How do you feel about going to work every morning? Do you feel excited to start your day or feel exhausted even before the day starts? If your answer is the latter, it might be because of the environment at your workplace.
Not many people employers focus on making their offices warm, welcoming, and comfortable for their employees, and the result is highly demotivated, exhausted, and frustrated employees. Although the mindset of employers has shifted from being business-centered to employee-oriented, there are still some employers who see their employers as machines whose job is to work non-stop throughout their shift at work. They don't realize that by not taking care of their employees' comfort and health, they're only putting themselves in the face of failure in the long run.
Read this blog post to learn the benefits of adapting an employee-centric approach to your workplace and how you can make your workplace comfortable for your employees.
Benefits of Making Workplace Comfortable for Your Employees
If your office space is equipped with conventional furniture and features an old layout and design, the chances that your employees aren't comfortable and happy at work are high. You may wonder how employee comfort and happiness are a matter of concern for you. Well, let's have a look at how.
Comfortable Employees are More Productive
Employees who aren't comfortable at work will be constantly distracted. Let's say the chairs you've got in your office are too hard for the employees. Sitting in such a chair will hurt the user's back, affecting their productivity. On the other hand, when employees are comfortable at work, they'll be able to focus on their work better and deliver high-quality results in less time. Their productivity will be at its highest, which will only mean good results and higher profits for the business.
Comfortable Employees are More Proactive
Employees who are comfortable at work will be fully focused on their work. This means they'll be more aware of the situation at work and will be able to oversee challenges before they present themselves, and therefore, will work out possible strategies proactively. It'll reduce the hiccups and ensure timely deliveries and precise, error-free results. And when the work is completed in time with little to no errors, your business will flourish at the end of the day.
Employee Comfort Reduces Your Costs
Now that's something you may not be able to make sense of right away. How does working to make employees comfortable reduce costs for you? Working on employee comfort means providing the employees with the right equipment that doesn't cause them discomfort and pain. If employees continue to work in uncomfortable conditions, they're at a high risk of developing work-related health conditions. And if an employee falls sick, it'll increase your healthcare costs. Also, sick employees are more likely to take more days off, resulting in missed deadlines and lost business.
Comfortable Employees Tend to be Happier
Won't you feel happy at your workplace if you're comfortable there? You wont feel exhausted and fatigued at work. Instead, you'll feel fresh, active, and more willing to go to work every morning. This is what a comfortable workplace does to employees.
If your employees are comfortable at work, they'll be happier, more productive, and highly responsive. They'll stick around you for longer and will put their heart into their work, knowing that you care about their comfort. The happier the employees are, the more productive they'll be, and the better the outcomes for your business will be.
How to Make Workplaces More Comfortable for Employees?
Now that you know how making your workplace comfortable for your employees can benefit you, it's time to look into ways of achieving a comfortable workplace.
The key to a comfortable workplace is simple; prioritize workplace ergonomics. When you meet all ergonomics standards, your workplace will be truly comfortable, safe, and healthy for all your employees.
Designing an ergonomic workplace is a work in progress and won't happen overnight. It requires you to consider various factors and implement various measures.
We'll walk you through how you can improve your workplace's ergonomics and ensure that your employees are comfortable and happy at work!
Replace Your Furniture
The biggest element that causes discomfort to your employees is the furniture. Conventional office furniture only served one purpose, and that was to provide a place for employees to sit and work. However, today, employees expect their employees to go the extra mile to ensure they are comfortable at work.
One of the first and the best ways to ensure employee comfort is to replace conventional office furniture with ergonomic one. Get rid of the uniform fixed workstations and the steel frame chairs and invest in ergonomic work desks like L-Shaped Standing Desk (E1L) and chairs.
Ergonomic desks are nothing like the desks you've got in your office right now. These desks aren't fixed. The employees can adjust the height of these chairs to suit themselves. How can you miss out on the fact that not all employees are the same height and work desks fixed at a specific height might be too high or too low for some? If the desk isn't the right height for the user, the user will have to sit in an awkward posture (with the back stretched or curved), and this will make them uncomfortable and even cause pain. What you need are ergonomic work desks that allow each employee to adjust the height of the desk according to their preferences so that they can work comfortably.
An ergonomic chair is the next important piece of ergonomic furniture you need to make your employees comfortable at work. Ergonomic chairs offer divine comfort to your employees. Think of yourself sitting on a chair that feels too stiff or is so high for you that your feet are dangling in the air. Will you be comfortable at work? Will you be able to focus on the tasks at hand? Definitely not!
An ergonomic chair comes with several features that ensure the user is comfortable. The user can adjust the height of the chair to make sure their feet are placed on the floor, change the seat depth so that the seat isn't too small or too big for them, and also adjust the incline of the backrest. With the right adjustments, the user will feel as if the chair was made for them only. Ergonomic chairs promote neutral posture, and this ensures the user is comfortable.
Provide a Foot Rest
If your legs are dangling in the air, the vessels behind the knees will get pressed, which will not only cause discomfort but also be painful if you're sitting for long hours. According to ergonomics standards, your feet should be placed flat on the floor when you're seated. If investing in ergonomic chairs for all employees isn't an option, you should provide all your employees a footrest stool so that they can rest their feet and save themselves from the discomfort and pain at work.
Replace the Keyboard and Mouse
Typing on the keyboard and clicking on the mouse all day long is bound to hurt the wrists and fingers. Typing on a regular keyboard with the wrist bent at awkward angles is extremely uncomfortable, and it can slow down the typing speed by a great deal. If you really want to make the office a comfortable place for your employees, we will suggest you replace the keyboard and mouse with ergonomic options.
Ergonomic keyboards feature a unique design that encourages the user to rest their wrists comfortably while they type. The keypad of an ergonomic keyboard is divided into two sections, each at a different angle, to allow the user to place their hands in a more natural and comfortable position when typing. Using an ergonomic keyboard also reduces the risk of work-related repetitive strain injuries.
As far as ergonomic mice are concerned, their buttons are softer and more sensitive so that the user doesn't have to press them too hard. Using an ergonomic mouse feels like a breeze!
Design Relaxing Rooms
Experts recommend taking short breaks from work to relax. One way to ensure your employees don't get exhausted at work is by designing relaxing rooms where the employees can lie down for a bit or simply engage in casual, un-official chatter. This would help employees de-stress and relax and return to their workstations all freshened up! This will also help employees ease out and feel comfortable at work.
Closing Word
It's the little things that matter. If you take the right steps to make your employees feel comfortable at work, they'll be more willing to go the extra mile for you. Ensuring employee comfort today isn't so difficult. You just need to invest in the right office equipment, and that's about it.
