Why do we change the location and standard of our office?
There are many answers to this question but most of them are related to the creation of our company’s image outside, its business relations, customer expectations and accessibility for key customers.
Another proof can be the success of a company with which everyone wants to collaborate because its customers are satisfied with the service and it creates permanent relations within the market, which is reflected by the standard, location and technological furnishings in the office. And it doesn’t have to be the best or the most expensive, but it should meet expectations of the customers and market where we operate.
Furthermore, a company creates a certain image as an employer by influencing its employees and competitors. It is the people who build the success of their own organization. Retaining the best of them and/or attracting new customers within the sector will improve the company’s potential for development and success in the future. Even the best product/service or idea needs to be implemented and appropriate actions in the market, which cannot be achieved without a good team of people. It applies to all sectors and organizations of every size, the only variable is time. Some companies become convinced of it sooner while others will have a possibility of changing or responding to certain tendencies. Nevertheless, we all realize it knowingly or unknowingly.
When choosing a new location we must answer questions relating to costs, technical requirements, location, own image (is the standard too high or too low for us?) and we try to adjust all the elements by creating a breakdown of minimum criteria and their importance while searching for a new area for our new office (the present location is also often taken into consideration because it can turn out be still very attractive when the price and criteria are compared). Once we have decided where and how we will operate, we proceed to the next stage, namely office furnishings.
What do we often focus on when equipping an office?
Again, among many answers there are the following: tradition – our experience; dreams and trends – idea of an ideal office where we want to work; technology – technical requirements; organizational structure – location of departments and people, etc. In this regard we hire an architect or we try to find an optimal solution on our own. At the beginning the process seems to be simple, quick and easy. But later it turns out that it is more complicated than we expected. It is difficult to match all the elements of this puzzle so that we are satisfied. Most often we focus on the visual part if all the other aspects are solved. We browse catalogues of many companies and we look at exhibitions to find a solution for us. And then we expect from our architect some ready-made suggestions.
Is it a good and correct approach?
Yes and no. First, when we search for some functional solution we concentrate on the visual side of the interior. For example, office furniture can vary in terms of look and functionality. Based on catalogues we picture our office, but it will never be like that. Not all furniture suits each interior. Moreover, the colours we selected can go out of fashion and after several years they won’t suit us. Even if we work with an architect, we can come across situations when he prepares office arrangement but he does not know the organization and his concept needs to be verified by us. We should remember that the entire process is long and expensive, and a decision on change or extension of a lease agreement or to build a new head office is long-term. And its effects will be felt for a few years. We often do not have much experience in this field because the process is rare. Please note that the process described in brief above is a standard process conducted within each organization.
Did we remember about everything?
Unfortunately not. We forgot about one crucial thing. How will our employees work in our new office? To what extent will it be a healthy office? Please verify the following issues:
- Does our office look nice on paper/in the rendering or is it adjusted to each individual employee?
- Can each of the employees individually adjust elements of the furnishing to his own needs and physiology?
- Are the suggested solutions technologically advanced enough that the key people within our company will feel motivated in the new arrangement?
We can ask more such questions but someone can ask – for what? It just pays off. We often look for solutions that motivate people. We look for solutions that make our employees more effective. Below we present two examples that reflect similar yet different solutions (for simplicity purposes we assume that the location of departments and work-places is the same):
Example I
A company changed its head office. Due to company colours it chose blue as the main colour for interior. Carpeting and upholstery as well as partition walls were also blue. Office furniture was chosen in darker colours – calvados. The colour looked nice in catalogues and the furniture looked nice in big folders. The company did not pay much attention to office furniture and chose only basic sets among others desks without height adjustment, basic revolving chairs, etc. The price of a basic work-place was 2,500 PLN.
Example II
A company changed its head office. It chose bright colours friendly for employees that do not darken the interior. Due to company colours blue upholstery of revolving chairs was selected so that it suited all the colours inside. A lot of attention was paid to office furniture and to the possibility of adjusting it to each employee separately. Revolving chairs were especially comfortable. The price of a basic work-place was 3,300 PLN.
What is the difference between these two companies?
There will be an unpleasant work atmosphere in one of them because the colour blue is a cold colour and it will be dark inside due to the colour of furniture. Employees will feel discomfort not only in the mentally but also in the physically because a big contrast between a white sheet of paper and a calvados desktop will make the eyes tired faster. Due to the lack of desk height adjustment some employees will be sitting on a chair too high or too low, which will result in health problems. Comfort in using a chair will be limited. Quality of materials used for manufacture of the furnishings will be low, which will result in uneven cupboards, bad tactual quality of upholstery, desktop, desk, etc.
How efficiently and productively can people work if they feel bad in the interior where they have to work in a forced position sitting on a chair with limited comfort? How often will they use sick leave due to deterioration of their health? How much will they be bound to their employer to achieve the goals and plans? How much will they be involved in their everyday duties if they feel backache and pain in wrists? The answers to these questions seem to be simple. The problem is money. Does it pay to spend more or will the expenditure pay off? The answers can be found in the following articles: Motivation and Health, Health in the Office – Expense or Investment and Office Furniture as an Instrument of Work. We also recommend you to read the text entitled Office Work as a Disease of the 20th Century.
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