Workplace Furnishings and Company Performance

The workplace environment is increasingly being recognized as having an important bearing on how companies perform. "The care or lack of care taken in designing and furnishing workplaces most definitely affects the attitudes and productivity of a company's employees," says Mark Bassil, vice president and co-founder of MAiSPACE, a modular office furniture manufacturer based in Mt. Olive, NJ.

"We wholeheartedly agree with the views of the Human Environmental Research Organization's position that workplaces represent the best opportunity to leverage returns on the most valuable and significant asset in any organization - its people," Bassil states.

HERO, inc., located in Geneva, IL, notes on its website that virtually everything an organization does is dependent on and affects the work environment. From technology and human resources to organizational culture, work processes and finance, the work environment plays a crucial role in how well the organization functions.*

The Workspace as a Sense of Place

"MAiSPACE has long maintained that systems furniture is one of the most cost-effective means of creating a workplace environment conducive to hiring and retaining quality personnel," says Bassil. "It is a major component enabling interior designers to create exciting, eclectic office interiors.

"At the same time systems furniture supports employees' individuality in developing their personal space and a sense of place," he says. "Colors, textures, floor plans, structural components and furnishings from MAiSPACE help make it happen. For example, we offer 18 panel segment options such as laminate, Coverseal, woodgrains, painted metal, embossed steel, brushed stainless steel, airflow, clear glass, frosted glass, textured glass, fabric, tackable/acoustical tiles, power/data tiles, marker board and paper management."

He notes that mixing and matching is at the discretion of the interior designer and is not constrained by minimum orders in a certain color, texture, pattern or finish. "This means that the degree of customization depends only on a company's policy," Bassil says. "Designers can select from our palette of panel tiles to provide harmony, contrast, to identify specific functional areas and to otherwise create fabulous interiors with an aesthetic appeal in dramatic contrast to outdated, uninspiring, monochromatic office designs."

MAiSPACE structural elements of 16-gauge cold rolled steel allows great freedom in varying the height of workspace walls from 30 inches to 14 feet, thereby eliminating the boring sameness of same-height cubicles across the office landscape. Fully enclosed private offices, collaboration and conference rooms are constructed using MAiSPACE movable walls, which use non-destructive fasteners to attach to ceilings and carpeting. These spaces can easily be resized or moved to suit changing business conditions.

Flexibility is another design issue essential to today's companies, where Moves, Adds and Changes (MACs) are more the norm than exception. "As work areas expand, contract and reconfigure to meet the ever-changing needs of a business, systems furniture adjusts accordingly," says Bassil. "Changes can be managed quickly, usually overnight by a company's on-site maintenance personnel."

Another issue is managing technology in the workspace, which has become a science of its own and is a design issue that can't be overlooked. "For example," Bassil points out, "standards govern the design and placement of voice, data and video cabling upon which employees depend for high-speed Internet access, for file sharing and to communicate with other company locations, customers and suppliers. A smoothly running office communications infrastructure is critical to support employee morale."

The MAiSPACE patented plug and play voice, data and power cabling handling system is specifically designed to handle MACs without disrupting the entire office network. It holds a "Best of NeoCon award," the highest award in the contract furniture industry.

Other elements to incorporate into "sense of place" workspaces include fixed and mobile files and tables , personal storage towers, adjustable panel-mounted task lights, ergonomically designed chairs and workstation surfaces that adjust up or down.

"In terms of aesthetics, looking deeper is a manufacturing issue as well," says Bassil. "Normal wear and tear can cause poorly finished systems to quickly lose their luster. MAiSPACE addresses this with superior quality fabrics, baked on painted finishes and thermoformed membrane technology for wood-toned panels and curvilinear work surfaces. These are among the reasons why we offer a lifetime guarantee and warranty against obsolescence across the product line."

Creative Workspaces from $12 to $15 per Square Foot Installed

Company management may balk at a supposed cost of providing workspaces that cater to employee individuality and sense of place. "High cost is not the case with MAiSPACE," Bassil is quick to say. "By combining smart manufacturing, outstanding design and construction, modern logistics and assembly techniques we are able to provide beautiful interiors and customized features as low as $12 - $15 per square foot installed." He points out that this averages 40% below price points offered by some of the nation's oldest vendors and is not dependent on the number of units purchased.

*www.hero-inc.com