Furniture –topic # 6 for yours truly! Coming on the heels of green, productivity, JanSan (everyone’s favorite), single sourcing and technology, it seems to be a somewhat mundane area – but it doesn’t need to be!!!

Furniture’s first purpose should be function. What do your employees need to do their job? A chair is probably a given, but which chair is right for you? It’s really not a one size fits all matter; a receptionist who sits all day needs a different type of chair than the shop foreman on his feet 6 hours a day. Seating doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should always be geared towards employee comfort. And don’t trust employees to know what seat is right for them – when we brought in samples for people to sit in, absolutely no one chose the ergonomically advanced memory foam options. Why not? Because on first seating, memory foam feels hard and uncomfortable – so we did the right thing and got the memory foam chairs because we wanted long term health and comfort for our people.

Form can matter. Your reception area needs to reflect the image you want to present to your customers, vendors and other visitors. We have opted for the elegantly frugal model, and I think it looks good and reflects the type of company we run. There are literally thousands of options, and some people will try to confuse or intimidate you – don’t let it happen. You are capable of knowing what you need and then making an intelligent decision from alternatives brought to you by a furniture professional.