Ten tips for a better work environment

How do companies ensure that their employees are more productive? Leesman studied how they valued their work environment in more than 800 buildings with more than 100,000 respondents. Only 54% of all employees say they can work productively! And only 29% are satisfied with the acoustics. The experience of employees in acoustics appears to have a lot of impact on productivity, so it is time to listen to what employees think about acoustics.

The following recommendations are derived from the study.

1. Listen to your employees

When you listen to your employees, you know what's good for your organization. When employees indicate which things they find important in order to work optimally, you create a commitment if these things are actually improved.

2. Working, talking on the phone and meeting

The top three tasks in a work environment are: individually focused work, talking on the phone and meeting. Every organization and department is slightly different. But all outperformers have one thing in common. They looked very thoroughly at what activities people do in their building and then facilitated them very well.

3. Provide good social infrastructure and... coffee!

The best work environments score better on all 21 tasks. They support the us tasks, which involve cooperation, significantly better. Especially the places where people work together are supported with the help of good coffee, attractive meeting places, etc. For example, 90 percent of all employees find coffee and tea important to function properly, and that is just as important as good IT equipment.

4. The best ideas come together

In many organizations, you see a retreating movement in their working from home policy. Buildings are being made more attractive to work and relax in. Every team needs to be physically together so that ideas are shared and learned from each other. The Y generation is a good example of this. They find “learning from others” more important and therefore want to be in the office more often.

Buildings are being made more attractive to work and relax in. Every team needs to be physically together so that ideas are shared and learned from each other.

5. Variety and Choice

In flexible workplace concepts, employees often lose the ability to personalize their workplace. However, they get something very important in return. They can personalize their workspace for each task by choosing the one that fits the job. Then, however, there must be a choice. The organization with flexible workplace concepts and a lot of choice score the best.

6. Employee well-being at the center

A recently published report by the World Green Building Council shows that several things have an impact on the sense of comfort and productivity. Think of plenty of daylight, art and photography for inspiration, sports and relaxation options, and showers for exercise and good health nutrition.

7. Embrace technological advancement

Technological advancements mean that audio and video conferencing, meeting room reservation systems, can access your files from anywhere. To work anytime, anywhere inside and outside the office.

8. Communicate

The best companies are in constant dialogue with their employees. They communicate clearly and unambiguously about the purpose and method when a new workplace concept is introduced. For example, people with the same tasks (such as talking on the phone or consulting as a couple) may do so at a desk in an open space, distracting other people and having trouble concentrating. So measure before and after changes, communicate about them with your employees, and make adjustments based on their feedback.

9. The work environment makes money

Setting up the work environment is about making people work smarter. Experience shows that if the HR department has more responsibility for this organization, this translates into an improvement in productivity and a reduction in absenteeism.

10. Productivity killers

The three biggest things that employees are dissatisfied about and that have a negative impact on their productivity are poor acoustics, temperature control and indoor climate. Only 29% are satisfied with acoustics, 32% with indoor climate and only 26% when it comes to temperature control. The experience of employees in acoustics appears to have a lot of impact on productivity, so it is time to listen to what employees think about acoustics.

The above recommendations come from the Leesman index (Lim). This study measures how well the work environment supports the user.