Beyond The Desk: Encouraging Your Employees To Leave Their Desks

As an employer, it might seem counterintuitive to want to encourage your employees to leave their desks. 

In reality, prolonged sitting can have negative impacts on both mental and physical health. As a result, if staff don’t move around enough during the day, this can actually reduce the output of work produced. Over the longer term, a sedentary lifestyle can also lead to higher absence rates and even increases in employee turnover. 

Designing for wellbeing, including encouraging more movement throughout the day, is now a top consideration for companies, since the benefits of movement are difficult to ignore. 

At Advanced Commercial Interiors, we specialise in the design of office spaces, including ways to encourage more employee movement throughout the day. 

In today’s post, our experts are here to share their top tips on how we approach office design that swaps all things sedentary for a more proactive approach. 

One of the reasons why too much sitting became a thing in offices is that much of the work became centred around a single desk and office chair. But as we know, this setup can have negative consequences, especially if employees spend most of the working day in the same spot and even adopt the same posture. 

Instead, the key within office design is to give employees a reason to move around through the use of dedicated zones. This could be based on the tasks at hand, but also by giving opportunities for rest and reflection throughout the day. 

Examples of office zones could include:

When specific zones are created based on the nature of the business, this can also enhance the work produced as a result. For instance, teams may find it easier to collaborate in a space that is separate from the main working areas. By keeping larger discussions away from desk areas, this can also boost concentration for other employees. 

If the desk is the only place where work can take place, this will ultimately limit employee movement throughout the day. 

Another solution involves moving away from permanent desk assignments in favour of activity based working. As part of the office design, incorporate options like high tables, booths, soft seating and standing desks. This enables employees to choose where to work depending on their task.

The design of your office can also be used to encourage more movement throughout the day. Known as circulation pathways, the design can create walkways between departments to create more purposeful journeys between different areas of the office. 

Also, bathrooms or coffee machines can be strategically placed to subtly increase movement throughout the day. 

Where space and budget permit, it’s also possible to add office gyms, rooftop gardens and other areas which promote physical movement. 

Some stats we’ve collected from various sources certainly look upon the idea favourably. These include:

Remember, long hours spent working at a desk can be bad for musculoskeletal health. Alongside investing in ergonomic furniture, creating more opportunities for physical movement, including through exercise programs or purpose-built gyms, can keep your team fit and healthy. 

If you want to get the most out of your people, then ensuring your office supports wellbeing is key. That’s because when employees are happy in their environment, this can positively impact their performance. 

ACI is a leading designer and installer of offices in the UK. We work on projects for a variety of sectors and can help you get the most out of your office refurbishment by incorporating healthy building principles. 

To enquire about an office refurbishment, please send us a message or give us a call on 0115 697 1943.