The design of a workspace is a reflection of the associated company’s image. More often than not, the office environment and layout is the first impression job applicants have of the company, and it plays an important role in their decision whether they would like to become a member of the team. Businesses are, therefore, hiring office refurbishment services and office fit out specialists more than ever, to ensure that their commercial premises provide an accurate and attractive reflection of their company and its values.
It is important to make your workplace aesthetically appealing, well-equipped, and comfortable for all employees. It not only attracts the top talent, but also increases an employee’s morale, productivity, and job satisfaction. Companies like Google and Nike have raised the bar for workplace innovation. It can, however, initially seem like a daunting task if you plan to renovate your workplace to attract highly talented applicants.
Here are some simple ways to design an office that attracts top talent:
Layout Planning
Having a clear layout plan is very important when it comes to remodeling your workspace. A beautiful office might still be uncomfortable for the employees if it is not utilitarian. Applicants may be impressed by luxurious and attractive colour schemes and finishes, but will also take into account how comfortable the workspace is to operate in. You and your office fit out specialist must be careful in choosing the furniture and in deciding how to arrange it. Aisles must be sufficiently spacious, and all employees must have their personal space.
Design and Amenities
Whether you are hiring office refurbishment services to redesign your office or to renovate, ensure that it has a good impact on the productivity and efficiency of your employees. Productivity, efficiency and subsequent return on investment is the number one factor we work to – it has a huge effect on all aspects of your business. Eliminate all the problems that can make someone uncomfortable or prevent them from concentrating. Avoid using over stimulating and distracting colours and textures that bother your employees and keeps them from concentrating on their work.
Use carefully considered colours and appropriate lighting. Buy comfortable chairs and work to integrate tech into your workspace to help create a comfortable space that is a pleasure to work in.
Display Company Culture
The design of your workspace reflects your perceived company culture. Outstanding design will give your company a strong positive perception to potential employees and clients, and all without a word needing to be said. Having a sense of pride and fulfilment in your working environment will also help you feel more ease and confident when holding meetings with clients and job applicants, as you will be able to concentrate on your message without a background worry of how your workspace is being judged.
Design a workspace where people have a choice of different environments. Whiteboards for idea sharing or graffiti, a private booth for independent working, a relaxed lounge style break out area for recharging and employee wellbeing and collaborative tables to think, pair, and share are all examples of different environments in the same office space. By providing diverse environment options, you allow people to choose a working environment that suits their preferred working style and the specific task in hand.
Decluttering
The advent of technology has decreased the paperwork mess that office spaces used to be synonymous with. In the modern era, your workspace has little reason to fill the space with disorganised files and papers. Cluttering can be very frustrating and repelling for an onlooker. Declutter the space and remove equipment that has broken down to give your workplace a neat and organised look.
New Equipment
Whenever and wherever possible, introduce new equipment to your workplace. Productivity greatly depends on the equipment and technology used by your employees. Outdated equipment can hold up your work for hours on end and make your team frustrated. It is important to buy new models of laptops and computers for your office and update the software that is being used by those computers. If your budget puts a restraint on buying new equipment, make sure to repair and maintain the old ones. The same goes for all the amenities in your office. They should be well-maintained and new, if possible.
Whenever and wherever possible, integrate tech as a primary component of your workspace. Productivity greatly depends on the accessibility and speed of technology used by your employees.
The positioning of power sockets, data and Wifi connections can hold up your work for hours, make your team frustrated, and necessitate the use of unsightly and potentially hazardous cabling in order to get the job done. This can ruin the look and feel of the space. It is therefore important to place tech integration and resources as a key part of the design. Even if budget places a restraint on tech integration, intelligent space planning can still optimise usage of existing power outlets, ensuring that every employee has access to the tech they need to work efficiently.
Break Out Zone
The primary purpose for the existence of this space is to be a recharging and inspiring zone for employees. If this is not the case, it can be frustrating and could lead to other spaces being used inappropriately. (e.g. employees sneaking off to eat tuna in the boardroom! ) Providing staff with fun amenities like a foosball table, coffee bar etc. can forge strong positive relationships and a competitive spirit amongst your workforce, and can truly make the difference between withdrawn and timid employees, and a vibrant team with healthy working relationships. As this interior space can be the place to spark inspiration and creativity in employees as well as promote interaction, it is the best suited to bolder use of colour and texture.
Hot Desking
The concept of hot desking came into use in the 1990s. It allows employees to select a place that suits them relative to task’ instead of having one assigned place only. You can use hot desking in your workplace to make the space more flexible. The first-come, first-served in terms of desks can give your employees a better chance to connect with more people and share ideas more frequently.
In addition, hot desking discourages clutter build up and fixed mindsets, and encourages more open and accountable thinking which accelerates productivity and gives a sense of unity and pride to the whole workforce using the space.
Thinking holistically can be very beneficial when planning your workplace design. However, keep the purpose of comfort and functionality in mind throughout the process. Investing in your office layout is a good idea as long as it promotes creativity and productivity. Design your workspace to be more innovative and attractive for top talent and you will see improved staff performance, which in turn will help power your company to the heights it deserves.
Author Bio
Bryony Shaw is the marketing executive at Spectrum Interior, UK’s leading commercial office design company. Her aim in life is to transform as many interior environments as possible into highly beautiful and functional spaces and make all incumbent dysfunctional eyesores a thing of the past. Synchronising the marketing, sales, purchasing and project management teams, she likes to listen to the needs concerning absolutely any interior.
