Some business owners update their office only when water from the office kitchen sink starts dripping stale water through the ceiling and onto the head of Sharon in HR on the next floor down, but other business owners are more proactive than that. You shouldn’t need to wait for your building to quite literally start breaking down before you get the gears in motion by calling an office fit-out expert to come and take a peek.
If you look around your business premises and ask yourself ‘does my office need a refurbishment?’ you’ll know the answer within 5 seconds. And if the answer you settle on is ‘maybe?’, that’s just a codeword for ‘yes’! Read on to learn some signs that your office is in deep need of a makeover.
When Do We Need A Commercial Office Refurbishment?
There are a few pointers that your workplace set up was getting old even in the 90s. Do any of the following ring true with you?
Employee Morale Is Down
This could be a clear warning sign that the office just isn’t doing your team any favours. Many people are strongly affected by lack of proper ventilation, high levels of dust, or even just those typical stark office colours of white, beige, grey, and more grey.
Concentration and productivity can take a serious hit when we’re feeling physically uncomfortable, so whether it’s an uncomfortable backrest or air flow so poor that you’ve got a team member in a near constant asthma flare up, low morale is a sure sign that it might be time to consider an office update.
It’s A Bit Dark In Here, Isn’t It?
Lack of natural light is unhealthy and can be a motivation drainer. Access to daylight is important not only for mental wellbeing but for our circadian rhythms, too, which affect sleep quality. A dark, unfriendly workplace is off-putting for both employees and guests, so you may want to install bigger windows, or even knock some of that brick through and pop a pane of glass in its place.
Not all office views are going to be of beautiful lakes and soaring mountains, so the extra light alone is a start.
Welcome To The Cubicles. Faces Optional
Cubicles give you privacy but they’re quickly becoming a thing of the past as more and more companies instead choose open plan offices for increased communication. There is an argument that cubicles help to prevent distraction, and that argument is valid, but the pros of the open plan office tend to outweigh the cons. Besides, cubicles’ biggest use is shielding employees during their 11am nap – and you’d be better off just sending sleepy workers home for the day, telling them to catch up on some sleep, and to come back in the next day nice and alert.
A Proud Ergonomic Design – Smoking Area, Kitchen, And Indoor Mini Golf Zone All-In-One!
That makeshift breakout area that used to be the cloakroom under the stairs that everyone’s coats and old PCs that broke down in 2005 went into needs abandoning right now!!
Employees need proper communal areas where they can take a comfortable break from their work, without having to duck from the vapors of Jim from IT’s vape. A DIY break room that has it all, really has none of it. A well-designed, purpose-built break area can transform your employees’ lunch hours and make the difference between a miserable hour and a restful, rejuvenating hour.
Note: Vapers are not exempt from the ‘NO SMOKING PLEASE’ signs in every workplace. Send them out into the rain with the old-fashioned cigarette smokers!
Get That Office Fit-Out Good To Go In 3, 2, 1…
Finally, you’ll need to work out how much longer your office can go without a major facelift. Have you got threadbare carpets and mouldy walls? Doors that somehow both jam shut and won’t shut? Bricks crumbling every time a breeze says hello?
How Soon Do You Need A Fit Out?
- Within the next year
- Within the next few months
- We really needed it doing yesterday, to be honest…
The lower down the list you nodded at, the quicker you need to be on the phone to an office refurb team!
Office Refurbishment Solutions From Saracen
Saracen have got the works for office renovations, refurbishments and revamps. Whether your windows are simply letting in too little light and the whole place could do with a bit of brightening up, or you’ve had to send Sharon home early to get the grimy pipe water out of her hair and your premises needs some serious updating all the way down to its core, we are more than happy to help. Please click here to fill out our enquiry form and a member of our friendly team will come back to you very soon.
Image source: Unsplash