Office Plants: Why They Should Be Prioritized

The way a space is curated may be a powerful tool for boosting engagement, sparking innovation, and increasing productivity.  The era of bland offices is behind us, and the future looks green. Some of today's most successful businesses incorporate plants into the design of their campuses. Plants serve more than just as an aesthetic booster though; many studies have shown that plants are providing more benefits than previously thought.

Plants help reduce stress
Even if you love your job, stress is unavoidable at times. When office plants are introduced into the workplace, they have been shown to reduce stress levels in employees. According to a 2010 UTS study, offices that were spruced up with plants showed the following advantages:
37% drop in anxiety
44% reduction of office hostility
40% reduction of chronic fatigue
58% decrease in reports of depression.

Boost creativity
It’s no laughing matter when you’re experiencing a creative block. Office plants might help you find inspiration for new ideas or help move past that block. To ensure that your leafy friend has a positive impact on your creativity, choose bright colors and fragrances. It’s long been known that activating our senses can help us think more creatively and taking the time to smell the flowers can help you break out of a funk.

Help reduce energy use
Plants enhance the humidity levels in the building when they breathe and having enough of them can drop the temperature inside by 50° or more. According to one study, a single healthy tree can cool a building as effectively as 20 air conditioning systems operating for 20 hours a day.

Absorb background noise
Plants in the office can help absorb some of the background noise, especially with open-concept offices leading the workforce and the undeniable distractions people encounter when there’s too much noise. This is especially true if your work environment contains hard surfaces, such as exposed concrete walls or floors, because there is no other way to absorb the noise.

Increase productivity
Any guesses what the “most toxic” spaces for humans might be? If you guessed an office with no decorations, then you’d be correct! Employees perform better when household plants are brought into their environment, according to Dr. Chris Knight and his colleagues at Exeter University. In fact, after ten years of research, the team discovered that when there are houseplants and décor around, workers are 15% more productive. Why? Employees that are more engaged with their surroundings create more and have an easier time staying focused.

They decrease absence rates and sickness
The reduction of sick days taken is one of the immediate effects of office plants on employee well-being. Plants naturally filter pollutants from their environments and assist with airing out spaces. Insufficient ventilation in office spaces can make your team susceptible to “sick building syndrome,” an odd phenomenon. Symptoms of this phenomenon range from headaches and concentration problems to flu like symptoms. Plants, while not able to solve all the issues linked to “sick building syndrome,” can assist in alleviating some of the stress.