Go green to increase the productivity of the employees, a new research states.
Decorating offices with plants makes employees happier, which in turn results in 15 percent more output, claims the study.
Researchers made these observations after analyzing the effects of 'lean' and 'green' offices on staff's perceptions of air quality, concentration, and workplace satisfaction and monitored productivity levels over subsequent months in two large commercial offices in the U.K. and the Netherlands.
According to the findings, workplace satisfaction, self-reported levels of concentration, and perceived air quality considerably increased after placing plants in the offices.
The researchers explain greener office spaces involve the workers more physically, cognitively, and emotionally in their work. "Our research suggests that investing in landscaping the office with plants will pay off through an increase in office workers' quality of life and productivity," lead researcher Marlon Nieuwenhuis, from Cardiff University's School of Psychology, said in a press release. "Although previous laboratory research pointed in this direction, our research is, to our knowledge, the first to examine this in real offices, showing benefits over the long term. It directly challenges the widely accepted business philosophy that a lean office with clean desks is more productive."
Professor Alex Haslam of The University of Queensland's School of Psychology said that research questions the widespread conviction that less is more. "Sometimes less is just less".
"Simply enriching a previously Spartan space with plants served to increase productivity by 15 percent - a figure that aligns closely with findings in previously conducted laboratory studies," said study co-author Marlon Nieuwenhuis. He said that the findings identify a pathway to a more enjoyable, comfortable and profitable form of office-based working.
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.
