Your Workplace Environment
According to a recent survey, 25 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with their physical work environment. They said their offices are cramped, noisy, smelly, lacking in natural light, short on privacy or poorly ventilated. A happy employee is a productive employee, so it would be in a company’s best interest to offer pleasant surroundings to their workers. Here are some of the improvements the respondents would make:
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37% would like windows that could be opened
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16% would choose brightly coloured walls
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11% wanted more attractive colleagues
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7% were interested in a more pleasant smell
Although more attractive co-workers would be appreciated by both sexes, I’m pretty sure there are laws and policies that condemn hiring based on physical appearance (unless you work in the porn industry). The only thing I would change about my work environment is the stool on which I sit. The Jack studio is pretty cool - great posters, lots of natural light - but my stool is difficult to adjust and causes me some neck strain. If I adjust the stool to the appropriate height to avoid any strain, then my feet don’t reach the comfort bar and just dangle there, eventually falling asleep.
How’s the physical environment at your job? Is it conducive to your line of work or does it make you want to go postal? Is it modern and inspirational? Has it been updated since the 70’s? Have your say by clicking on the No Comments/Comments link at the bottom. Today’s Jack Nation bonus code is DATEDDECOR. It’s good until June 28th.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Hi Carly,
I’m in marketing so I’m on the road a lot so i lost my office and now have a cubicle whenever I’m inside. my co-workers are very nice though.
The ironic thing was that when i was still married i had my own office but had no need to make personal calls but now that i’m divorced i have a cubicle and can only make personal calls(dates) when I’m on the road as there is absolutely no privacy here.
I can’t ever recall working in a nasty office environment even though i’ve had some brutal bosses before.
When i was still in high school and university i had some very tough jobs in dirty, noisy, dangerous factories, warehouses and machine shops.
Have a great day Carly and sorry about your stool.
Carly’s Note: Privacy can be an issue if you don’t have an office. One company I worked for before my radio days had a quiet room where you could go for a breather (cat nap, pray, relax) and another room with a phone so you could have a private conversation with your doctor, lawyer, whomever. The working conditions weren’t great at that company, but I certainly did appreciate those rooms.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
An uncomfortable stool huh? Have you tried……. ahh, never mind.
Carly’s Note: Thanks for the laugh, Billy!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
typical office colours, and the only thing on the walls are work schedules, output targets, company slogans,how we are doing and how they want us to do more.
Carly’s Note: Sounds kind of boring, but I guess that’s better than bad art.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Hey Carly, I agree with you that our chairs/stools are probably teh most important piece of office furniture the company can buy. My office slash cubicle is okay, I am right at a window which overlooks the Roger Center so it is bright, but I would prefer if my cubicle walls were a better color palate other than grey and beige they are! My desk is a relic from the 70’s so not very ergonomic! Sitting at my desk, being on the computer and on the phone, I get neck strain and back strain. Oh well, at least I have a good paying job with access to teh net ! Have a great Friday and Happy Canada Day to all.
Carly’s Note: Good point, Rebecca. Hope you enjoy the weekend and the holiday.
June 27th, 2008 at 10:22 am
While our cubicles aren’t exactly “ergonomically correct”, it still beats the sidewalk. We all bitch and moan from time to time about work, but it’s certainly better than the alternative!
Have a great long weekend everyone, I’m taking a vacay day on Monday - woo-hoo, extra long weekend for moi!
Enjoy and be safe, and HAPPY CANADA DAY, EH!
Lee Ann
Carly’s Note: Agreed. Having a job is better than not having one. But we spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, so the environment should be comfortable. Happy vacay day!
June 27th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Carly, I go postal every weekday; Yes, I am a Letter carrier for Canada Post, and I walk my same route every day, rain or shine or snow for 19 years now.
That part I can handle, as I am out by myself with nature and all the homebodies, but in the office… Mailcases for sorting that haven’t been vacumed out; over 500 slots and up, since they were made of hardwood in the 50’s; a long isle full of dusy plastic tubs and boxes and windows 15 feet above you can’t see out of or open, and a steel building wall behind it to look at when you look between the tightly packed cases in each isle.
Ductwork with black dust in the vents and on the top of ductwork, showing years of neglect, and 70 ft long stips of flourecent lighting 20 ft above your head, sometimes flickering, always glaring. No wonder I sort my mail and hit the streets asap every day; I want to be out and see something real.
A cubical would about drive me nutsso, or have me chasing squirrels.
Bad enuff they come after me! Oh, yes we stand all the time sorting too, sometimes for 5 hours a day or more. Get a better stool, Rogers has the $ to keep you comfy and safe, right? HAve a great Canada day and PLAY!
Carly’s Note: I would want to get out of the office as quickly as possible if I were in your (hopefully comfortable) shoes. I’m looking into the new stool. Happy Canada Day to you!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Carly, do you not like chairs? I like everything I sit on to have a back to it, so I kinda detest stools. On the otherhand, we do have raised stools with backs on them in our kitchen, so maybe yours is that type.
By the way, all this talk about stools reminds me of my favourite comic strip “Get Fuzzy” from the other day. Bucky Katt (the devilish cat) had his stool broken that he uses to get up on the counter, so he called a furniture store to order swatches but the woman at the store hung up on him. The reason? Bucky said “Lady, give me your stool samples.”
Carly’s Note: Thanks for the laugh, Louie! My stool has a back on it, but it’s raised like a bar stool, that’s why I call it a stool and not a chair.