Creating a strong workplace environment is vital for a healthy office. In fact, it increases employee morale, productivity, and wellbeing. Fortunately, creating a healthy office doesn’t have to be either expensive or time-consuming.
Working an office job doesn’t have to negatively impact your health. With small changes to your daily activities, workstation, and office space, you can weave exercise, healthy eating and prioritise wellbeing into your workday.
In this Wellspace blog, we’re going to give you our top tips for creating a healthy office as well as showing you the signs of an unhealthy environment.
What Can You Do To Create And Maintain A Healthy Workplace?
We spend a third of our lives in the office working, so creating a healthy workspace and environment can have a detrimental effect on our overall wellbeing. In fact, it helps retain your bright sparks and promotes your company to attract the best talent.
Office Design
Ultimately, employee health should be the cornerstone of workplace design. Companies thrive on the innovation, creativity and abilities of their people, and the repercussions of poor employee health can be enormous.
The workspace is a powerful part of supporting employee performance and enhancing their wellbeing and overall productivity.
4 things to consider when designing your office:
- Air Quality – The air quality in your place of work can have a big impact on our health. The World Green Building Council found that productivity is increased by up to 11% when the air quality is improved.
- Light And Views – When designing your office it’s important to let as much natural light in as possible, avoid placing objects in the way as research has shown poor lighting can lead to headaches and increased tiredness/fatigue.
- Colour Scheme – Colours can be used strategically to promote certain behaviours or feelings in different areas of the office. For example, yellow is seen as an optimistic colour and can be used to help inspire employees in collaborative areas, whereas incorporating the colour green can have a calming effect and is less harsh on the eyes.
- Biophilia – Biophilia is more than just a philosophy, biophilic design has been found to support cognitive function, physical health, and psychological well-being.
Healthy Eating Options
When you’re lacking energy, or feeling low in mood, it’s all too easy to reach for a quick pick me up in the form of an energy drink, chocolate bar or bag of crisps. But frequent snacking on processed, sugary food isn’t going to positively affect your health. In fact, it will do the opposite.
If you have a canteen or kitchen area for your employees, think about ways of how you can encourage them to snack or drink healthier options such as fruit, water, and juices. This will likely make them think about their choices and nudge them into making healthy lifestyle choices as appose to not.
Regular Breaks
Employers must start encouraging employees to take regular breaks throughout the workday – especially lunch breaks. These breaks are essential in helping employees de-stress and re-charge for the rest of the workday. Here are just a few examples of the benefits of taking Regular breaks as appose to just one long break:
- Improve overall job satisfaction
- Increased productivity
- Improved mental wellbeing
- Creativity boost
- More time for healthy habits
Flexible Working
Promoting a work-life balance for employees is essential for a healthy workplace environment. Employers can advocate this by, making sure work is left at the office, encouraging time off and allowing flexible working. Having a work-life balance is not only important for health and relationships, but it can also improve employee productivity and performance.
Creating a healthy workplace environment does not have to be difficult or costly. Something as simple as playing music in the office can raise the dopamine levels in the brain, enhancing the mood of the entire team. If employees are happy in their working environment, they will be more productive and work harder.
Studies show that people who feel more “in control” of their work and work environment are less likely to suffer from stress and illness and see increases in productivity.
Creating A Healthy Office With Wellspace
Create a healthy office with the Wellspace App. Wellspace is on a mission to revolutionise workplace wellbeing. If you’d like more information on how we can help your business, then contact us, or if you prefer, call us on 0808 178 0748.
We are a team of wellbeing experts who thrive off offering guidance and support on issues that will inevitably take place in your company at some time.
