Attrition is BAD – An Interior Designer’s Perspective

Jobseekers are finding it difficult to find good jobs, while employers are finding it difficult to find the right people.

Jobseekers are finding it difficult to find good jobs, while employers are finding it difficult to find the right people. Paradoxical, but there it is! Employers are also often desperate to hold on to employees who deliver what they are paid to – and sometimes nothing more or less. Retaining people is often hard, and business owners do not really understand what to do.

The employer wants to spend as little as possible and get the most out of his/her workforce, while the employee wants the maximum salary for doing the least amount of work.

Why would an interior designer be writing about what seems to be an HR issue?

Let me tell you.

I come across businesses in all sectors in my line of work – corporates, manufacturing units, healthcare and educational institutes, lifestyle and wellness centers, retailers, hotels, restaurants – and the story is the same. Focus is on the customer, to increase sales. What no one sees is that the employee, who actually serves the customer, is a non-entity in the equation. While a good salary, with incentives and bonuses, may be a solution, it is a temporary one.

Every human being requires an emotional connection with their environment – and he/ she spends more time in the workplace than they do at home with their families or friends. Is the workplace providing this connection?

A workstation – the term evokes an image of a sweatshop in my mind. While we would like to cram the high-value real estate we call ‘office’ with as many workstations as we can, with minimum space for movement, the productivity of the employee goes down. So we hire more people to fill the gap. To have a highly productive and motivated team, with everyone working to full capacity, the design has to have room to breathe. Personal needs have to be met. The comfort and long term effect of bad posture should be taken care of.

Research shows that every 45 minutes to an hour, a 10-minute break allows the body to rejuvenate, and allows the mind to refocus for maximum efficiency. I have seen most people go through their day at their workstation, only getting up to use the toilet. In our projects, we create space for a breather and find ways to oxygenate the body and mind.

Sterile environments – all human beings have the need to fill up empty ‘white’ space with something pleasant to look at, something inspiring to read or think about, and something that will motivate them to reach beyond their limitations. So too in the workspace. When energy is flagging, what does a worker do? Look at his/her phone? We do this differently – we engage with them. We subtly connect them with the message that your company/firm espouses. We align them with the company vision using spatial graphics.

Color psychology is deeply rooted in the understanding of how color influences thought, emotions and behavior. Often it is the boss’s favorite color that is used or the color of the company logo. The brand identity may have been designed years ago, in a place far away, and has very little to do with the people who work beneath its banner. Here too, a contextualization of the brand identity is required to guide, motivate and inspire action – or reflection, whatever your work involves. Color psychology is about people.

A place to think, and a place to brainstorm – connection with other team members often helps reorganize thoughts and brings energy into the team. A space, however small, that is dedicated to innovative thinking, to brainstorming, can energize the team and benefits the business owner as well. Engagement, a human being’s most primal need, can bring in results that you would not have believed possible.

A place to keep your things – respect for one’s possessions, be it a bag, a helmet, a lunchbox. Often overlooked, it requires serious design machinations to do this right. And when we succeed, it creates a sense of satisfaction in the mind of the employee – a territorial ownership of sorts.

A decent toilet – clean and maintained does not mean expensive. Is it in the right location? Can a woman employee use it with dignity? Or is there a urinal staring her in the face as she uses the WC? Is there a place for her sanitary napkins? Does she gag every time she wants to wash her face?

None of the above costs much – it just requires innovative thinking, with an understanding and alignment with the mindset of the people who will occupy the space, along with the mission, vision, and values of the owner.

Good workplace design is one of the reasons people stay in their jobs today – and good workplace design can create a culture of support and achievement. Young people today are looking for more than just money, and so the way business owners think has to change to keep pace.

Do you have a common lunch area? Any innovative utilization of space that has worked for you? I would love to know. Please connect with me at [email protected], or leave a message here.