How Your Office Chairs Impact Employee Productivity
Have you ever thought of how much time we spend in the office? As a matter of fact, statistics show that the average worker spends 40 hours a week in the office and over five hours daily sitting down. That said, it is impossible to overlook the importance of your office chair and how it impacts employee productivity.
Office Chair and Productivity
The most ignored factor affecting employee productivity is the office chair. Below are the ways in which employee productivity is influenced by the office chair condition:
Comfort
Your employees will not be productive if their office chairs are not comfortable. Here is why; when your chair at the office is uncomfortable, you will keep shifting around, and you will focus more on your discomfort than the work. Most office jobs require employees to focus on their computers and accomplish various tasks, but it is hard to sit and focus when the chair is uncomfortable.
Office chairs, therefore, need to be easily adjustable to suit employee physical requirements because employees have different physical characteristics. Some are short, tall etc. that said, look for chairs with adjustable backs and arms to provide ample support to employee’s arms, back and shoulders.
Health and Wellness
As stated earlier, office chairs should be comfortable for employees to sit and focus on their work. However, a chair that is too comfortable will make the employee sit on them for too long. This will reduce their chances of standing up for a stretch or a simple walk in the office. Such a chair is detrimental to the health of the employee. We all know how being inactive can cause various health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
A chair that compromises the health of the employee, in the long run, will lead to increased cases of absenteeism with employees taking more medical leaves than usual. In general, this will lower employee productivity, which is what every employer must avoid. It is important to choose a physically comfortable chair, but it should not be too comfortable that employees almost feel at home and stay sited all day.
Monotony
It does not matter how good the office chair is but sitting on it for too long is obviously monotonous. When you spend all day in a certain position, you tend to get bored and become easily distracted. It is therefore hard to focus on your job, especially in the afternoon because you have been sitting for way too long.
In this case, the only solution is encouraging sit-to-stand working. This is done by creating room for employees to work while sited at some point and when standing at other points. You will need to provide adjustable desks as well to suit the needs of employees. Sit-to-stand working is popular for breaking monotony which automatically increases productivity.
Final Remark
It is now clear that choosing the right office chairs is essential to encourage the productivity of employees. In this era, where most time is spent at work, it is beneficial to have ergonomic chairs in the office which offer maximum body support. Make sure you do not bring comfortable couches to the office because these are too comfortable and employees might be sitting all day affecting their health and productivity. Sit-to-stand working is another great asset to increase employee productivity.