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Now Trending: Employee Wellness Rooms in the Office

Did you know that 92% of employed Americans confess that aspects of their workspace make them unhappy? As a result, businesses are improving their workplaces, striving to create environments where great work happens due to employee satisfaction. Among new measures taken, companies across the country are considering employee health by incorporating bookable wellness and mothers' rooms into the office. If you’re considering adding one or more of these spaces to your office, keep reading for inspiration and ideas for what you’ll need to get the job done.

Health Rooms for Employees Feeling Under the Weather 

We've all been there. You're hard at work when a splitting headache hits. It’s not bad enough to convince you to go home, but with nowhere outside your desk to go and the fluorescent lighting making things worse, what else can you do? 

Rather than forcing employees to suffer through temporary illnesses or use valuable PTO, wellness rooms provide a third option. Wellness rooms are small, single-occupancy rooms that are bookable in the same way your formal conference rooms are bookable. Equip your wellness rooms with healthcare-grade seating, including a guest chair and a recliner so employees can close their eyes and rest when they’re not feeling well. We also recommend adding relaxing artwork and décor to the space, including a soft light lamp for those who need a mostly-dark room to relax.

Mothers Rooms for Breastfeeding Moms

New mothers who breastfeed their babies face a challenge upon returning to work that is not often talked about. Since workstations aren’t private enough and bathrooms aren’t sanitary or comfortable enough, most breastfeeding mothers are forced to travel home over their lunch break to pump. 

A simple solution for offering new moms a better option is to add a mothers' room to the office. Like wellness rooms, mothers' rooms should include healthcare-grade seating that’s comfortable enough for long periods of sitting. We recommend a healthcare recliner. In addition, we suggest adding a sink to the room for pump and bottle washing. You may also consider including lockers so that multiple mothers may keep their equipment in the room rather than taking it in and out daily.
Healthcare

More From NBF

On Trend: Office Benching Pros and Cons

Whether you refer to it as a benching system or open concept office furniture, this type of desking has its benefits and drawbacks. Take a look at some of the top pros and cons of office benching to determine if this solution could be right for your office.

The Pros of Office Benching

Increased Collaboration 

Grouping employees together fosters more collaboration, generating creative ideas and forming stronger relationships between co-workers. Cubicle walls create physical barriers that can severely hinder the employees’ ability to talk to each other and share ideas on the fly.

Saved Space 

Not only do cubicles create physical barriers between employees, but they also take up a ton of physical space in your office. Whether your office is large or small, it's always a good idea to maximize the available space. 

With a benching system like the NBF Signature Series Element collection, you can fit 2 to 4 employees within a space that may have otherwise been used by only 1 employee in a cubicle setup. Of course, saved space also equates to saved money. Your business costs will be far less per employee when you can fit more people into less space. Plus, the lack of walls typically makes benching systems less expensive than full-panel cubicles. 

Greater Flexibility 

Most benching systems are modular, so they can be configured and reconfigured repeatedly to support ever-changing office needs. Although you can move cubicle systems, they are much more cumbersome and don't have the range of flexibility that most benching systems have. 

For example, most modular furniture can seat 1, 2, 3, or even 4 people at a single workstation, and multiple workstations can be used together in a huge assortment of configurations to create the amount of work surface space needed within a single area. Hire more staff? Add another table to the mix, and your employees are ready to go.

The Cons of Office Benching

Distractions Abound 

Open concept office furniture isn't right for every business or every employee. With a lack of walls comes a lack of privacy, which does not work well for introverts or employees whose jobs require a great deal of focus. Not only are visual distractions everywhere, but noise distractions can severely hinder performance. 

To counteract both visual and audible distractions in an open concept workspace, we recommend using a panel system to create a barrier where needed. Keep the lines of communication open between managers and employees so that an individual can work in a space that will be productive for them.

Decreased Productivity 

Open concept workspaces often correspond with decreased productivity. In addition to the distractions of people walking by and talking in the surrounding areas, employees in this type of workspace are more prone to chatter throughout the day, thus reducing the time they spend working. 

Increased collaboration is positive, but conversation that interferes with work output can be problematic. When co-workers shoot the breeze casually, it leads to greater creativity and employee morale. The tricky part is finding that balance between collaborating enough and talking too much.

Spread Illness 

Open concept workstations can cause an increased spread of illness and disease (especially during cold and flu season) due to the proximity of employees. To combat this, encourage employees to sanitize their workspaces often and work from home when unwell.

Make Benching Workstations Work for You

Considering incorporating a benching system into your office? Take into account the type of work your employees do. While benching may be appropriate for certain job functions, it will not improve productivity for others. Consider which areas of the office can support a benching structure and which may be more suitable for cubicles or private offices. 

For the areas with a benching system, select furniture that is modular enough to give you the flexibility you need. For example, if you hire seasonal employees, you may need a desk system that is easy to reconfigure quickly. If you don't hire new positions often, you may not need as much modularity in your furniture.

Now Trending: Driftwood Finishes

Now Trending: Driftwood Finishes

Neutral colors will always be in style, and gray has been a clear front-runner for modern offices that find black depressingly dark and white blindingly bright. The trend toward gray has moved from being just a shade you paint on the walls to being a color you can use as a base anywhere, from the upholstery on chairs to the finish on your desk. In fact, we’ve seen more gray ash desks and tables over the last couple of years that have a weathered, driftwood-like appearance. With this finish, you can still get the beautiful wood grain look you love but in a soft, neutral shade that will look good when paired with just about any other color.

In an Office

The rustic look of gray ash gives it a homelike appearance, making it a great choice in an office. Whether in an open-concept workstation or a private office, you probably spend a lot of time at work. In fact, many office employees spend more waking hours in the office than they do at their residences. Making your office feel a little more like home is a great way to boost your mood and, by extension, your productivity.

In a Waiting Room

In the same way that you want your office to feel like home, you want to give your guests a warm welcome as soon as they walk into your reception area, which is just what this finish helps achieve. Not only does the color give off a soft look, but it can also be paired with any accent color when you want to turn up the volume. Pair it with bright green accents for a bold look or subdued blue for a calm, serene appearance. No matter what look you’re going for, this color delivers.

In a Conference Room 

Conference tables and storage units in ashy gray tones are attractive but not overly distracting. This makes them a great choice for use in a conference room wherein the goal is to create a professional look without taking away from the importance of your meetings.

Similar Washed-out Wood Tones 

You still have options if you want a little more color in your work life but love that soft, washed-out look. The NBF Signature Series Metropolitan collection comes in a boardwalk walnut color that’s light and rich at the same time, closer to brown than gray. If you want to go even lighter, the At Work collection comes in a Warm Ash finish that’s practically blonde, giving you a light, airy look that’s more intriguing than plain white.

Now Trending: Scandinavian Style

If you love the clean look of a modern office but want a style that’s a little more inviting, Scandinavian furniture and décor may be just what you need. This design trend is gaining momentum both in home offices and corporate spaces as it blends modern and rustic styles in a way that is artistic and sharp.

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