Time and again, clients ask us what the ideal workplace should be and what they can do to create a working environment that motivates, boosts morale, and one where employees would generally enjoy working.
Because no two workplaces are the same, it’s therefore impossible to devise a one-size-fits-all solution. A large part of this will depend on the needs of the workers themselves. We embarked on a survey and were able to gain some interesting insights.
The survey touched on a wide range of things that included office layout, space challenges, ideal meeting areas, among others. This research was aimed at getting valuable insight into employee expectations of what they want in their ideal workplace as well as how industry, size, and generational differences may play a role in shaping these opinions.
Aside from exploring what employee expectations look like, the research also sought to answer questions that border on generational differences especially as it relates to the perception that most millennials today are more demanding when it comes to workplace expectations.
Here are some of the exciting highlights of our findings!
Assessing Current Workplace Challenges
The work environment can influence a wide range of things from staff health and wellness to mood and productivity within the workplace. Previous studies have shown that certain factors, such as adequate exposure to natural light, among many other examples, can affect employee health and wellness.
Some studies have also focused on the importance of ergonomics in chairs and desks decisions. Corporations, as well as small businesses, are constantly looking for ways to make the workplace better for employees. As it turns out, investment in this area will also reflect on the bottom line if done correctly.
To start with, the average full-time worker today spends more than 37 hours at work each week. You’ll understand how important it is to make the workplace comfortable, considering a huge part of the employee’s daily life is spent there. Almost a third of workers believe their workplace is outdated and uninspiring and could use significant improvements.
While many employees working in companies of all different sizes feels a lot more can be done to improve their workplace, the discontent seems to be higher for workers in medium-sized establishments.
And while less than 20% of all workers surveyed revealed that poor workplace lighting seems to be affecting their mood and productivity negatively, over a third of workers in the education and legal sectors believe they are affected. That said, more than a third of workers, precisely 36%, believe they would perform better with better access to dedicated relaxation areas for lunch, and reading, among others. Another 23% would prefer a dedicated space for attending to calls and virtual meetings or just to avoid distractions.
While the study did confirm millennials to be the least satisfied with their workplace, baby boomers appear a lot more content with about 21% of the respondents generally agreeing that a better office layout and design would help them perform better. What that means at the moment is that about a fifth of employees are currently underperforming due to the current design of their working environment.
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