February 13, 2002—A new report from Future at The Industrial Society, a UK-based consultant and research firm, examines who controls working space, explores what effect working environment has on workers, and asks what tomorrow’s office will look like.
The report, “The State of the Office: The politics and geography of working space,” concludes that workplace design can have a profound impact on worker productivity. Heating, cooling, noise, light, and ventilation can affect staff physically and psychologically. Space design can also encourage or discourage interaction and communication between colleagues.
Findings include:
- Almost a quarter of UK office workers are dissatisfied with their working space.
- Employees have little formal influence over the design of their places of work.
- People value many types of workspace, slightly preferring shared space above others. However, approaches such as hotdesking — the desk-hopping, space-saving trend favored by cutting edge companies – have not always proved popular with employees.
- 30 percent rate own space as more important, against 14 percent for flexible space.
- Almost one in five employees strongly disagree that they have enough control over working space from day to day.
- Employees resent directors’ offices, which are rarely used by their owners, but are out of bounds to other employees; grand entrance halls, which are designed to impress visitors but hardly ever used; and low-rent, hard-to-reach staff cafs, which no one wants to use.
- 25 percent of the workforce now carries out some of its work at home.
- The average desk is occupied for only 45 percent of office hours.
To alleviate some of the problems, the report suggests that office mangers give employees:
- Day-to-day direct control of the immediate and ambient environment.
- Ongoing involvement in team management of space.
- A say in organizational space management and change.
For more information, contact Futures at The Industrial Society at 0870 400 1000.
