Office door signs and office name plates have been a mainstay of offices for a long time. However, as businesses experiment with new office configurations including open and flexible floor plans, some have chosen to eschew these identifiers. This may be a mistake. Below are six reasons that name plates are good for offices, regardless of the setup.

1) They Make Navigation Simpler

When planning office layouts and designs, interior designers and managers overseeing the projects like to get creative. They want to create a space that inspires people to think outside the box. Unique and innovative office designs can do this. People are greatly affected by their environments. So, a more open space can help people be more open-minded.

However, all the creative and innovative benefits in the world don’t outweigh the simple need to be able to find one’s way around. At the end of the day, every office is a place of business. People need to find where they have to go and who they want to speak with.

Desk name plates can be a great way to achieve this. If a team member needs to find someone in another department, he or she can easily identify the right desk and person due to the name plate. If customers or other external stakeholders come in for a meeting, they can find the right conference room easily.

Office name plates can enable more creative office configurations. They make it easier for people to rely less on their mental models of what an office should look like. Even if a design is totally new and unique, signs can still clearly indicate where people and rooms are.

2) They Improve Team Morale

Morale is important to an organization’s success. For most businesses, human capital is their most important resource. Keeping people happy and motivated is a top priority for management teams.

Office and cubicle name plates can play a big role in this. Installing them is a small gesture, but it can have a major impact. These a few things having a name plate can mean to an employee:

·         They Belong: More than anything else, a name plate is an indicator that the person is part of the group. When everyone has desk name plates, they are all in it together. It may be a physically small way of showing this, but it still has a strong subconscious impact. Furthermore, name plates are a lot cheaper than other ways of developing a sense of belonging.

·         They Matter: There is something about having your name on your desk that makes you feel like you matter to the team. Again, this is a relatively minor way to show that people matter but it is also cheap and easy.

·         They Are Here To Stay: Job security is a real concern for a lot of people. Having a name plate indicates that your employer plans on keeping you around.

Name plates may not be enough to turn around an office with major morale problems. However, subconscious signals play a bigger role in culture and morale than you may think. Name plates are an easy and inexpensive way to send the right message to your team.

3) They Enhance Aesthetics

Office design is a complex thing. There needs to be a balance between order and creativity. A space that is too orderly seems clinical and oppressive. Conversely, one that is too unique seems chaotic and overwhelming.

Office door signs and custom name plates can bring visual order to even the most unique interior designs. They can introduce a consistent design element throughout the space that ties it together. Additionally, they offer a sense of professionalism and polish.

Of course, custom signage can complement and enhance almost any aesthetic. For example, a more modern office may benefit from glass signs with standoffs. Conversely, a more traditional, conservative space may look great with classic engraved signs.

In other words, office door signs and office name plates can offer both form and function. In the same way that they make navigation easier by making a space more rational, they also introduce an orderly and attractive visual element.

4) They Increase Team Member Retention

Similar to the morale benefits, desk and cubicle name plates can increase team member retention. This may sound like a big claim about such a humble item. However, there is a good reason why name plates can positively affect retention.

According to one survey,70% of workers don't feel engaged in their work. Additionally, a large portion of people finding new jobs cite engagement as a major reason for leaving. In other words, feeling engaged in one’s work and workplace has a direct impact on how likely one is to stay at a job.

Team member retention can greatly affect your bottom line. It is estimated that hiring a new employee costs around a tenth of their annual salary. Additionally, new people are generally less productive than experienced team members. It is worth it to invest in trying to retain more talent.

As mentioned above, office name plates can make people feel like they are valued as team members. They help promote a sense of belonging. In other words, name plates improve engagement. It may be only a single step in the right direction, but it is a positive step nonetheless.

5) They Relieve Stress for New Team Members

Starting a new job and meeting a lot of new people can be overwhelming. It can lead to awkward situations of forgetting people’s names. After all, there are so many to remember.

In the same way that office and cubicle name plates make it easier to find the person you are looking for, they also make it easier to remember names. Of course, for a team that has been working together for a while, this isn’t a problem. However, for large groups with multiple departments and for new additions to the team, trying to remember names can be a minor nightmare.

As mentioned above, name plates make people feel like they belong. This benefit doesn’t just come from feeling accepted as part of the team. Name plates also help to combat the feeling of unfamiliarity that can make people feel like they don’t belong.

6) They Are Durable, Convenient and Practical

When you introduce something into your office interior design, you want it to solve problems not create them. Weak and/or inconvenient components can be the source of unnecessary struggle and frustration.

Custom office name plates from Signsations are durable. They can stand up to the day-to-day busy activity of an office, including being bumped, walked into and more. Additionally, they are easy to manage. Depending on the design you select, you can swap out names easily while keeping the holders permanently. That can be helpful if people move offices or leave the team.

In short, name plates are a simple way to achieve many great benefits for an office with minimal expense and frustration. They are the headache-free way to improve your office, regardless of its configuration.

Get Your Office Name Plates From Signsations

Improve your office with custom office name plates from Signsations. We have a full catalog of design options for you. Choose engraved acrylic plates, curved holders, cubicle name plates and many other designs. Plus, make office navigation even easier with matching office signs. Get started with your office’s new signage today.