Designed for more: Boosting productivity at our workplaces

Employees are the backbone of every organization. Happy and motivated employees result in high profits, customer satisfaction and retention (Sageer, Rafat and Agarwal, 2012). For a business to stay profitable there must be sustained consumer demand for what they offer. Ultimately, this boils down to the passionate individuals within the company who work tirelessly to enhance and uphold the customer experience of their products and services.

Employees spend majority of their waking hours inside a building, to the extent that environmental factors such as workplace design, indoor temperature, noise and even indoor plants can influence productivity and overall well-being of workers (Kamarulzaman et al, 2011).

So, how do you create the optimal working environment?

There have been several formulas for creating the optimal workplace environment in the last 70 years or so.

In the mid-1960s, office cubicles were the rage. Robert Propst, CEO of American furniture maker Herman Miller, invented it as an antidote to the open-office floor plans of the previous decade. The rationale being: if employees have their own private spaces, they can focus on their respective tasks and be more productive.

Ironically, the open-office plan returned to replace it, coinciding with the era of high technology start-ups that found it ideal for closer collaboration among colleagues. But it was short-lived with the rapid evolution of communications in the 21st century.

The advent of the Internet, emails and mobile phones meant that the office desk and telephone were no longer needed to work and conduct business. People became mobile and are no longer chained to their desks. They now work 24/7 – in the office, at home and even during vacation.

What has emerged in response to this change is the Living Office, a blend of the home and work place. In this new layout, there are standing and sitting workstations, areas for teams to collaborate, settees for those who want to relax and work with their computers on their laps or at coffee tables in the lounge and recreational zones.

There have been several shifts in office concepts and layouts over the past few years. But one ingredient that has remained constant throughout: color.

Can color improve workplace productivity and boost morale?

Color has the power to affect people physically, intellectually and emotionally. For example, yellow is often thought to evoke feelings of optimism whilst green is said to reduce eye fatigue. Whilst productivity is rarely correlated with specific hues, color schemes indeed play an important role in the workplace environment. 

Past studies have made recommendations on the optimal workplace color schemes. Some have suggested the brightly colored screens of modern-day office works necessitate physical backgrounds with restful colors (Garris & Morris, 2005). Meanwhile, workers have been shown to associate white – which is often the norm in offices – with blankness, emptiness, boredom and depression (Pile, 1997).

What colors are optimal for workplaces?  

Ultimately, the type of operations that go on in a specific business dictates the optimal color scheme for the workplace environment. For example, a calming blue office is ideal for jobs that require great concentration, rejuvenating green is suitable for a management office, and optimistic yellow is great for a sales team (O’Brien, 2007). At AkzoNobel, we substitute plain wallpaper with mural paintings to inspire creativity amongst our talented employees.

In my own office, I look for a vibrant array of shades and textures to revitalize my passion for paint.

Whatever your style or taste, it is best to work with color specialists and paint producers that have the data and insight to draw on. After all, there’s no better investment than a happy employee.