Isla Galloway-Gaul, managing director of Inspiration Office, an Africa-wide office space and furniture consultancy said that despite so much evidence of the massive productivity and health benefits of more relaxed, people friendly spaces, many offices in South Africa are still quite dreary.
“But the good news is that it takes very little to make an office a much happier place to be. It’s a good time for business to use the new year as an opportunity to make offices charming to the eye rather than just utilitarian workplaces.”
Employees need a work space that is separate from home but that doesn’t mean work can’t be comfortable and welcoming. Soft seating, coffee tables, bar-height tables, kitchens, TVs all help to make people feel they are in a friendly place with familiar facilities.
If you can’t afford a water slide and a paintball hangar in the cafeteria, keep it simple. “Put a video game console in the break room or an old pinball machine in the lobby. Schedule theme days. It’s important to have fun with it,” said alloway-Gaul.