Why Fresh Ambience at Workplace is Important?

Published: 2024-05-08

When it comes to creating a great physical environment at the workplace for employees and customers, everything from the lighting, ventilation, cleanliness of furniture and the washrooms to the quality of air matters. To state that the air that people breath at the workplace must be kept free of bad odors, would be an understatement. A fresh ambiance at the workplace not only calls for bad odor removal but also consistently maintaining a healthy and pleasing fragrance.

Here we take you through the economic value of a healthy and fresh physical environment at the workplace, the adverse effects of covering up bad odors on people and business, the choice of best air fresheners for office and the diverse benefits that each of these bring and finally, some tips to keep bad odors away from the workplace.

Why a Healthy and Fresh Physical Environment at the Workplace Matters?

Ever since the Hawthorne Experiments conducted by Elton Mayo, there has been a growing chorus on the benefits of creating and maintaining a healthy and fresh physical environment at the workplace. The experiment offered evidence that good lighting and ventilation at the workplace, augment the productivity of people.

Strengthening the arguments for a better and happier physical environment, an article published in the Harvard Business Review quoted findings from a contemporary research.

The findings of the research assert that a great physical environment at the workplace perks up the mood of people keeps them in good spirits and boosts their morale. The research goes on to list the particulars that make for a healthy physical environment at the workplace like lighting, ventilation, open spaces, extent of clutter and finally, good and bad odors.

What Covering Up Bad Odors Can Do to Corporate Reputation?

Of the many different aspects of the physical environment at a workplace, the odor is one of those that are not visible and thus many a time entrepreneurs, corporate executives, managers, and workplace administrators fail to gauge the importance of a neutralizing odor. Many others may consider covering up bad odors with a more intense but artificial odor to suffice, which of course does not produce the best results as people get to smell the two odors distinctly.

Not only is a cover odor grossly insufficient, but it also does more harm to corporate reputation and brand image. When external visitors, customers, and employees discover a business enterprise practicing a “cover-up” culture that is unhealthy and opaque, their trust in the business gets badly shaken. The unhealthy physical environment at the workplace and the bad odor in the air inside become proxies for customer and employee dissatisfaction.

This can be especially the case in business verticals that require both the employees and the customers to be on the shop floor at the same time. Some of these industry verticals are as follows:

  • food & beverages
  • fashion
  • restaurants
  • hospitality
  • retail
  • entertainment
  • car rentals
  • BFSI

How Do Neutralizing Odors Contribute to a Happier Workplace?

While covering up bad odors can have negative consequences for people at the workplace, as shown above, the use of odor neutralizers can make an impact on people at the workplace. In fact, it has been observed that the use of diverse aromas at the workplace can lead to specific effects on the psyche of people. We take through the specific fragrances of air fresheners for offices and workplaces and the corresponding outcomes that these fragrances can enable businesses to achieve:

  • Citrus: A neutralizing odor with citrus fragrance is known to energize people at the workplace. A lemon air freshener for office can uplift the morale of people at the workplace while orange fragrances are known to have a de-stressing effect and grapefruit is known to revitalize people and reduce fatigue.
  • Rosemary: An organic air freshener with rosemary aroma is known to foster clarity in decision making, fuel critical thinking, and analysis, augment memory and energize the mind.
  • Peppermint: Peppermint aroma based organic air fresheners are known to have a positive impact on the concentration levels of people at the workplace while lending more positive energy and leaving a feeling of freshness in general.
  • Lavender: Lavender fragrances of natural air fresheners have a de-stressing effect on people at the workplace and is also known to reduce anxiety.
  • Cinnamon: Cinamon based aromas are known to improve concentration, reduces mental fatigue and allows people to be more relaxed and focused on their jobs at the workplace.

Tips to Leverage Aroma as a Lever of Productivity at the Workplace

Given the mounting evidence in favor of the positive effects of bad odor removal and use of organic air fresheners and the adverse effects of bad odors on employee productivity and morale at offices and workplaces, it makes enormous good sense to adhere to a few basics as a matter of thumb rule. These are as follows:

  • Keep Washrooms Free From Bad Odor: It may sound astounding, but people do quit workplaces with washrooms that are dirty, unhygienic or even ones that leave a bad odor. Bad odor removal in washrooms at workplaces is a must.
  • Declutter Desks and Cabins: Encourage employees to cut down on piles of hard copies on their desks. Reward token efforts to keep the desk clean. Spray organic air fresheners in the remote corners, under the tables, and behind cabinets.
  • Keep Changing the Aromas: Pick an aroma for a mood to prevail on a given workday or weekend. Use specific natural air fresheners to set the tone for a jovial and light-hearted hour during a tea break on the last day of the work week. Let people feel the good vibes of a weekend.
  • Keep the Cafeteria Clean: People at any workplace usually spend a good and solid lunch break here. The place where people break bread mandates, not just cleanliness but happy vibes. Make it a point to keep the cafeteria a happy and warm place with some exciting and cool natural air fresheners.

Given the deep impact that odor has on people at the workplace, one thing comes out as an axiomatic truth. Good aromas bring more out of people. A neutralizing odor can motivate an employee to do more at the workplace and a customer to spend more. A workplace that smells good more often, does good business more often.

Copyright © by ELiX Ltd.

Author: Waldemar Stasiak