Your Workplace Might Be Holding You Back

The physical environment is more than a backdrop. It’s a strategic tool to support performance, connection, and motivation. 

Companies have long understood the value of great design when it comes to products and services. But many overlook the power of applying the same design thinking to their work environments where employee performance, creativity, and well-being are profoundly influenced. 

The golden combination for a winning product is typically considered beautiful aesthetics + seamless function. Does the product fit a need? Is it attractive? Is it so intuitively designed that it enhances the user’s life without friction?

Answering these questions is imperative to our goal: to create a winning offering. These questions guide us in thinking about how we can create something that performs well in the world. But in business, we’re not just trying to build winning products, we are also trying to build winning teams. 

So,  what if we asked similar questions to shape the spaces where teams perform?

Just as good design reduces friction in a product, good spatial design reduces cognitive load. A workspace full of conflicting cues or discomfort forces the brain to work harder just to stay focused. That’s energy no longer available for creativity or problem solving. 

If the goal of your business is to sell more, connect more, or have a stronger culture, then the environment employees work in matters. These outcomes rely on people who are more energized, focused, creative, and collaborative. While there are many ways to support this, spatial design is one often-overlooked but high-impact lever. 

In fact, companies that prioritize employee performance and organizational health are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers and see 30% higher revenue growth on average (McKinsey & Company). 

Organizational health includes both physical and psychological workplace conditions, making the design of the work environment a key factor in sustained performance.

The question becomes: how can we intentionally design our physical environment, through a thoughtful mix of aesthetics, function, and comfort, to support that kind of performance?

Spatial Design- Low Maintenance High Return

Considering a company’s office design has the potential for high gains for relatively low cost. More importantly, it is mostly self-sufficient without the need for much intervention.

Interventions like mentorship and coaching are essential to supporting employee performance and development. But these strategies often require ongoing time and attention to sustain. Environmental design, by contrast, offers a relatively low-effort, high-impact foundation that continually supports well-being without needing constant input.  A combination of these- human centered initiatives and thoughtful spatial design create a powerful system for sustaining both performance and employee wellbeing. 

Creating a Goal Aligned Environment

Designing a space that is not only functional but boosts performance begins with personalization. Not just by allowing employees to add personal touches to their office spaces but providing them with adjustable furniture and appliances. Offering elements like flexible lighting, chairs, and monitor set-ups go a long way towards physical comfort and health.

Consider sitting in an uncomfortable chair. How long might you be able to focus on the task at hand? Or how distracting a headache from eye strain and poor lighting might be? While we can operate and design under standardized guidelines for “optimal conditions” in a building, the most optimal conditions at individual workspaces are typically flexible/customizable ones.

Providing these flexible spaces also creates greater accessibility across age, ability, and personal work style. Workers of different ages will not have the same needs when considering lighting and seating. Just as a taller or shorter person will have different needs when considering screen height.

Adjustable workspaces offer team members the control to create comfortable environments for themselves. Better yet, involving employees in shaping their spaces, whether through surveys, feedback, or pilot areas, further increases ownership and alignment. The opportunity to personalize their environments presents a new resource in supporting their best work and productivity.

Beyond individual comfort, a goal aligned environment also considers the social dimension of work. Designing intentional spaces with a more relaxed and casual atmosphere vs the standard meeting room can foster authentic connection, strengthen relationships, and encourage creative idea exchange. Environments like these support collaborative company culture as well as help fulfill the human need for relatedness, a key ingredient in sustained motivation. 

Retaining & Attracting Talent 

The workplace environment is not only important for existing employees but for attracting new ones. When looking for a place to live we look at layout, lighting, comfort, overall pleasantness…etc.  Given the significant amount of time spent in the home environment, details that support overall wellbeing and the way we live are essential. As another space in which we spend a large chunk of time, the workplace can be viewed in a similar fashion. 

Spatial alignment creates more pleasurable experience for its inhabitants, decreasing avoidance and increasing approachability. When employees feel that a space works with them they have more cognitive bandwidth to focus, create, and engage. This is important for both retaining and attracting high performing professionals. 

Alongside assessing the work, benefits, and culture, potential new talent takes the environment into consideration. Supportive workplace environments can shift thinking from “ I can survive here day to day”  to “I can thrive here.” High quality talent will choose companies that provide spaces where they can imagine themselves doing their best work, their growth, and reaching their goals.

If you’re asking how to increase quality output, retain employees, or attract new ones the answer could lie in aligning your environment with company goals. The influence our environments have on us isn’t going away, we can either leverage and optimize it or leave it as a resource untapped.  Designing work environments with intention isn’t just an aesthetic decision, it’s a strategic one.