Choosing the Correct Ergonomic Office Chair for your Employees

More and more companies are beginning to see the value in creating a comfortable working environment for their employees. The value of comfort is not that your employees will think that you are a great boss, but rather that their bodies won’t be stressed. This is a problem that can be easily solved with an ergonomic office chair.

When you are more relaxed, you tend to focus more. Thus, you get more done in less time, and you don’t feel drained after a long day at the office. Whether you work from home, or want a chair for the library or for your study room, the seating arrangement is important for a good work and study environment.

However, not all of us have the resources that Google has, but we can start off with an ergonomic office chair. The question is, which one will suit your employees the best? Here are some features to look out for and things you can do to make the right choice.

Lumbar Support

Not all office jobs are equal and not all employees sit at a desk the whole day, but if you have employees who have to sit in front of a computer for hours on end, then you need to get the chairs with lumbar support.

You will soon have fewer employees who complain about back pain. Depending on your budget, you can buy models with adjustable lumbar support to suit any body type. Some models even allow you to set how soft or firm the support should be.

An office chair with a good lumbar back support has to have the ability to keep your shoulders, back, and hips in proper alignment and maintain the correct posture your spine should be at at all times.

First Hand Experience

There is nothing like experiencing something personally, so when you need to decide on a chair for your employees, take the chairs for a spin. When you spend some time in a couple of options, you will have a good sense of what would work for your employees.

You can purchase a single piece and opt for delivery to your premises so that your whole office may try out the chairs. On top of that, it could be worthwhile to ask the store you are enquiring with if free returns could be done. This would definitely be more convenient than having the whole office visit a showroom.

You will have the opportunity to test out the chair’s adjustability features, how sturdy it is and how easily it moves around. If you spend enough time in it, you will be able to judge whether the chair is conducive to good posture. When you maintain good posture, you are less likely to suffer from any form of back pain.

Mesh Over Leather

It needs to breath! It might look professional but buying leather seats is out of the question. If you sit on leather (or even PVC or PU leather) for long enough, you start to sweat and stick to the chair. In some cases, it might even lead to an unwanted rash.

Medium texture upholstery is the way to go. It breathes and is comfortable to the touch. What’s more is that the material isn’t abrasive or itchy and won’t cause your body to overheat. If the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program vouches for these chairs, then there has to be some sense in it.

Full mesh chairs are not that difficult to find. Just a simple search on Google would lead you to finding the nearest office chair seller near you. If you happen to be from Singapore, check out the Full Mesh Valk Office Chair!

Caring for Your Arms and Shoulders

Buying a comfortable chair is more than just buying something that has a soft and has a good backrest. What many people ignore is the fact that your arms and shoulders play just as important a role as your back.

Buying a chair that encourages you to slump your shoulders is counter-productive. Your posture goes out the window, and before you know it, you have neck pain. The armrest of a chair should be just as adjustable as the backrest and should offer you the opportunity to avoid shoulder, elbow and wrist pain.

Seat Depth

This is one of the areas that most people overlook, but the truth is, most people don’t even think about it. When your is against the backrest, there should roughly be a three-inch gap between the back of your knees and the edge of the chair. If your legs press against the edge of the chair, it cuts off circulation.

On the other hand, it touches your legs, and you tend to move forward and lose the support which the backrest is supposed to give you. Therefore, you should see if the seat is easy to adjust forwards or backward, if it can adjust at all.

Employee Feedback

You can get your employees the best chairs that money can buy. You personally test many chairs, but it all comes down to the people who will be spending their workdays in the chair. They are the ones who need to have the final say in the matter seeing that they will be the ones who will use the chair.

Feedback from your employees is the ultimate guide to buying proper office chairs. You aim to provide them with comfort while they work. That comfort is subjective, and your employees might not like what you want to buy for them. Who knows, maybe they even get a less expensive chair to the one you wanted to get them.