company culture and the healthy workplace
How to create a corporate culture geared for a healthy workplace or healthy coworking office
Creating a healthy workplace or healthy co-working community culture
It can be hard to draw general conclusions about the state of workplace culture at a country level or indeed industry because ultimately it comes down to brand culture above all else.
Each organization and its leaders have the power to create their own distinct way of working, perhaps rallying behind a visionary mission statement for example, or defining a set of values designed to guide staff towards some higher goal.
That said, there is a tangible sense that Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) principles are now taking hold like never before and, in some cases, are already well embedded in the workplace experience.
a return to the office post-Covid
Post-Covid we are seeing a range of different approaches to the return to the office, some hard-driving bosses insist on 100% staff presence, full time at their desks, while others have recognised that the hybrid model is here to stay.
Creative industries and start-ups, as well as other more youthful corporate cultures have been early adopters of new approaches to both working from home and flexible hours.
The role of ESG in worker wellbeing
Bigger picture, we’re seeing a real surge in interest in connecting the indoor office environments with Environmental, Social & Governance strategy. In other words, placing People and worker wellbeing closer to the centre of a company wide ESG plan.
So whereas before there was more pressure from below, there is now almost a perfect storm whereby investment groups, VCs and pension funds want to see a plan in place for a transition to a more ESG-aligned business, if it wasn’t there already. This is partly to future-proof their investments in business, partly in a response to the events of the past two years.
On the other sie, HR teams are rightly pushing for a healthier work environment, from indoor air quality, to lighting, nutrition, access to nature, acoustics plannings and so on.
If there is a silver lining to the massive shake-up the world of work has been through during Covid, it is the fertile soil it has left behind for playing catch-up in offices that were stuck in the 1980s without any worker wellness priorities in place.
Evaluating worker wellbeing in the workplace
In term of how we put numbers on that, it's typically a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, so we may combine indoor air quality monitors allowing for a deep dive analysis in real time of exactly what's going on around the workplace at any given time for example with a workplace satisfaction survey.
Biophilic design & healthy design in the office
The benefits of biophilic and healthy design in the workplace might include improving the purity of the indoor air with enhanced ventilation filters, air purifying plants and removing any chemical-laden materials, fabrics or furniture believed to be off-gassing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
Even simple 2.5m-3m walk-off mats at a building entrance can help curtail the dust and dirt brought in from outside that is then potentially inhaled by workers later in the day.
Green cleaning & green procurement policies
This same biophilic concept can go all the way through to a workplace cleaning policy that uses eco-friendly liquids containing no harmful chemicals as a way to. create a healthy building.
From there we expand into a green procurement policy throughout the workplace, so that anything new coming into the office in future, be it cleaning products, whiteboards or new furniture, all aligns with this same principle of removing or reducing harmful VOCs.
If this isn’t done, there’s always a risk of taking one step forward and two steps back, almost without noticing.
For a look at a healthy furniture brand, see the Spanish brand ACTIU.
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
Commercial grade indoor air quality monitors located at least 1m away from windows or air intakes, wall-mounted at head height, are now a tangible reality for any workplace thanks to democratized technology in recent years. We work with RESET AIR as one of their Associated Professionals.
Acoustics in workplace wellness
A bad echo in an open plan space, overheard conversations, a noisy kitchen, a receptionist with an especially loud voice, there are any number of acoustic landmines waiting for us in the workplace, so how those interiors are designed and what acoustic, sound-absorbing materials they implement can make a considerable difference on worker productivity.
Get it wrong, and there will be a low-level anxiety present amongst those who prefer quiet, almost silent workplaces in order to do their best work.
Soft surfaces such as furniture fabrics, and upholstery, rugs, carpets, wall or ceiling panels, even dense collections or plants can all help act as sound barriers, reducing the amount of sound bouncing around in an office.
The discussion around open plan vs a return to more cubicles is inherently connected, once again, to company culture, what we can say with certainty is that in the knowledge worker economy there are clearly very different types of task happening at any given time and an office should ideally adapt around that scenario.
In other words, having task specific spaces for deep work, others for collaboration, and still others for taking a quiet moment to recharge the batteries alone or with a colleague is now the gold standard in office layouts and workplace design.
Active design in a healthy workplace culture
For anyone who has been hiding under a rock for the past decade, sitting at a desk all day long is simply not good for our mental or physical health, it leaves us with reduced mobility, back pain and an unhealthy aversion to moving around as much as possible whilst at work.
Active design can include creating those different task specific spaces around an office as a way to encourage workers to move from one to another as they change tasks.
A company culture that encourages that, is implicitly encouraging a little extra movement as well. Easy win.
A company culture that either implements standing meetings or makes it acceptable for staff to stand during a meeting is also doing its part in fighting back against sedentary workdays.
Going a step further, literally, would be to encourage walking meetings of 2-3 people as a way to take in some fresh air, find a different perspective on a problem or simply to find a more personal, one on one moment outside of the classic ‘face to face around a table’ meeting scenario.
That can happen from the C-suite down, in fact if it isn’t seen in company leadership, it is unlikely to stick, except for the more renegade thinkers. And thank goodness for them!
Standing desks in company culture
For anyone who's ever experienced back pain at work or on long flights, just being on your feet several hours each day, perhaps with a small mat under your feet too for comfort, makes a massive difference to. energy levels, and removes the back pain issue for those hours at least but it can also help avoid the mid-afternoon energy dip.
A sit-stand desk with a stool that can change height is going to allow for moments of deeper concentration as well as for example taking a phone call standing up or doing admin work standing. Once you are standing, it is so much easier to move around your workspace, almost without thinking.
Smart lighting in a healthy office
Strategically using blue-white light on our desks when energy levels are low and you need your A-game is now as easy as adjustable a dimmer on a smart light, such as those made by the Philips HUE, amongst others. As a general rule though, we want softer amber hues after ark in order not to. disrupt sleep patterns at night.
Being sensible about exposing oneself to natural light is a simple but effective way to maintain energy levels at work as well, just being near a window with a view can help give us a mini energy boost, rather like taking 20 minutes of sunshine outside, but on a smaller scale!
Air purifying plants and indoor air quality
The use of a variety of different air-purifying plants in a workplace, advanced HVAC carbon filters, on-desk mini air purifier units, operable windows, the options for enhance ventilation and improved indoor air quality are more now readily available than ever before. There are no excuses for poor quality air in an office anymore but if we don’t measure it, we can’t improve or troubleshoot!
Movement snacks at work
We all have an opportunity when we work from home to play a bit more with our day and how we divide our time so we can try to find space for just five minutes of movement as a way to prevent fatigue or simply to break away from an intense task.
Be it jumping on a trampoline, doing a little yoga, burpees or jumping jacks, it’s all beneficial and it helps to reset energy levels that may otherwise flag at certain times of day.
Equally, the company culture can help to inform staff about their options here, most may not think to do something as wacky as this but just shaking you arms and legs out for a couple of minutes (ideally in the fresh air or by a window) makes a difference, everyone should try it!
Think of it like a healthy and nutritious movement snack, you have it with you wherever you go and at any time of day - it’s an empowering thought
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