How to create a workplace of quality and style

When starting out with a new business venture, entrepreneurs are conscious of every cent they spend. Luxuries and extravagances are shunned in favour of making the best products, providing the best service and growing the business. However, it is also important to present your business in the best possible light, showing your clients that you are here for the long haul and can provide what they need. Building trust is hard to do if your business is perceived as low-quality, without the capital to create a workplace that gives the right impression and doesn’t look like it will be around in a few months. 

Quality office furniture is as important as finding the right people

Just as you’d work hard to find cost-effective ways to create your products and services, your marketing plan and find the best people, it is also important to do so when creating a workplace. It is important to consider more than just the monetary cost too. Employee comfort and safety are key elements to creating a workplace that promotes productivity, satisfaction and makes your staff want to come to work. Legally, a business is required to ensure that their team is given desks and workstations that comply with Occupational Health and Safety guidelines. However, this doesn’t mean that employers have to spend huge amounts on luxury cushions and expensive lounge suites. 

Create a workplace that promotes productivity

People are all different shapes and sizes, which means that chairs and desks will have to be different to accommodate their needs. There are a few ways to approach this problem:

1 – Provide a set budget per employee to choose the right chair and desk to suit their ergonomic needs. Provide a few options within this budget range and allow them to choose the set up that is best for them.

2 – Have a selection of spare chairs to choose from. This may be an expensive option, however, offices will always need extra chairs for visitors and clients, so keeping a few unoccupied ones on hand shouldn’t be too inconvenient.

3 – Invest in a chair style that is adjustable and can suit a wide range of body types and work styles. An expensive chair might seem like an extravagance, but if an employee is expected to be productive for long periods at a work station, providing the right equipment is a small concession to make to ensure the best results. 

Tips for new starters

When a new person starts, setting them up for success is an important part of their induction into your company. Below are tips to help your new team members settle into their role, feel valued from the moment they arrive and give their best. 

1 – Have their workstation ready when they arrive. There is nothing less welcoming than turning up to a new job and waiting around awkwardly while someone hurriedly finds you a desk and a chair. 

2 – Make sure the equipment they receive is clean. Even if your business can’t afford to buy a new chair for every new starter, ensuring that their chair and desk have been given a clean shows that your business has standards and treats employees with respect. 

3 – In addition to clean, the scourge of broken chairs is something new employees frequently have to deal with. The chair that gets tried and rejected by the existing employees and left in the corner as broken, uncomfortable or dirty isn’t the one a new employee should be given. If you have broken chairs in your office then either fix or discard them. An office chair graveyard in your workplace doesn’t inspire confidence in any visiting clients either. 

Create an enviable atmosphere

Clients aren’t necessarily impressed by expensive furniture when they visit a workplace. Instead, focus on ensuring the comfort and hippieness of your staff to build a positive, productive atmosphere. A pricy lounge suite might seem like a good way to show off your business success, but the positivity of your team will leave a longer lasting impression.