Cramped and shabby workplaces have little potential to embody our motivation and enthusiasm; Editor’s Comment looks at why workers have said no to hotchpotch workspaces and seventies carpets.

The saying, ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’ seems to have permeated traditional barriers. In fact it looks as though it has jumped over the wicker gate and crossed the road to the concrete jungle.

No longer are we content to separate work and home when it comes to style, colours and furnishings. One of the reasons is that we now have to endure the four walls of the office for longer than we used to and so why shouldn’t it look half decent?

Compared to our European colleagues, the European Trade Union Confederation say that Brits spend an average 44 hours a week in the workplace, that’s four hours more than our colleagues put up with across the channel.

And while we know that output per work is nothing to do with time at work, we can understand that it does have something to do with motivation, enthusiasm and morale. Something that can only by triggered if we are happy and secure in our surroundings.

If the statistics are to be believed, the way our offices look can also mean the difference between hiring talent, keeping it and winning new contracts.

According to the HSBC research, nearly six out of 10 people or 59% would be put off working for a company with shabby premises. While almost three-quarters or 72% would think twice about awarding a contract to, or buying goods or services from a business whose offices were run down or whose equipment was neglected.

First impressions it seem do count.

“The fashion for light and spacious living environments has rubbed off in the workplace,” says Ian Moore, HSBC’s head of commercial mortgages. “Well-designed and managed property can lead to significant improvements in staff productivity, but despite this, property issues rarely make it into the boardroom. If businesses want to show they are serious about staff and prospective clients, improving their commercial property is a good start.”

Jamming workers in like sardines in a can is another design faux-pas. Overcrowding infuriates 71% of staff who wouldn’t be so greedy as to desire enough space to swing a cat but wouldn’t mind some elbow room and a respectable distance to not have to hear every intake of breath or click of the mouse from next door.

Even open-plan, the penchant of contemporary living and flat-structures has come in for criticism. Eighteen per cent remained unconvinced by it while a quarter admit that lack of privacy has become a real problem.

Beating the competition off though for the top workplace ‘want’ is adequate ventilation and lighting. Melting like an ice-cream on a hot summers day is something we’d much rather do while relaxing on a sun-lounger pina colada in hand.

By rank the top ten office turn-offs are as follows:

1 – Poor lighting/heating or ventilation – 77%
2 – Overcrowding – 71%
3 – Noise (loud music/manufacturing) – 59%
4 – Lack of staff facilities e.g. parking or canteen – 46%
5 – Out-of-date equipment or computers – 45%
6 – Clutter – 44%
7 – Poor surrounding area (e.g. lack of outside space/poor outside environment) – 30%
8 – Lack of privacy/private space – 25%
9 – Open plan environment or ‘hot desking’ – 18%
10 – Out-of-date furniture or fittings – 14%

It’s not rocket science just a lick of paint and the odd pot plant that we’re craving. We’d rather not rattle around in a Fawlty Towers mock-up with pigeons in the water tank and rats in the kitchen.

Indeed we’d feel much happier and more leveraged towards our workload if we could ‘to do’ surrounded by Jasmine white and some A/C for within the confines of our open-plan is a scattering of palpitating souls and some enthusiasm just waiting for the right colour palette to come out.

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