Most people spend a great deal of time painting, decorating and redesigning the interior of their homes in order to create a happy, comfortable and personalised space. Yet, full-time office workers spend more time in an office than at home. As an employer you should want to put as much effort into creating calm and comfortable office space for our employees as you would for your family at home. Consider keeping employee spirits and productivity levels up with a few key interior design elements.
Image Credit : Glass Guards
Create open, social spaces
Research has shown that social businesses where conversation and collaboration is encouraged perform much better than those that demand quiet and less interaction. Hence the rapid rise of the co-working space phenomenon. Modern offices are breaking down cubicles and walls and providing an area where employees can discuss a project, take a break or just have a chat, away from their desks.
One way to do this, is to build a glass partition around an area designed with a fun brand related decorative frosted vinyl or colourful decorative film to maintain a certain level of privacy without cutting it off from the office entirely. This type of partition will also allow more natural light to continue to flow through the office and requires less artificial light to compensate, which is definitely a mood booster.
You can also maintain “transparency” and bridge the management-employee gap by replacing solid office doors with glass doors. If some privacy is required you can use frosted vinyl to personalise it with a name on the door and even a favourite quote, as a conversation starter.
Bring the outdoors indoors
A lot of people feel more at peace around nature and while it’s not always possible to have an outdoor office, it is possible to bring the outdoors in. Astro turf has become very popular as a floor covering for certain areas of the office, as well as lots of indoor plants and “green walls” that generate oxygen and clean air. Water fountains and features are calming and the sound of running water is well known to be wonderful noise dampeners, especially if the office building is close to a busy road. Another way to introduce more inside/outside flow to the office is to replace brick walls with big glass windows or even sliding doors, where possible, that overlook a garden and the outside world,creating an extension of open space. Not a lot of offices have sufficient natural light coming in and considering how much time is spent indoors sitting at a desk this is an important consideration, as too much artificial light can be damaging to the health of your employees. Windows also break the monotony of brick walls and fresh air can inspire creative thinking and reduce sick-leave.
Remember too, that any windows that create strong sunlight glare should be fitted with UV
protective film to keep your employees from feeling fatigued as the office heats up, especially in
summer. This lets in natural light but also reduces glare onto computer screens, which can break
concentration and cause frustration. UV protective window films will save money on energy bills,
which can be spent on morale and mood boosting lunch for everyone in the office.
For advice on how to use glass to enhance your office space and increase productivity, contact us for
a free consultation and quote.
Unfortunately in South Africa many motorists become victims of vehicle smash and grab crimes and the sad reality is that it is a real threat to our commuters.
Smash and grab incidences play on elements of speed and surprise. What happens is when vehicles are stationary at traffic lights or when there is slow moving traffic due to congestion, opportunists will smash the passenger side windows. Due to the short paralysis experienced by the driver allows enough time for the thieves to grab something of value from your car. These car burglaries can be costly, from the cost of repairs to the vehicles and windows and replacing stolen belongings. In most cases the victims are likely to be traumatised and feel victimised for a long time.
The best way to prevent such an occurrence happening to you is to become more vigilant and cautious as to what is happening around you. Prevention is better than cure and it’s better to be safe than sorry!
Here are some hints and tips to help prevent you becoming a victim of smash ‘n grab:
- Keep all doors locked at all times.
- Always be on the alert as to what is happening around you when driving. Criminals will tend to go for motorists who are on their cell phones and are not paying attention. Be on a constant lookout for suspicious characters.
- Ensure that your valuables are hidden away. You become a target if thieves are able to see your valuables from outside the vehicle. Store such items in the boot of your car.
- If there are obstacles in the road such as rocks do not get out of your vehicle to remove them. In many cases thieves are hiding and waiting for you to get out of your vehicle so that they can steal your belongings.
- Be on the lookout and always be wary of people hanging around intersections. Avoid getting into discussions with vendors or people handing out flyers. These people may be innocent but the criminals will wait for such opportunities due to distraction.
- When driving at night and approaching a red light, slow down well in advance. This allows you to try and reach the light when it turns green. Also drive in the middle lane if possible as perpetrators like to hide in the bushes next to the side of the road.
- Leave a space between yourself and the car in front of you when stopping. This will give you a chance to escape should anything happen.
- Fit your windows with a protective smash and grab film. This is a protective film pasted on vehicle windows to help prevent smash and grab incidents. These are usually tinted which prevents people from seeing what is in your car and also prevents your window from smashing into small pieces. This will give you that extra protection and those couple of extra seconds to regain your thoughts and drive away.
- If you don’t have smash and grab protective film installed, leave your window slightly open (approximately 3cm but no more than 5cm). This prevents the glass from shattering when struck by a sharp object.
Please be vigilant and be safe out there !