If you employ a team, the health and well-being of everyone in your office should be incredibly important to you. Keeping your staff healthy and happy is a caring and considerate thing to do, but it can also benefit your business.
While you can’t control what your employees do outside of work, there are some very simple changes that you can make in the office that can have a positive effect on everyone’s health and well-being.
Why You Should Find Ways to Improve Health and Wellbeing in Your Office
A healthy and happy team will stick around, lowering employee turnover and increasing loyalty. They’ll work more productively getting more done in the time they are in the office. Being happy also means that they’ll be less stressed out, and more comfortable and the quality of their work will improve. A healthy staff is also less likely to take time off sick, which can be costly for your business.
Below is a look at some of the simple changes that you can make in your office, which will improve the health and well-being of everyone who works there.
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Invest in The Right Office Chairs
We sit on office chairs for a massive amount of our time at work. Yet so often they are cheap, uncomfortable, and offer no support. Over time, this can lead to back pain, neck stiffness, and headaches, and no one works their best when they are uncomfortable.
Investing in supportive office chairs, but also considering each individual’s specific needs and remembering that the same chair won’t suit everyone, is one of the best things that you can do for your team.
Consider an Ergonomic Desk Setup
Ergonomics is the art of fitting an office to a user’s needs. The office furniture should offer support and reduce discomfort. Small things like keyboard height to reduce the risk of wrist pain are good ergonomics. Desk chairs play a big part in creating an ergonomic office, but the desk height and size can be equally important.
Branch Furniture offers a range of ergonomic office furniture, but also this informative guide on ergonomic desk height. Branch suggests a great option is investing in adjustable height desks, to help you find the perfect ergonomic desk height for each employee.
Add a Standing Desk Option
Standing desks are great for health, fitness, and mental health. But they don’t work for everyone. If any members of your team have joint or mobility issues, a standing desk isn’t ideal. So, consider offering standing desks as an option, but don’t replace all of your seats.
Maximize Natural Light
Natural light improves our mood, increases productivity and energy levels, and helps us to get more vitamin D, which is great for our health and wellbeing.
In a rented office space, there’s not always much that you can do about light, but small things like making sure the windows are clean, their surroundings are clear, and any blinds or curtains can be opened fully can make a big difference.
If your office is small, adding mirrors and other reflective surfaces can be a great way to reflect the light that gets in, increasing brightness and helping the office to feel more spacious.
Add Houseplants
Houseplants improve mood, but they can also improve the atmosphere and air quality in an office. It’s best to stick to easy-to-care-for plants, and if you are short on space, it’s worth making sure your plants aren’t going to grow too big.
If you have client-facing areas and waiting rooms, adding plants can help make visitors feel welcome and help you to make a good first impression.
Encourage Personal Touches
Personal touches help us to feel comfortable and safe. Encourage employees to bring in things that make a space their own, even if it’s just mugging in the shared kitchen.
Stock Up on Healthy Drinks and Snacks
Healthy drink to take away
At work, there’s often a temptation to fuel ourselves with coffee and unhealthy, easy snacks. But these typically lead to an afternoon energy slump and could ultimately contribute to weight gain and associated illnesses.
Try to fill your kitchen or fridge with healthy snacks that are easy to grab, as well as a range of healthy, sugar-free drinks and smoothies to keep everyone hydrated.
Create an Open Plan Space
An open-plan office can be a great way to encourage good team spirit and boost morale and productivity. It can also encourage openness and honesty. Your employees are more likely to talk to you and their colleagues if they have a problem if you aren’t all shut behind doors.
If you can’t have a fully open plan office, make sure there’s at least a communal workspace, separate from the break room, where everyone can come together to work creatively on projects.
Improving health and wellbeing in your workplace should be a priority because you care about the people that work for you. But there’s no denying the positive effect it could also have on your business. Making some of these fairly small changes can have a huge impact.
