Well-designed office increases morale, engagement, pride

According to UK-based research agency Leesman, which has so far surveyed over 40,000 staff in the UK, only 54% of respondents believe that their workspace enables them to work productively. In addition, 86% of respondents feel that the design of their office is important to them.

According to Peter Townshend, MD of Know More, the research and consultancy arm of workplace specialists Giant Leap, the two main reasons for not changing in South Africa are cost and ignorance.

"There is a lack of knowledge around workplace effectiveness and staff satisfaction. The majority of companies simply do not know how their staff want to work and what spaces they need. Those that do know are scared to make changes to their office design and upgrade their workspaces due to the expense involved. The reality, however, is that if a new office is designed based on in-depth research and analysis, its cost will quickly be recouped with increased productivity, lower absenteeism and lower staff turnover. A well designed office also increases morale, engagement and pride, which further enhances loyalty and staff productivity."

He adds that this refusal to change is costing South African companies millions of Rands. While the way people work is rapidly changing, the workspaces are not keeping pace. One key driver of this change is the rise of knowledge work as the predominant activity in the economy, which has resulted in a class of workers that apply information and knowledge.

"We not only need to design workspaces that enhance the production of those doing knowledge work, but we also need to create spaces that attract knowledge workers. These spaces need to support both focused work and collaboration."

Theory, online research create optimal spaces

The company was created to research workspace theory and to show companies in South Africa the benefits of changing the way they work and creating effective workspaces. "Through our research, we have a solid idea of how offices are being created over the world. We are also starting to get a strong idea about the South African office space climate. We find out as much theory as we can and then combine this with information we gather from our clients. Based on this, we then recommend the best possible workplace design for that particular institution."

It uses a range of data collection tools, including a workplace satisfaction survey, space optimisation analysis, workshops and interviews and analysis tools to paint a comprehensive picture of a company's physical environment.

The workplace satisfaction analysis is an online survey that provides in-depth information on how satisfied staff are with, as well as how important they consider a range of workplace activities, features and facilities. With this data, it can provide a thorough analysis and provide the organisation with firm recommendations on how to best design their offices to increase staff satisfaction.

"The workplace satisfaction survey is a quick and easy tool to set up and run and yet it is tremendously powerful. It gives us a wealth of data that helps us get a very solid idea of not only how staff are interacting with their current space, but what space will best increase satisfaction and therefore staff productivity," he concludes.

For more information, go to www.knowmoresa.com