Office layout can have a significant impact on employee productivity, it has been claimed.
Lorraine Makepeace, head of amazing at The Chemistry Group, claimed that companies can take a number of steps to make the business environment as conducive to hard work as possible.
She explained that in her own company’s office, there is one wall painted lime green and another bright orange.
“We have got our values all around the room. We have got very colourful stools which are all linked to our branding,” Ms Makepeace noted.
“We have coloured chairs and white desks. So, we’re very thoughtful around how we need to have an area that the guys can work in that feels visually right.”
She claimed that this definitely impacts the way employees feel from a creative, motivational and stimulating point of view.
“So, you just feel more energised if you are in a room where there is lots of colour rather than very stark walls or just very plain white walls,” Ms Makepeace added.
In her view, it is also important that employees are given the opportunity to have a say on how the office is designed.
“We’re very collaborative as an organisation. We had an office refurbishment last year so what we did was ask for all of the employees to put in some comments and feedback around what they would like in the office,” she explained.
“As a result of that we then designed the office around that. We as a leadership team made the ultimate decision but we definitely made it with their thoughts in mind.”
Ms Makepeace said the workers are the ones to be stimulated by the working environment, so it is great if they have a chance to have a say.
She noted that her own company uses brightly coloured boxes belonging to each employee to de-clutter the working space.
“It just makes you feel good,” Ms Makepeace claimed.
“For one it looks much better if you come in and the office looks nice and tidy. If you can feel that you are organised and you know what you are doing… it just makes life much easier for you.”
