Designing Wellness Rooms for The Workplace

Whether you’ve just launched your company or have been in business for years, you must know that workplace wellness is important.

Just as you look after the marketing, business, finance, and other aspects of your business, incorporating office wellness policies will help your employees to keep stress at bay and be more productive and efficient.

Work-related stress is a huge reason for burnout and absenteeism among employees and also affects employee retention. Designing an office wellness room provides your employees with a sanctuary where they can escape work-related stressors and relax.

This promotes the well-being and happiness of your employees and helps them focus and perform better at work, have better relationships within your teams, and stay loyal through the months and years ahead.

Still not convinced? Read on to know how your employees and also you and your business can benefit from a wellness room. But first, let’s understand what a wellness room is.

What Is A Wellness Room?

A wellness room is a designated space or room within an office where employees can escape the hustle and bustle of work and life in general and spend some time alone or with their office friends.

It incorporates amenities and facilities that promote a sense of calm and relaxation. This allows employees to take their minds off things and return to their work with a renewed sense of purpose and positivity.

A wellness room can also double up as a parent/nursing room, fitness room, emergency room, game room, library room, music room, and so on.

Why Do You Need A Workplace Wellness Room?

The need and benefits of a wellness room in the office are many. Let’s go over them below:

Complies with Legal Requirements

Incorporating a wellness room office design helps you comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). This Act encourages businesses to promote wellness at the workplace by undertaking activities that bolster the health and well-being of employees.

PPACA also mandates that nursing mothers must be given reasonable break times to express breast milk in a private location that is free from intrusion, other than a bathroom, for up to one year post the birth of her child.

Having a wellness room helps you meet the requirements of these above federal law statutes, as wellness rooms are private and secluded and can allow for mothers to nurse their babies free from disturbances of their colleagues and others.

Promotes Well-being and Productivity

While work can be already stressful with unending client demands and deadlines, performance pressure, appraisal periods, and other factors, an open office space or coworking space adds to the stress of employees.

Open offices mean a lot of noise, distractions, and even clutter. It also means no space or privacy to conduct office meetings or work-related conversations. All of these factors can negatively impact an employee’s mental health, well-being, and performance.

If you can’t incorporate a modular office or modular factory office design that can provide employees with greater space and seclusion, consider designing a wellness space.

A wellness room provides a safe, private space for employees to relax, even if only for a few precious moments. It also gives them a space to talk to colleagues and supervisors and conduct meetings without interruptions. Depending on what your facility’s space allows for, a wellness booth can be positioned either indoors or outdoors, either option offering several unique advantages.

Provides A Place to Rest and Recuperate

There are times when you can’t wait till the end of a workday to get some rest. It may so happen that an employee may fall sick and may need a quiet place such as a wellness room where they can simply sit and be away from noise and other stressors. They may also need seclusion to have their medication or take a short nap if the need arises.

A wellness room is especially beneficial for pregnant women and people who are suffering from terminal illnesses, chronic illnesses, injuries, migraines, nausea, or other such health issues.

Improves Employee Retention and Corporate Success

As we mentioned earlier, wellness spaces help improve mental health and promote rest and relaxation. When employees feel lower levels of stress and anxiety, they feel more valued and happier at work. It also boosts their confidence and performance.

A happy employee is less likely to leave the organization and instead contribute more to the company’s success. This positively impacts your company’s bottom line and keeps you ahead in the business world.

Design Tips for Wellness Spaces at Work 

Now that you’ve understood the need for a wellness space, let’s take a look at wellness room design. The wellness room at work ideas below will help you create an efficient, comfortable wellness space where employees can take a breather and relax.

Create Space

Whether you are designing a full-blown wellness room or just a small designated space to unwind, you need to factor in space in your office layout. Take tips from the construction of an in-plant modular office to maximize the use of your available space.

You can create a wellness space that is functional and looks professional from the outside and still looks calming from the inside. You can also create more than one such modular wellness space to provide employees with complete seclusion and solitude.

You also have the option of creating nooks or alcoves within a wellness space. So if an employee wishes to be away from their colleagues in the wellness room itself, they can find a secluded corner for some quiet time alone.

Add Comfortable Furnishings

The point of a wellness room is that employees feel that they are away from the hustle of the office while still being in the office. The furniture in a wellness space must look different from regular office furniture and feel comfortable and cozy.

Consider putting in a recliner chair, sofa, sofa-cum-bed, coffee table, and other furnishings such as floor mats, pillows, cushions, and so on. This can allow employees to relax while they watch their favorite movie or read, or even take a quick nap for some much-needed rest.

Also, remember to buy furnishings in bright and cheerful colors. This will further lighten up the space and make it feel like a happy place. The furnishings must also preferably be made of easy-to-clean materials. So if something spills or gets dirty, one does not have to spend a lot of time cleaning it.

Hanging up curtains can also give a sense of privacy, which is especially useful if you have nursing mothers among your staff.

Use Decorative Elements

A wellness room needs to feel like an oasis where employees can escape the chaos of daily life.

Decorate the space with soothing accents, wall art, lighting, scented candles, plants, indoor fountains, and other such elements that can brighten the space and make it feel more calming and welcoming.

Also, opt for earthy, pastel, or neutral tones for the walls and ceiling for a relaxing effect. Hanging or nailing a wellness room sign outside the door lets new employees find the room easily and also reminds employees to leave their worries outside the door and just chill!

Allow Employees to Indulge In Their Hobbies

A wellness space can allow your employees to indulge in their hobbies and interests for a few moments in their workday so that they can beat stress and feel more productive.

Install a mini library and keep some board games, video games, high-quality speakers, and musical instruments around (ensure you have soundproof walls for this!). You can also throw in a few yoga mats and gym equipment, put in a refrigerator where employees can keep their beverages, and let them chill out.

Keep The Space Free of Distractions

Just as you don’t want employees doing personal work during work hours, so must you discourage them from working in a wellness space as much as possible.

A wellness space is meant just for what its name suggests — wellness — and not work. While you may keep a phone line for emergencies, avoid keeping a computer, printer, or any other devices or objects that remind employees of work.

Those suffering from illnesses or mental health issues may have come to the wellness room to avoid work for a few moments and may find it particularly disturbing to find anything there that is related to work.

Also, while an employee may choose to hold work meetings and conversations there as long as it doesn’t inconvenience others in the wellness room, keeping office documents and electronics there is a big no-no.

Final Thoughts

Adding a wellness space to your office layout can help you and your employees reap rich rewards in the long term. Check out our wellness room ideas above to get a fair understanding of what you can and cannot include in your design.

Guardian Booth provides highly customizable prefabricated booths that are durable, weatherproof, well-ventilated, portable, and most importantly, within your budget.

Our affordable rates and excellent quality can help you create a wellness space with a modular design that you and your employees love. Contact us today to get a quote and start designing your office wellness room.