A global study on the influence of office design on employees well-being has produced some important findings that all business owners should be aware of.

The study led by psychologist Sir Cary Cooper looked at biophilic design and the workplace and examined subjects on how they felt about it. The results were significant but really not surprising given that it is merely drawing attention to what we already know – human beings like to work in natural environments and that includes when they are working in an office in front of a computer all day.

Employees who were lucky enough to find themselves working in a more ‘natural’ office space reported that their overall sense of well-being was 15% higher, they were 6% more productive and 15% more creative.

Despite how advanced civilisation has become there is still the need to connect with nature in some way and this is what biophilic design is all about – reconnecting with nature by including natural elements in the design of an office space.

Modifications can be as simple as letting in more natural light. Yet nearly half (47%) of all employees had no natural light in the study.