier for your employees is by investing in ergonomic office furniture.

This includes ergonomic work desks (standing and sit-to-stand work desks) and ergonomic office chairs. These 2 pieces of office furniture are preliminary items when designing a healthier office.

Other essential ergonomic furniture and accessories that you need in your office include ergonomic keyboards and mice, glare protection on the monitor screens, and adjustable monitor stands like the Bamboo Monitor stand that can be adjusted to set the monitor at the right height and angle for every user.

Ergonomic office equipment ensures that all your employees can work in comfort and that none of your employees are at risk of developing health complications like MSDs and RSI due to poor posture and poor ergonomics.

Improve Your Office Lighting

Office lighting has a much bigger impact than you can ever imagine. It can make your employees feel active and alive, or it can make them dull and unwilling to work.

If you wish to achieve a healthy office design, you should incorporate large windows in your office that allow the influx of natural light. It will make your office appear brighter and will keep your employees active and fresh all day long!

Reduce Distractions

Most offices today feature an open office plan. While this does improve employee collaboration and engagement, it also causes a lot of distractions for individuals who require silence to focus. If an employee is made to work in a noisy environment, not only their focus will be compromised, but their comfort will also be affected, and they may suffer from stress-induced headaches when they aren't able to complete their tasks on time.

One way to address this challenge is to revisit your office layout and ensure that departments that are involved in sensitive and critical work are placed in areas that are quieter. Also, installing soundproofing dividers between different departments will also prove beneficial. You can also incorporate a source of white noise that cancels out the unnecessary background noise in the office and enables the employees to work with utmost focus and concentration.

The Bottom Line

Ensuring a healthy workplace environment is crucial for every business. You can't possibly deny the importance of a healthy office for a business. If you haven't thought about it yet, it's high time you do because trust us when we say that most of your competitors are already on it!