Guest Blog by Matt at vivofish.com
Business owners are constantly looking for innovative ways to ensure employee productivity, happiness, and retention. Upgrading the physical work environment is one area that can pay quick dividends.
That doesn’t mean that you need to go out andre decorate the entire office. Simply adding a few fun perks could be all you need.
An aquarium is one such perk that business owners and managers should consider.
Pet fish have been shown to be as beneficial as many other, more popular pets,like cats and dogs.
Fish help people relax, lower blood pressure,increase calmness and productivity, and even help seniors combat things like Alzheimer’s.
Why not bring these benefits into the office with a fish tank?
Here are some more employee-specific reasons to do so.
As an employee, you are likely to be stressed when working in an office that requires you to keep up with strict deadlines.Even though tight deadlines can motivate you and increase productivity, you are likely to feel exhausted, demotivated, and stressed at some point.
According to everything from pet-owner anecdotal surveys, to published studies, being around fish and observing them in an aquarium significantly reduces stress.
Stressed employees are more likely to make mistakes and perform poorly.
Not only does watching the fish for a few minutes reduce anxiety, but if your tank has running water from the pump or filter, the noise is often a relaxing one. Think of the trickle of a stream, ora waterfall. Bringing nature into the office is almost always a crowd-pleaser.
The aquarium does not necessarily have to be large or even have many fish. You might also encourage employees to purchase mini-aquariums that they can place on top of their desk.
Aquariums, apart from decorating the office, also change the way employees experience their working space. For employees to be productive, they must remain calm and relaxed. Fish are ideal for your mental well-being. They reduce anxiety, as we touched on above, and foster calmness.
According to a study, there was a calming effect among electro-convulsive therapy patients when introduced to an aquarium.
The study's goal was to determine the effect an aquarium has on pre-treatment anxiety, depression, frustration, and fear on electro-conclusive therapy (ECT) patients. During the study, forty-two patients were placed in rooms containing and without aquariums. As a result, patients placed in rooms with aquariums registered a 12% decrease in anxiety levels.
The physiological effects of the calmness and reduced stress are clear.
When you are not stressed or anxious, your body tends to function better. Therefore having an aquarium in your place of work can help lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
The same study behind the blood pressure report also reported that watching an aquarium can lower heart rate by approximately 5-6 BPM.
Now that your employees are calmer, less stressed, and have lower heart rates, they’re ready to get to work.
Some firms specialize in introducing aquariums to offices. According to their reports, aquariums provide several benefits to employees, such as increased productivity.
Which makes sense when you take all of the other benefits into account!
From the above points, it’s evident that an aquarium does not only beautify a workplace or improve office aesthetics but has a lot of health and productivity benefits as well.
Many aquariums are relatively low maintenance, especially compared to other popular pets which may be a hassle to allow in the office. If your office needs a bit of a pick-me-up, why not consider adding an aquarium?
Save money, increase productivity and change the way you communicate.
Contact us for a full demo and see just how Equiinet can help your organization!
