Work Environment Affects Employee Happiness

space matters:

“Happiness is connected to the basic goals of any business organization, such as productivity and retention—the difference is that there is also a direct benefit to the quality of employees’ lives.”

People work for many reasons—compensation, social connections, and status being just a few. However, the most important drivers of work today might be the experience of finding meaning in one’s work and achieving happiness in the workplace. Some people bring a sense of meaning to their work, and some organizations create cultures that foster happiness and meaning in the employee work experience. In fact, happy employees are more productive. As a bonus, they also have a higher sales rate and demonstrate 3 times the creative capacity.

and that matters

However, to date, the role of the design of the physical office space that surrounds people has been often unconsidered. So, let’s dive into why that is and how PeopleSpace addresses this critical aspect of ensuring employee happiness.

Haworth (a PeopleSpace parent company) ran a global program studying how design of workspace can be leveraged for happiness and meaningful work involving over 2,000 office workers. Participating organization worksites included a mix of business headquarters and Haworth sales and administrative facilities. The analysis identifies a broad array of features: ambient environment (noise, acoustics, lighting, air quality, etc.), planning features, workspace types, furnishings, and technologies that impact measures of meaningful work, frustration, happiness, well-being, and contentment. In these analyses, potential effects of generational affiliation and job level are controlled. So, the insights from this research can apply to the broader global population regardless of age or job level.

Connecting Workspace Design and Happiness

PeopleSpace works with your design team to create workspaces where the people who make up your organization can thrive and be their best, so that your company can be its best. We integrate best practices, tools and innovations in a proven process that enhances your experience from start to finish. Our model addresses industry issues such as the increased complexity around space planning and procurement. At every stage, from initial discovery to final installation and beyond, we listen and respond proactively and effectively. Our services supporting happy work environments include: custom furniture, delivery and installation, cleaning and repair, technical design and project drawing, project management, quality assurance, asset management and warehouse, intermarket, and more. Interested in learning more about how PeopleSpace can help your biggest asset—your team—thrive in their environment? Get in touch!

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The analysis shows that two work experiences directly influence happiness:

The next step was to determine which environmental features, if any, have an impact on employee ratings of being valued and ability to focus. When considering this, let’s remember that people spend of their time in a built environment. Haworth found that six features of office design affect employees feeling valued. These include:

Space legibility and access to daylight have the largest impact on feeling valued. This makes sense since these two features are part of the overall ambient work environment, affecting everyone regardless of location or type of space used. Two of the mentioned features that influence feeling valued also influence workers’ ability to focus. These include the overall legibility of the office space and adaptability of the individual workspace. Legibility conserves resources that can be used for focus, and control over primary workspace can provide people with enough autonomy over how they can best focus in that space.

– Dr. Michael O’Neill, Haworth, Inc.

Design features that make employees feel valued

THe ability to achieve focus at work

ability to see peers

understand the layout of the space

workspaces indicate intended use

adjustability of primary workspace features

access to daylight from the workspace

adequate workspace storage

30%

37%

93%