Productivity in a company is one of the main axes of success, because through it you can measure the quality of the products and the profitability that is taking place. When productivity is related to furniture, it is not taken as a primary issue. Many companies do not see furniture as an element that affects or benefits the workproductivity of its employees. However, it is very important to be aware and verify what type of furniture is in the office and how it’s influencing on the results regarding productivity and satisfaction of the employees.
A traditional work schedule is 8 hours inside the office, but sometimes the working hours become much longer. Therefore, furniture is essential to improve work productivity in a company and so that the profitability of employees does not wear out, because it depends directly on the relationship with the environment in which they work.
How does furniture influence the productivity of workers?
The influence of furniture on improving productivity of workers is totally linked to comfort and how the worker perceives the environment on a daily basis.
When a worker has to use furniture that is not very functional and instead of generating comfort, it gives him pain and dissatisfaction, motivation will gradually fall and this will bring considerable losses to the company.
One of the elements that influence productivity is the theme of furniture with ergonomic characteristics. These characteristics give the worker optimal conditions to perform their daily tasks.
This way, a high level of ergonomics helps to avoid that employees are absent from their daily tasks because they are in an appropriate and comfortable place every day. For a worker, furniture must be useful to develop and focus on performing their duties more adequately, providing what is necessary for the organization to achieve success.
Currently, design trends are more open and collaborative spaces where employees have more freedom of movement and interaction between them, this generates comfort and happiness that ultimately brings greater productivity and better results for the company.
The International Association of Interior Design (IIDA) conducted a survey of 1206 workers from different companies in the United States and determined that 60% of employees work in comfortable and well-designed work areas, this percentage of people coincided with the phrase "when I get up in the morning, I feel like going to work", evidencing a remarkable satisfaction with their place of work.
Spaces without privacy, excessive noise, extreme temperatures and few places to share were some of the most common complaints in the study performed by the International Association of Interior Design.
According to the Spanish real estate consultant Aguirre Newman, the productivity of a company increases by 20% when it has modern, well designed and comfortable offices, so having this type of office does not represent an expense but a good investment.
Health as an element of productivity
Offices that adapt to people and optimal furniture are elements that will influence the development of daily tasks, but are also highly related to the health of employees.
As long as there are workers with health problems derived from defective furniture, their productivity will plummet. There are many health conditions caused by not very functional furniture, and that can even become permanent.
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Spain, 55% of people who work daily in an office have posture problems and spinal injuries resulting from poor posture and poor furniture. 7% of workers have been discharged due to serious injuries.
Back pain and lumbar injuries due to inefficient and deteriorated furniture constitute one of the main causes of work absenteeism, these also bring psychological consequences such as irritability, problems concentrating and an increase in demotivation.
The definitive solution to this is to acquire the furniture that best suits each person. For example, a chair with ergonomic characteristics will give the worker the optimal comfort and will help him to improve his position when sitting, in the long term this will be of benefit both to the worker's health and to the results that the company has established.
Summing up, productivity in an organization involves several elements that must be taken into account. The right furniture will be very useful for workers, because they feel comfortable and satisfied with a higher motivation and thus, help the company to achieve the objectives it has proposed.
