Do your employees exhibit the actions and mentality of Zombies? 

How about the look of your office? Are you rocking those drab gray or beige cubicles circa 1988? Are you setting the stage for massive employee mental opt out? 

Well, no one wants zombies in their workforce, but many organizations have an office and culture that simply kills productivity and happiness just by showing up for work. Here are a few ways to snap the zombies back to life, increase productivity and just have a more fun workplace to go to.

Basic In'stinks'

First thing is first - pay attention to the smell of the place. Yes, you read that right, smell.

The olfactory system, or sense of smell, is the most primal of your senses. The sensors in your brain have evolved over time and their primal function was to determine from smell to see if there was danger present, which at a time was essential for survival. The sensory pathways lead from the nose to the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional state and responds to incoming stimuli. 

Here is the kicker, there is no buffer from intake to emotional processing. 

For example: your office smells like old broccoli, your employee's brain instantly reacts to the stimuli and affects their emotional state. Unlike other senses such as vision or hearing, with smell there is a direct line from stimuli to response, while others have a relay or buffer process before a response is triggered. 

Ever wonder why so many retailers have a signature smell in all of their stores? This is to elicit a positive response from consumers. The same principle can be applied to your office.   

So, congrats, you have solved the smell! You have now physically provided your employees the ability to buffer their reaction and emotional state. Let’s see what other simple fixes you can do. 

How about the color on the walls, was there any thought that went into those? 

You know what I mean; the 50 shades of beige on the wall that if you stare at it long enough, you will fall asleep. We all have either worked in an office that has looked like this or have visited one and were thankful that we did not work there!

So what can a little paint or added colorful accent piece do for your employee well-being? 

Work in Color

Well let’s take a look at the color wheel and see: 

Orange - Helps you stay pumped, boosts creative performance and symbolizes endurance. 

Blue - Aquas and teal, promotes calming and a sense of trust great for detailed oriented offices like accounting. 

White - Especially when paired with natural light creates the sense of openness for creativity. 

Red - known to help increase heart rates, so if you run a fitness center this would be a good accent color. 

Green - associated with creative thinking is great for an area to nurture brainstorming. 

Now these are great easy fixes and will have a positive impact on the atmosphere in the office, but these are merely ant hills, what about the mountain? Company culture. 

Company Culture Matters

Your company's culture is the personality of your organization; it speaks not only to the employees you can attract and retain but has an outward reflection to clients as well. Now the “smell” and feel of the place are both crucial aspects of building upon, but they are not foundation blocks. 

• Does your company have a mission and values that are actionable and not just hanging on a wall? 
• Are your employees able to communicate those values to internal and external stakeholders?
• If your employees described your company’s personality how would they describe it compared to what you think it is?
• Does that personality align with your company and employer brand?