• Workplace wellbeing is critical for both the physical and mental health of employees, as well as their productivity and output. Addressing stigma and creating supportive working conditions is crucial.
• Effective office design plays a significant role in supporting staff wellbeing. Factors like physical comfort, aesthetics, mental health support, and encouragement of health and fitness should be considered.
• Measuring workplace wellbeing can be done through surveys and feedback from employees to assess the impact of changes and ensure their voices are heard in the decision-making process

Health, fitness, mood – it’s not just our home life that affects these factors. The workplace is also a big player in influencing our physical and mental health which is why an appropriately designed environment is so important.

If you’re managing an office space, or are in the planning phase of building a new workplace, this piece will explore how careful design and smart foresight can help you get the best from your employees.

Why is workplace wellbeing important?

Workplace wellbeing is not just important – it’s critical.

We all spend a huge proportion of our lives at work. If this environment is not a comfortable, nurturing and caring one, this will reflect in the mental and physical states of workers, as well as the quality of their output.

However, mental health and wellbeing is still fairly stigmatised in many workplaces. For example, a survey run by McKinsey highlighted that, out of the surveyed participants, around 52% considered there to be ‘some to moderate’ levels of stigma in their workplace, while a further 18% reported feeling ‘high levels’ of stigma.

As such, it’s imperative that employees can see their employer making concerted efforts to increase awareness and advocate for mental health, while also creating working conditions that are supportive to physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

There is a big business advantage to this goal too; a happy, healthy and focussed workforce is not only beneficial to individual staff members but is likely to improve the smooth, effective running of a company as a whole.

Can office design support staff wellbeing?

Humans respond to the environment we’re placed in – either negatively or positively.

At work, we want to feel physically comfortable, part of a team and with access to plenty of spaces that can adapt to our changing moods, creative mindsets and workload needs.

Achieving this flexible, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing office starts and ends with effective office design – it really is the root of everything. Here at Arc Business Interiors, we are a full office design and fit out company who create functional, flexible workspaces that are tailored to your business needs. Simply discuss your requirements with our experts who can collaborate towards a space that supports staff wellbeing.

4 factors to improve workplace wellbeing

There are four key elements that should be addressed when transforming an office to support employee wellbeing.

Let’s explore them.

• Physical comfort: Temperature, light and noise levels should have the ability to be easily regulated by the workforce to guarantee personal comfort. A noisy, dimly lit office with unresponsive aircon will lead to an uncomfortable workforce who will not produce their best work. Leading on from this, bespoke and ergonomically friendly desks and furniture are vital in supporting the physical health and, consequently, mental health of the people who use them. You may also want to consider standing desk options to give people that extra bit of flexibility. Here at Arc Business Interiors, we provide tailored furniture, lighting solutions and design features to promote privacy and comfort, making sure that the physical health of employees is taken care of.

• Aesthetics: As the years go by, employees are expecting increasingly more from their working environment when it comes to design. By tailoring the aesthetic design and decoration to the company brand and personality, staff members will feel like they are part of a team with a strong identity – encouraging morale and engaging workers more with their working environment. The tasteful presence of plants and artwork has also been noted as boosting concentration and mood levels, too.

• Support mental health: Mental health at work is often about giving staff choice. Responding to somebody’s mood, concentration and energy levels means offering them the flexibility to escape to a lone working pod, or to a collaboration zone to brainstorm ideas with a coworker, or over to a break-out zone for a breather. Simply by providing different zones for different needs will lead to employees feeling like they have the flexibility and freedom to respond to their changing mindsets.

• Encourage health and fitness: A gym is a superb addition to any office, giving employees an easy, accessible space to get fit that eliminates time-consuming travel to another location – not to mention a costly gym membership. The links between physical and mental health are well-known, and so supporting staff in this endeavour is a great step. But if you don’t have the space or budget to create a gym, there are smaller things you can do such as creating a mini-gym, incorporating a tennis table or installing healthier vending machines around the office. A little goes a long way.

Once we’ve implemented this, how do we know it’s working? It all comes down to measurement and surveying.

Can workplace wellbeing be measured?

The best way to measure workplace wellbeing is to ask your employees. You could do this before and after the changes have taken place, to help get a sense of their impact. It’s always wise to make this survey anonymous to ensure entirely honest answers.

Whatever you decide to do, including the employees who will be affected by the changes is paramount – after all, they are the ones who should inspire and guide the direction your office takes.

Without their opinions, it’s all just guesswork.

Here at Arc Business Interiors, we create office interiors that are designed around you. Thanks to our concept-to-completion service, an office space can be reimagined and built to the needs of your space and staff, incorporating design solutions which support wellbeing, such as breakout zones, gyms and the physical comfort of employees through bespoke furniture. To find out more, simply get in touch with our expert team.