A Kinder, Gentler Workplace.

Whether it be Feng Shui design, the concept of ergonomics, scented air, natural light or gurgling water, existing in this increasingly wired and technology-based market might well require a gentle push backward--away from progress--toward tools and principles that have been around for ages.

Do you work from a well-lit, pleasingly colored oasis? Or, like most of us, do you shuffle and rustle your papers from an okay-but-not-great chair, at a desk not exactly right, under chilly fluorescent lights and with yesterday's files piled in a quick corner?

If you fall into the latter group, among compatriots who would eagerly trade an autographed Dilbert strip for a simple desk lamp with a diffused bulb, you are among the legions of workers nationwide who spend much of their lives-more than half-at the office, too often amid surroundings little better than a cheesy motel room.

If this is you, your most coveted score is likely not that Kool-Aid-colored iMac, but a leafy, oxygen-generating plant, a graceful shade of paint on the walls, a window or maybe even-heaven forbid-some nature sounds. At least incandescent lighting.

While the hard-charging labor push of the 1990s is shifting-USA Today reports more people than not (54 percent to be exact) say long hours at the office DON'T pay off, that personal life is, well, more important. Despite this, we will still end up spending a particularly gruesome portion of our lives at the workplace. For those shortsighted, matte-gray walls, racks of fluorescent lights and fields of modular cubes remain the answer-cheap and easy. Some would even call the no-frills design style "efficient."

But for employers wishing to get a little something extra from their labor pool, to perhaps recruit that elusive game animal of the 21st Century (the well-qualified, educated and earnest employee), the market is heavy with tools and tips for making your office a veritable oasis where people will love to work.

Wind and Water

Arguably, the hottest new (and, paradoxically, the oldest) form of office design to hit the mainstream these days is Feng Shui, Chinese for "wind" and "water." On the surface, it's a trendy design principle incorporating the elements of nature. Beneath the knockoff river stones and designer essential oils, it's an ancient discipline defining the relationship between self and place.

And where could that be more important than at the office, where we spend an inordinate amount of time, where we struggle to influence others and fulfill our own goals, where we're called upon to be creative and forward-thinking on the fly? If those reasons aren't enough, Feng Shui followers suggest that employers would be wise to consider the possibility of increased efficiency, worker satisfaction and loyalty, creative energy and the simple sense of well-being that comes from doing business in an environment that plays to the senses, not against them.

In larger cities and progressive small towns, it's not unusual in these contemporary times for an office manager to call upon a Feng Shui artisan to aid in designing an office layout. For do-it-yourselfers, experts are available on the shelves of any large bookstore. For example, Nancilee Wydra gets down to business in her book Feng Shui Goes to the Office: How to Thrive from 9 to 5, newly out from Chicago publisher Contemporary Books (U.S., $14.95).

For the technophile, sputter up that appendage you call the Net and search words "Feng Shui" and "office design" for a list of appropriate Web sites.

Still leery? Rest assured--evidence of the shift toward a work environment that plays easy on the mind is found nowadays at most office-supply retailers. And, if it hasn't perhaps taken off in Alaska yet, those observing the marketplace predict it may be just a matter of time until office "scent" measures right up there with paper clips, sticky pads and file folders.

Sweet Smell of Success

Marvin Davis, owner of Tongass Business Center, serves Southeast Alaska's office-supply needs with stores in Juneau, Ketchikan and Craig. At one point last year, the window of his Ketchikan store was lined with gurgling water fountains, beautiful creations of verdigris metals and shiny, smooth stones. The sound of water running, an ancient and recognized relaxant, makes for a sense of calm, even serenity in an office foyer or common area. Davis himself keeps a giant-sized fountain in his own office.

"It's the sound," he says. "It's just like sitting by a creek."

Davis admits that immediate response to the fountains and such environment-enhancing tools has been mixed. They're not exactly wild-card sellers yet. But Davis is certain the concept, already popular Outside, is here to stay.

"It's little things like that that make a difference," he says. "The realization is becoming concrete. Sound, color: They are really important in the office place."

In fact, alongside the techy fax-copier-email-printers that Davis sells like hotcakes, he also stocks scent for the home and office.

The Japanese have been leading us by hundreds of years in that arena, particularly regarding uses of citrus scent, he says. "Even in the factories, they're utilizing orange and lemon as part of their air systems."

The clean, invigorating smell reportedly increases worker efficiency, he says. "That's something that was measurable."

In the conservative climate of traditional business, is Alaska ready for tangy intangible philosophies like scent-enhanced competence?

"I wouldn't say we're as progressive as they are down South," he says. "It just takes a while for everything to catch on."

Modular Motivation

Idealism aside, the modular system--the cube of so much ill repute--remains one of the most popular forms of office redesign, especially for employers wishing to maximize space, privacy and money.

Otherwise, common choices for redesign or an office remodel include creative use of freestanding desks and work tables. Wendy Harter, in design and furniture sales at Arctic Office Products, an Alaska-owned company with offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kenai, sees people readily willing to invest in quality office furniture.

Harter, who notes a recent trend toward traditional furniture styles of rich, dark cherry wood over lighter hues like oak, says the key is determining the office staff's needs and the overall budget.

A pleasing office arrangement is available for the tightest of checkbooks. Or, client willing, the space might warrant a complete redesign. Harter and others typically visit the work site and input the dimensions into a CAD system, which then allows fast and easy creation of virtual office possibilities.

Issues to consider: wall construction and condition, the building's electrical layout, even attention to ergonomics.

Davis lists health-conscious items as among his best sellers.

"Ergonomic-can't get away from that word," he says. With work largely computer-based nowadays, "it's really important that (users) have the right kind of chair, the right kind of desk--that the monitor is at the right level."

The popularity of adjustable-height desks, wrist rests, health-themed keyboards and monitors is across the board in the office supply industry.

While aesthetically pleasing things, such as fountains and scent, may not be routine in Alaska offices yet, Jerry Johnston, a sales representative at Northern Office Supply in Anchorage, acknowledges the ergonomics concept has made the leap well into mainstream, with high request volume for such tools.