So you've decided the mismatched desks, scratched file cabinets and creaky chairs need to go. But what do you replace them with?
Before buying a truckload of trendy office furniture, determine what employees need to perform their jobs safely and efficiently, and carefully compare dealers and services.
There's more to the decision than a choice between the lime green retro chairs or massive mahogany desk. Office furniture today must also be selected with an eye toward safety, productivity and flexibility.
"We're seeing more of a humanizing of the workplace," says Donald Young, a spokesman for the Houston-based International Facility Management Association. "Companies are realizing the people in the furniture have a personality, a set of needs and wants and ways of doing work."
For some companies, that means making employee safety a top priority. The science of designing physical work spaces -- ergonomics -- was once considered an office fad. Now it drives furniture design and selection.
According to the IFMA, cumulative trauma disorders, including repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, will account for half of all business medical costs by the year 2000. Ergonomically designed furniture is believed to reduce the occurrence of injuries by minimizing extreme or awkward postures and movements.
The key is adjustability. Furniture that lets users raise or lower keyboards, chairs and work surfaces can improve employee comfort and health while reducing workers compensation and other costs.
How employees work also is an important factor in selecting office furniture.
The right office furniture can boost individual employee productivity by increasing comfort and reducing distractions. This is especially true as more companies move to open office design. Cubicles with taller acoustical panels and "white noise" technology to mask the hubbub of a busy office are just two options.
Such returns are important to consider, since purchasing office furniture is likely to be a significant investment.
