On my recent trip to Thailand to present at a conference I found myself staying in a room on the 2^nd floor. Normally this means you end up with a less than desirable view, something like the car park or a brick wall. This wasn’t the case at the Grand Hyatt Erawan, Bangkok. My room had a lovely view of a roof top garden. Early each morning the gardeners came out to water or trim the plants, which they were clearly very proud of.

We all like something green to look at while we work. Being stuck in a windowless room or forced to spend your days looking out the window at a drab view can really dampen your enthusiasm for work. When there are plants outside your window every day it brings the possibility of new growth, emerging flowers and even the odd animal inhabiting the patch of green. It gives people the opportunity to take a moment to reflect and relax before hopefully returning to work and being more productive. So take a look around your workplace this week and see if there is anything you can do to brighten up the outlook that some of your staff have. It doesn’t take much, just a few cheap plants in a pot will do it. By changing someone’s physical view at work you might just change their view of their work.

Tags: employee engagement, Employee morale, Organisational culture, work environment