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Promoting Healthy Workspaces and Office Environments

Before the dawn of 2020 and the global event it brought along with it, our professional lives revolved around business as usual. We commuted, we had our meetings, we interacted with each other in physicality and proximity now altogether done away with. We concerned ourselves with working in the most functional, modern and comfortable office spaces we could, and we found value in office environments that honoured culture and values.

Now, in the midst of the pandemic, many aspects of life have taken a monumental shift. And no area more so, than in our professional lives. 

Pretty offices, functional spaces, ample boardrooms and stocked coffee machines have taken a backseat, as fundamental office specifications, to questions of whether workstations are properly sanitised, the guarantee of safety in a building and the implementation of COVID-19 hygiene protocol.

This is now the new concern, then: healthy workspaces. 

While the priorities for workplace happiness may be different in general, the outcome is still the same for employees – a feeling of solid and ample morale at the office, and thus comfort to be as productive as possible.

But this kind of shift is altogether brand new – infrastructure must be put in place. Mostly, though, both employers and employees must strive to promote workspace health across the board, now that our offices are filling up, once again.

Here’s how:

Safety

Right now, as we all fight to be okay in these unprecedented times, safety is top of mind.

Workplace safety isn’t something new – it has to be built in as guarantee when every office block, office park or corporate building becomes manifest. It’s the assurance by an employer that every employee will be safe, and made to feel safe, while at work, so that worry can never be present to interrupt productivity.

The pandemic, however, has taken that to levels unheard of. Protocols must be put in place to ensure sterility, social distancing and the implementation of the use of masks.

Further to this, businesses should look into minimal surface contact for employees. Biometric movement is a recommended office feature, where artificial intelligence minimises the need for people to make contact with surface, to promote the stop of spread.  

Wellness

If safety is top of mind right now when it comes to health workspaces, then wellness is following in close second.

This is done through the establishment of a culture of health – where employers may instil and encourage that behaviour. Perhaps it’s in the installation of a gym at the office, the provision of healthy fruits and food in the office canteen, or even incentives that reward healthy behaviour at the office. With employers and employees coming to the party, that culture of health will very quickly permeate. 

Lastly, wellness benefits will go the distance. Preventative measures must always be implemented first, but should the worst happen at the office, a competent wellness structure for employees must be available. Giving employees the choice of a medical aid benefit speaks volumes when it comes to maintaining that wellness. It’s simply added peace of mind, and another reason for employees to find comfort in the fact that while they’re at work, they’re looked after.

Support and morale in the time of COVID-19

For many businesses, the hard lockdown did much to breakdown employee morale – crippling company culture and the natural need for employees to uphold the values of a business. These fundamental business facets crumbled while employees worked in isolation, and so productivity saw significant downward slides. 

It was the businesses though, that made efforts, even remotely, to establish sound support structures for employees in lockdown. Whether it was a simple distance team-build, or a box of treats to say ‘we care, we’re worried about you, and we’re here for you if you need us’, simple gestures meant the difference between businesses suffering morale slippage, and those hanging in there, and building themselves up, one person at a time, together.

This has been a sobering discovery.

A business’s greatest asset is its people. Every effort must be put in place, whether while navigating a pandemic or not, to make sure each employee feels part of something greater. Maintaining that now is all important too, as we start heading back to offices. 

In unprecedented times, and uncertain times, a workforce that can rely on the support of its company and the morale-strength of its team, is a healthy, happy and productive workforce.

At Giant Leap, we’ll make sure your office space is beautiful and safe – ready to make your people feel happy and at home once again.

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