The Importance of Considered Furniture in Office Design

In the modern office, the furniture is one of the most important parts of the ambiance that you want to create. It can be safe and comfortable, edgy and fun, intimate or distanced. The role that furniture plays in the productivity of staff and the efficient operation of the workplace is more extensive than often given it credit for.

Furniture can help to create space – not fill it!

Yes, furniture will take up some space but if it’s arranged properly, the right furniture can also create space. Multi-functional furniture is of real importance to small offices in particular. Furniture on wheels such as the new Play collection from The Senator Group, can be instantly and easily adapted to suit the need of the space on any given day.

Office furniture choices can directly impact the productivity of staff

You may not have given this much thought – but office furniture can promote a better working environment. Consider for a moment what type of desk set-up you might need – collaboration tables, team clusters, sit/stand desks or privacy booths? All of these options can be built into one flexible design to enhance performance in the workplace.

First impressions count!

Common knowledge of course but first impressions really matter in the workplace. It’s not just the client that might come in for a meeting, that needs to be impressed, but also the new recruit on interview day. Top talent wants to work in an attractive, orderly, secure business that cares about their development and success. Employees tend to be more collaborative and productive in a positive work environment, and they are more likely to contribute to long-term profitability when a business makes their comfort and practical needs a priority.

Great furniture can promote employee collaboration

In the not too distant past, cubicles and individual workstations was all that available in the workplace. The normal way to collaborate was to agree to sit together in the boardroom. Nowadays we are asked by businesses to facilitate ways to create more interactive working opportunities. Furniture that doesn’t block the field of view and that encourages freedom of movement and collaboration, will form better social connections which, lends itself to a happier workforce. Collaboration leads to innovative business ideas, marketing strategies and better employee wellbeing.

Employee wellbeing is boosted with multi-functional furniture

Research on more than one million adults found that sitting for at least eight hours a day could increase the risk of premature death by up to 60 per cent and that sedentary lifestyles were now posing as great a threat to public health as smoking, and were causing more deaths than obesity.

Sit-stand desks are one way to reduce the number of hours spent sitting, and the layout of the office can also be designed to encourage movement. HSE Human factors guidelines state: “Work spaces that are perceived by employees to be cramped have a negative effect on job satisfaction and efficiency and on long-term sickness absence”. It is important for each employee to have sufficient space to effectively carry out their jobs, and a carefully planned layout can achieve this.