How Lighting Solutions Affect Workplace Productivity

Your employees are your greatest asset. To keep them motivated and productive at all times, it’s important to provide them with the right tools and settings to perform their jobs to their full potential and capabilities. Work surroundings and environment play a big role in boosting productivity and that includes the type of lighting you provide. Excellent quality lighting improves the moods and comfort levels of your employees, which contributes to yielding positive results all around.

LED lighting solutions in offices in the GTA are a great cost- and energy-efficient option that can have a tremendous impact on the daily lives including the physical and mental well-being of your employees by helping them stay razor sharp and focused throughout the day.

What Are the Effects of Dim vs. Bright Lighting?

Variations in lighting can have different effects on employees, work environments, their moods, and their productivity. Dim lighting makes it harder for employees to concentrate on given tasks and places great strain on their eyes, diminishing brain functions and other tasks that require a great deal of mental power.

Bright lighting can help improve visibility, particularly when reading a screen or paper printouts, and puts less strain on the eyes. This is important because eye strain can cause frequent headaches, which makes it harder for employees to concentrate and be productive at work while also putting a great damper on their moods and inducing stress. Productivity and quality of work decline severely when this happens.

How Office Lights Effect Employee Performance and Why You Should Care

Studies have shown that ample office lighting, particularly natural or soft bright lighting, can give employees the energy they need to successfully get through the workday. When office lighting is too dim, it can negatively impact your employees and lower their morale in the following ways.

High Stress Levels

Poor lighting conditions have been proven to increase physical and mental stress levels of office employees. Have you ever noticed that employees often feel more mental fatigue and have brain farts on cold, drab, and dark rainy days? That’s because the lack of sunshine makes them feel that way. While you can’t control the weather, you can control the internal environment and lighting conditions of your workplace. Approximately 32% of office workers report that they feel more uplifted and energetic at work after their employers switched to LED lighting solutions in the office.

Alertness

Bad lighting can also negatively impact alertness levels of employees around the office. As mentioned, it’s a lot harder to concentrate or feel motivated when you’re having a hard time reading the screen or a piece of paper in front of you due to poor lighting conditions. It’s also another reminder of just how little employers care about the well-being of their employees, which can be frustrating and reduce the motivation to perform well. Blue enriched light bulbs with a temperature of 17,000K (Kelvins, which measure light temperature) can help to substantially increase mental alertness and facilitate better work performance form employees.

Strained Eyes

Strained eyes are tired eyes and tired eyes are a gateway to a tired brain. Eye strain can lead to a host of health issues that can be uncomfortable for employees to power through during their workday. Headaches are among the most common physical and mental health ailments that are related to stressed and strained eyes. When operating under poor lighting conditions, the retinas have to work a lot harder to view, read, and comprehend visuals on a screen.

Fatigue and Drowsiness

Dim or poorly lit workplaces are like a breeding ground for lack of motivation and productivity. As mentioned, poor lighting makes it a lot harder for employees to concentrate on the task at hand. This makes a situation ripe for distractions. When employees start to feel fatigued or drowsy at work, they tend to pass or waste time by doing just about anything aside from work. They can even become a distraction for their coworkers, which only decreases productivity levels. Installing industrial lighting solutions in workplaces across the GTA is an effective way to improve energy levels in the workplace at an affordable and sustainable long-term rate.

Productivity

Simply put, all of these factors that are directly related to low-quality lighting conditions can cause workplace productivity to take a steep nosedive. Commercial LED lighting solutions in Toronto can brighten up your workplace and the daily lives of your employees, which encourages them to work smarter instead of harder.

How the Best Lighting Solutions in Ontario Can Solve These Problems

More Lighting Options Give You More Control

Giving your employees more flexible lighting options that allow them to control the light settings in their offices or work areas makes them feel more relaxed and comfortable at work. This creates a pleasant work environment that fosters employee recognition and appreciation, which makes your employees feel valued in addition to the physical benefits of being able to see their computer screens better without putting undue strain on their eyes.

Promote Ergonomic Work Environments

Ergonomic solutions that make for a more comfortable workspace are vital to the productivity, performance, and overall well-being of your employees. Lighting solutions in offices come in three forms: ambient, task, and accent/focal lighting. All of these lighting options have unique merits that are appropriate for various work situations.

How Proper Lighting Effects Productivity

When employees feel better, they also perform better. The right lighting can impact their energy levels, making them more or less productive depending on the conditions. Natural lighting is the most effective lighting solution to boost productivity. While it can’t be reproduced on rainy days, it can certainly be mimicked through modern technological advancements.  

How to Improve Employee Disposition, Health, and Productivity with LED Lighting Solutions in the Office

• Lower overhead lighting to reduce the adverse impact of harsh lights on the eyes.
• Opt for flexible or customizable lighting solutions such as dimmers that allow each employee to adjust lights in their workstations to their liking.
• Use OLED (organic light emitting diode) lighting that’s easier on the eyes and reduces tension headaches.
• Decrease or eliminate the use of blue lighting, which puts a great deal of strain on the eyes, throughout the workplace.
• Incorporate more natural light into your workplace as possible as this is a natural mood enhancer and has a lot of health benefits.

Commercial and Industrial Lighting Solutions in the GTA

There’s a reason that Faraday Lighting has a decades-long reputation for being one of the leading providers of custom commercial and industrial LED lighting solutions in Ontario. Our expert lighting technicians provide turnkey lighting audits, so that we can make appropriate service and recommendations based on the specific needs of your business and employees. Contact us today to learn more.