| BY MARY CANTANDO If you don’t think that your office ambiance affects your staff and clients, and ultimately your bottom line, think again. Studies by psychologists, sociologists, and interior design experts confirm that a warm and welcoming office environment can affect the mood, productivity and success of your business.
If you reflect back, you can probably remember a time when you were in an office that was so stodgy and cold that you looked for the nearest exit. You were aware of the lack of color, the poor lighting, the institutional carpet, and the overall lack of personality. Because women are especially sensitive to their environment, such a first impression probably left you feeling that this was not a company with which you wanted to do business.
We all know that a first impression can make or break a business relationship. But, what are you willing to do to create the ambiance that sends a positive statement to everyone who walks through your door?
Oh, sure, we all have budget concerns, but when you factor in reduced employee turnover, increased productivity, and happy clients who generate new business, you begin to understand the ROI of enhancing the appearance of your office. Let’s meet three enterprising women whose offices reflect the value they place on their clients and employees.
Creating the Comfort of Family at Work
Marcie Brogan is owner and CEO of Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing, a Michigan-based company specializing in marketing, advertising, customer and prospect research, and Web site development.
When Brogan started her business in 1984, the only office furniture she could find was “male stuff.” As she remembers it, “Everything was ugly, overpriced mahogany, so I decided to buy residential furniture to use in the office. The market is finally starting to catch up to the kind of office furniture that women really want, but it has taken about 20 years.”
Brogan’s office reflects the relationship model that is core to her business. She daringly overpaid for an historic Victorian mansion that sits in the middle of the city’s business district. The big, welcoming front porch and lively balconies of her house stand as a stark contrast to the other buildings in the area. Brogan feels that creating her businesses in a “home” accentuates the fact that Brogan & Partners operates like a family, and that family-like impression fits the character of her ad agency.
Brogan smiles when she discusses a visual symbol she developed to underscore this family atmosphere.
“Every time an employee has a new baby, we buy a little red chair and paint the child’s name on it,” she said. “We have about 50 red chairs scattered throughout our office; each one represents a child whose parent has worked for us over the years. We do this to demonstrate that our kids are part of all our lives. When they visit, we want them to feel special.” Brogan tells us, “Clearly, this was a decision that only a mom would think up.”
Brogan knows that she has reaped real business benefits by her decision to purchase her Victorian space and decorate it like a home.
“I love that my staff feel comfortable in our office,” she explained. “I love that our clients enjoy visiting it. You can’t put a price on employee satisfaction, productivity, and the increased client retention that an environment like this produces.”
Brogan feels that there is a major difference between women’s purchasing processes and those of men.
“Men generally do not shop — they buy,” she said. “Women tend to be comparison shoppers; we enjoy the process of comparing quality, as well as snagging the best deal, whether it’s for personal, family or business use. Let’s face it, only a price-conscious and design-sensitive female would buy little red chairs from Ikea and assemble them herself!”
Only the Best — With an Eye on the Budget
Suzanne Clifton heads The Castleton Group/The Executive Staffing Group in Raleigh , NC , a full-service professional employer organization specializing in human resource outsourcing. She works with an interior designer in choosing office furnishings and then orders furniture from design companies, rather than from office furniture vendors. Reflective of Clifton ’s personality, every piece is unique.
“My surroundings are very important to me,” she said. “I want my office to have the same comfortable feeling that I have at home.”
The color, design, texture, artwork, and lighting of Clifton ’s office all complement each other. At the center of her conference room rests an immense marble table surrounded by fabric chairs. Two large, intricately carved credenzas anchor each side of the room. Large flower arrangements adorn each credenza, and greenery cascades over the file cabinets “so they don’t look like file cabinets.”
On an excursion to Palm Beach , Clifton purchased a striking glass sculpture for the center of the conference table that became the focal point of the entire room.
“I love the way it picks up the colors in the wallpaper and the fabric on the chairs,” Clifton said. “It is a pleasure to hold meetings and seminars in this room that can often run two, four, or six hours. And, I like the fact that these purchases reflect that I am a woman.”
Because she is so aware of the time that her employees spend on the job, Clifton strives to create a pleasant work environment. While each office area looks great, it is also assessed to be ergonomically correct.
“Men are not usually focused on how the office looks and feels,” she said. “It seems to me that their purchases are either traditional or very contemporary, and most of the accent pieces they select are office-oriented. I don’t think that most of them would consider the intricate details and flair that I consider important in my purchases.”
Although she shares Brogan’s budget concerns, it’s clear that the bottom line to Clifton ’s impressive business decor is beauty, comfort and success.
“I look not only for the best price, but also for what looks great as far as décor is concerned,” she said. “On purchases that enable employees to do a better, more efficient job, I am willing to pay for cutting-edge technology that increases productivity and drives profitability. I will not cut corners; I will not make a purchase until the company can afford the best.”
Dramatic Public Places, Calming Private Spaces
Michelle Boggs, president and CEO of McKinley Marketing Partners, headquartered in Arlington , VA , provides experienced marketing professionals in a wide range of disciplines. The majestic peak of Mt. McKinley appears on Boggs’s Web site, and her office reflects that massive peak — dramatic.
Boggs has invested time, space and dollars to create a remarkable environment. At the base of her office purchasing decisions rests the principle of creating a space in which form follows function. Boggs methodically and diligently planned every purchasing decision. All the furniture at McKinley Marketing Partners, from the reception desk, to the conference room table, to built-in tables and shelves, was custom made.
In its past life, McKinley’s headquarters building was an historic arms warehouse. During the building’s restoration, many artifacts were uncovered, including b ricks with carved logos, a delivery doorbell, crates with well-worn stenciling, old warehouse address labels, bourbon bottles, and antique signage.
Rather than discarding these artifacts, Boggs chose to honor the building’s history by having l ighted shadow boxes installed in the renovated building to display the best of these items; the shadow boxes now adorn the impressive wall that leads from the McKinley lobby to the company’s inner offices.
“It was important to me to have the renovation, furniture and appointments all work with one another,” Boggs said. “In the design process, I even factored in the play of light through the expansive front windows onto the floor and furniture.” The end result is an office that exudes both power and warmth.
To complement her interior space, Boggs has created an outdoor “quiet space” — a large, wisteria-covered arbor scattered with beautiful, yet comfortable, patio furniture.
“When I walk through the door into this space,” Boggs said with a smile, “the entire atmosphere changes. Suddenly, the world slows down, and I’m able to catch my breath.”
Now, that’s our kind of environment.
MARY CANTANDO is president of the Raleigh, NC-based WomanBusinessOwner.com, which cultivates relationships between women business owners and corporations, and the author of Nine Lives: Stories of Women Business Owners Landing on Their Feet. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Enterprising Women magazine and can be contacted at 919-841-0401 (e-mail: mary@womanbusinessowner.com).
(This article is reprinted from the Spring 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)
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