How to boost employee engagement through office design

Employee engagement is crucial for business success. This is because when employees are engaged, they are typically more productive.

In fact, studies in the past have shown that disengaged workers amount to 37% of absentees. Similarly, disengaged employees are said to be involved in 49% more accidents and make 60% more mistakes than workers that are engaged. If that isn’t enough, 73% of disengaged employees reported that they were looking for new roles!

Employee engagement and satisfaction is key to enhancing a company’s culture and improving its overall performance. Therefore, within this article, we explore how to boost employee engagement in an office design using high-quality office furniture.

Create a sense of community and belonging within the office design

It is said that 40% of people feel isolated when they are at work, and this results in lower commitment and engagement. Did you know that when employees felt they belonged in the workplace, the company experienced a 56% increase in job performance and a 75% decrease in sickness days?

It's true! This goes to show how creating a sense of community and belonging can really contribute to employees feeling more engaged. So how can a sense of community be created? Well, this can be done by designing the office space to encourage interaction and collaboration amongst employees, such as open workspaces, communal break areas, and shared meeting spaces.

To improve interaction and collaboration, implement meeting tables such as our Wright Cowork Desk that is built to support collaborative tasks and is the perfect solution for flexible, agile working environments. We also recommend bringing people together with our new Magro Meeting Table that maximises leg room through a distinctive design creating a comfortable meeting experience for the user.

Encourage movement with height-adjustable desks in the office design

With 70% of today’s workforce claiming they do not feel engaged at work, it’s more important than ever to try and create an office design that improves engagement and influences higher levels of productivity.

This is achievable by encouraging employees to move about more during the day. An ergonomically- friendly workplace should encourage workers to take short breaks in order to stretch, which is much healthier than sitting stationary all day!

Height-adjustable desks are an effective tool to encourage physical movement and results in many health benefits. For example, 47% of people who used a height-adjustable desk reported a significant reduction in upper back, shoulder, and neck discomfort. This is because these desks allow workers to have a choice between working standing up or sitting down, or even a mixture between the two.

At Haiken, we recommend our Wolfe and Flexure height-adjustable desks that are ergonomically designed and feature a telescopic frame that offers endless flexibility.

Provide space for some relaxation and privacy within the office design

While collaboration is important, employees also need personal space. Whether that be to focus on their work or take some time to relax and have a break from their desk. After all, offering employees a space to retreat to away from their desks can help to reduce wellbeing issues such as backache and eyestrain, as well as relieving common issues in workplaces like stress.

It is said that 95% of today’s employees need private spaces, but 40% said their workplace does not provide them! Providing space for some relaxation can really help towards employees feeling more engaged with their work.

We suggest creating designated quiet areas for employees to unwind. For example, by placing comfortable soft seating that looks inviting such as our new Daaz sofa. Daaz soft seating is designed to encourage others to sit down and feel more at ease. It can be paired with one of our coffee tables to influence a more homely look to the interior design, which will contribute to workers feeling more comfortable when at work.

For those who are looking for some privacy while they work, acoustic sound absorbing pods are an excellent solution as they can block out distracting noises and maintain the level of privacy that 95% of today’s workforce is looking for. For example, our Focus Pod is an easily placed functional screen with an included seat and table that not only creates a calm and snug feeling, but also provides the ultimate ‘focus’ zone – it’s in the name after all!

Similarly, the Scott Phone Booth is not only good for providing a space for private calls, but it can also be utilised as a focus space with its highly ergonomic pod design that has the added bonus of being easily demountable and transportable!

Incorporate nature into the office design

Exposure to nature has been proven to improve employee engagement, productivity, and their wellbeing. Just being around nature increases both self-esteem and mood, especially amongst young people.

According to ‘attention restoration theory’, looking at nature can shift the brain into a different way of processing. For example, researchers studied brain scans of people who were asked to look at images of a green meadow or a concrete roof for 40 seconds. The result was that the brief glimpse of nature was enough to shift the brain into a more relaxed state.

When people are less stressed, they’ll be more focussed and engaged on the work in front of them. After all, a study found that placing plants around the workplace not only increased productivity by 15%, but also improved employee concentration and satisfaction.

We recommend trying our Zorla planter as not only can the top of the wooden box be filled with natural or fake plants to make a decorative piece of furniture, but also it has sound absorbing effects that is perfect for open plan layouts.

Therefore, by incorporating plants into the office design, an improved relaxing and productive environment can be developed.

Designing an engaging office space with Haiken

At Haiken, we have the expertise to help design an office interior that influences employee engagement and satisfaction, resulting in increased job performance for the business. To find out more on how we can assist, feel free to contact our friendly furniture team today.