Office Design for Employee Satisfaction

2017 is coming fast and employee satisfaction is the mantra of the workplace. This may be the best time for small businesses to be the leader in employee satisfaction! As a small business owner or manager, you can move much faster to make the needed changes to increase your employee satisfaction.

I have been doing some research and have found quite a few “think tank” and university studies (even from Ivy League colleges like Harvard and Princeton) telling us the basic desires of our current workforce – this includes all 4 generations that are currently in the work place. Baby Boomers may actually want some of the same amenities that the Millennial generation has come to expect and demand.

Some of these desires include:

• The “domestication” of the work place – not my grandparents or even my parents work place but a room to relax, think and share ideas
• No “corner offices”
• Open but private work areas
• Activity-based work centers including technology sharing
• More efficient communal spaces where you can think and rejuvenate
• Ability to work sitting or standing

How does this relate to the sea of tall panel work stations that are still currently in use? What about the break room with plastic stack chairs and no connectivity for power? The conference room that seats 20 and is rarely used by more than 6 people? How do you attract new talent, retain your base workers and not bust your budget?

Start small – remove some workstations to add group work areas; re-think the break room to give it a relaxing atmosphere; re-purpose those corner offices and conference rooms into spaces that rejuvenate your ideas; add height adjustable solutions to existing work stations. If you are bursting out of your current space, please realize that less can be more in today’s work space design.

 

Please contact me by phone or email – I would love to help you increase employee satisfaction.