JOURNAL REFLECTION:THE INTERIOR DESIGN OF WORKPLACE AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYEES' PERFORMANCE: A CASE

Identify:

According to the case study The Interior Design of Workplace and its Impact on Employees’ Performance: A Case Study of the Private Sector Corporations in Egypt, by Ali El-Zeiny, the main objective of the study is to understand the relationship between the employees’ performance and their physical work environment… The results of the study show that office design has a substantial impact on the employees’ performance.” (p. 746)

Some of the research the author touches on is research that has been done already. “Gensler (2005) of 200 UK business managers showed that an improved workplace would boost employee productivity by 19 per cent and their own productivity by 17 per cent… Gensler (2006) [then] followed up this research in a survey of 2,000 office employees in the USA which showed that 90 per cent of the respondents believed that better interior design and layout result in better general employee performance.” (El-Zeiny, p. 748).

The case study The Interior Design of Workplace and its Impact on Employees’ Performance: A Case Study of the Private Sector Corporations in Egypt, by Ali El-Zeiny, used a questionnaire to collect primary data and observations. Six different private sector corporations were given a questionnaire that asked the employees different questions relating to nine indicators of workplace interior design: furniture, noise, temperature, privacy, spatial arrangement, lighting, outside view, presence of plants, and color. The study used a five-point scale: 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for most of the questions. The questionnaire’s goal was to find out:

· What percentage of the employees think that superior office design can create superior employee performance?

· Out of the nine indicators of workplace interior design which influence performance more?

· How do employees feel about their current workplace?

· Are the responses different per gender?

· Are the responses different per generation?

The research found that 96% believe that superior office design leads to superior overall performance (pg. 750). Furniture is the most contributing factor affecting the performance of employees, followed by temperature, light, presence of plants, spatial arrangement, privacy, noise, outside view and color (pg. 751).

50% of the employees are satisfied with their current workplace, the other 50% felt that their workplace needs some improvements (pg. 751). The employees were asked to rate their satisfaction with aspects of the design indicators in their current workplace. Lighting had the lowest mean rating, then noise, outside view, presence of plants, temperature, furniture, color, and spatial.

The study also broke it down by generations: Generation Y(ers), Generation X(ers), and Baby Boomers. This found that temperature, light, noise and furniture with the same, as in those four had the top four means. Both Generation Y(ers) and Generation X(ers) had furniture as their highest factor, while temperature was the highest for Baby Boomers. (pg. 755)

To summarize their findings, more than half of the respondents believe superior office design leads to superior overall performance. Furniture followed by plants were the two top impacting design elements.

Reaction

While I was reading the article a few things really grabbed my attention. The first thing, was when the author was telling the reader how Campbell, J. P. defines performance. “Campbell, J. P. defines performance as behavior, it is something done by the employee... Outcomes are the result of a person's performance, but also, there are many factors that assess outcomes other than just an employee's behaviors and actions” (pg. 747). The reason this grabbed my attention is because there is a design standard out there called the WELL Building Standard. he WELL Building Standard grading scale cares about the parts of the built environment that impact human health: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. You either like the concept of the design or you don’t. I personally really like this design standard and this article backs up the theory of the WELL Building Standard that to have more productivity the workers need to have a healthier working environment.

Application

Another reaction I had was excitement. Something that I am really interested in is ergonomics. The data that they collected show that furniture was the top design element that would improve work performance. Which means I can take the time and effort to really explore and learn about furniture ergonomics. “Springer Inc (1986) stated that an insurance company in a study showed that the ergonomic furniture increased performance by 10 to 15 percent” (pg. 748). I can take this and use it like solving a puzzle: how can I use furniture to improve the employees’ daily work life?

“Statistics from the Data Management Association show that a lack of acoustical privacy in open-plan offices can reduce productivity by as much as 40 percent and increase errors by as much as 27 percent” (pg. 748). Like the ergonomic furniture this is gives me great data to use to inspire my design. This is telling me I need to incorporate more design geared to acoustics.

“The Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment and the British Council for Offices carried out a study that revealed even simple things such as adequate lighting and proper daylight can decrease absentee rates by 15 per cent and productivity by between 28 per cent and 20 per cent” (pg. 748). Again, this is giving me great data to use to inspire my design. This is telling me I need to incorporate more design geared to better lighting.

“…the World Health Organization recommends a maximum working temperature of 24ºC” (pg. 748). Like the last few examples, this is giving me great data to use to inspire my design. This is telling me I need to incorporate more design geared controlling temperature.

“When plants and flowers were added to the work environment, subjects in the study, both men and women demonstrated more innovative thinking and created innovative solutions to office problems” (pg. 749). Like the last few, this is giving me great data to use to inspire my design. This is telling me I need to incorporate more design geared bringing in nature, really incorporating some design elements of WELL.

Reference

El-Zeiny, Rasha Mahmoud Ali. (2012). The interior design of workplace and its impact on employees’ performance: A case study of the private sector corporations in Egypt. Procedia--social and behavioral sciences 35, 746-756.