According to a recent study by KPMG International, 83% of business leaders in Australia want their staff to return to traditional office arrangements within the next three years. This is a significant rise from 64% in 2024 amid the growing demand for more flexibility among workers.
While we’re all for better work-life balance, there are still things that a brick-and-mortar office can do better than remote work. That said, if you’re one of the 83% who want your employees to return to the office, you’d want them to give a good reason to. Employees won’t appreciate simply returning to the five-day, nine-to-five hellish grind.
A conducive office environment is a good way to motivate office workers and a great place to start by updating your office with modern Melbourne office furniture to enhance comfort and, more importantly, employee productivity. Here are some helpful tips on picking the perfect office furniture to achieve that.
Prioritise Function Over Fashion
We understand that first impressions matter and management wants its office to look the part for its guests. However, there are more important things to consider than aesthetics. For starters, does a paperless business really need a dozen filing cabinets?
Let’s not kid ourselves – paper is unlikely to go away for good in the following decades or centuries. Some industries like healthcare and finance still rely on paper documents due to advantages like maintaining access during system downtime
However, continued dependence on paper doesn’t necessarily justify spending on storage space that’ll barely be used. Filing cabinets or storage cabinets that aren’t used to their full potential, can take up valuable office space real estate and can be better allocated to other office furniture needs.
Thinking critically about your office layout is the first step. What are your priorities for improving your office layout? What is the main purpose of your office space? Will the space need to accommodate future growth or changes? Expanding the workforce involves adding more office desks and office chairs to support the additional equipment and supplies. If you expect to perform direct transactions with clients, adding a cozy reception area is a great way to enhance your brand image.
Harness Ergonomics for Better Health
Office workers have good reasons to be apprehensive about their bosses requiring them to go back to the aforementioned grind. One is the health risk associated with an employee sitting for eight hours for most of their workday.
According to the Better Health Channel, prolonged sitting is now called the “new smoking.” An analysis of several academic publications (constituting a total of one million participants) found that the health risks associated with a lack of physical activity between eight hours of sitting can be as dangerous as those with obesity or smoking.
We don’t need to be healthcare experts to know what that comparison entails. However, what should be clear to office management is to mitigate the risk to employee health. This requires a combination of two things.
The first is a proper workstation setup with ergonomic furniture pieces. According to Comcare, whether the office worker is sitting or standing while working, the arrangement should allow:
- The eyes to be level with the top of the screen
- The head to be neutral, with the chin parallel to the ground
- The monitor to be at least an arm’s length away
- The office chair to provide adequate lumbar support
- The height of the chair to allow the thighs to slightly angle downward
- The mouse and keyboard to be within easy reach
- The forearms to be slightly angled downward toward the keyboard
- The document holder to be between the screen and the keyboard
The second is to allow employees a few minutes of physical activity between their working hours. Experts recommend at least three to five minutes of walking every hour of work. Switching between sitting and standing every 30 minutes is also a good idea, which is possible with sit-stand desks.
Try Before You Buy
If your source of quality office furniture has a showroom, seize the opportunity to drop by. Browsing its inventory online can only benefit you so much; you want to see the item for yourself to know what you’re buying. Set up an appointment with the showroom and take your time evaluating the best furniture options available.
In our case, click here to see our opening hours and contact details.
Plan for the Future
Scalability is an essential aspect of office management, which reflects business growth. Employees come and go, and services are rolled out and phased out. Choosing office furniture that can’t adjust to changing needs and circumstances risk becoming costly paperweights that consume precious office space, Fortunately, certain kinds of furniture are flexible enough to adjust to the office’s needs. For example, office workstations can be partitioned into multiple user terminals depending on the number of team members. This is a great way of increasing or decreasing your workforce when necessary.
As a rule of thumb, you should ask yourself, “How long will I be using this office furniture?” There’s no right or wrong answer, but having a rough idea will help with planning for a more conducive environment.