Between home and the office, people spend almost 90% of their time indoors. During this time, urban Indians spend about 54 hours a week or 10.8 hours a day working. That means working professionals spend 50% of their time in the office environment. The office space has an enormous impact on the employees. With organizations increasingly realizing the importance of a physical workplace, it is vital to set new strategies and practices that promote a healthy workplace. To that end, Interio by Godrej has worked extensively with several organizations on workspaces that focus on wellness and ergonomics. Incorrectly designed and built workspaces hurt employees and thus have a detrimental impact on business.Â
Designing a healthy office building is a multidimensional process that needs to focus on creating healthy spaces and encouraging a healthy lifestyle among employees. To throw some light on best practices, we present a blueprint to help create healthy spaces where occupants can thrive.
Healthy spaces
A building or physical space cannot be solely responsible for changing an individual’s health. But if the environment is conducive and influences align, a multiplier effect will be seen in the individual. Organizations must adopt the below-mentioned strategies to make their workspace healthy:
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Provide varied spaces, lighting, and thermal controls that can help users control and enhance their comfort
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To balance the energy of workspaces, a harmonizing space needs to be created. A space to hit pause like a meditation room or a garden can help restore emotional balance, as well as boost creativity and productivity
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Organizations should also look at adding a comfortable seating area with tables so that the staff can work outdoors when the weather permits
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Workspaces should try to incorporate natural light sources to reduce the amount of artificial light needed, lower electricity costs, and make the workplace more aesthetically attractive to employees
Healthy lifestyleÂ
Organizations need to proactively identify their overarching cultural challenges and holistically design initiatives that address health-related concerns that their employees face. Included below are some aspects that must be looked into while encouraging a healthy lifestyle:
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A key factor in employee health is nutrition. Therefore, to avoid unhealthy eating, vending machines must include healthier options like fruits and cereal bars alongside the usual chips, and colas
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Our Keep Moving study showed that people who remain seated continuously for more than 5 - 6 hours are more likely to suffer from chronic muscular aches and pains compared to those who walk around the office or stretch at regular intervals. Hence, strategies like active seating and standing meetings should be considered
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A workspace that promotes good posture, gentle movement, and easily accessible heights must be designed to create an efficient work environment
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Employees should be encouraged to engage in regular exercise to stay fit. This can also sharpen their concentration and decision-making skills
Workplaces should evolve so that business can progress in either a new direction or be conducted more efficiently. Rationalized workspaces tend to attract and retain better and more diverse talent to serve customers and achieve business success.
Fostering the right culture through wellness initiatives can help an organization attract and retain talented people while maintaining a reputation as a compassionate employer, which is good for business and a priceless benefit for those within the company. Good workplace performance, greater productivity, improved morale, and loyalty, are just some of the important benefits that are sure to follow, with the business's bottom line eventually rewarded.
Now is the time to make workplaces healthy!
Download full whitepaper to read moreÂ
From Interio by Godrej