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December 8, 2005
Configuring workspace for maximum employee productivity
Something I'm passionate about is the role that physical environment plays on influencing employee engagement and morale. I recently read about something interesting that National City Bank did in Minneapolis that proved my interest in this area: they moved employees from cubicles to glass-walled offices where junior staff had the same furniture as the CEO. New accounts increased 12 percent and turnover dropped by 20 percent.
Chris Conley of the Illinois Institute of Design here in Chicago says companies should revisit their office design once a year to assess how needs have changed. He advocates (and I agree) the need to involve employees into understanding what those needs are and what the drawbacks to the current design are. There are no one-size fits all solutions, he adds.
It's interesting to see National City going against the trend of more public spaces sharing functions: reception, waiting spaces, conference rooms and food service areas. This is a concept that we've actually embraced here at Edelman's Chicago office. We recently redid our main floor, creating one large space in which all these elements flow together. The space can also be reconfigured depending on the need.
One trends that most agree is dead is "hotelling" -- a concept where no one had their own desk. Everything was mobile and you checked into a space and you checked out. Seems that employees work more effectively when they have a "home away from home" in the office -- which shouldn't have been a surprise. I am willing to bet that few employees every supported the concept, rather it was something developed without their input and imposed upon them.
Posted by Christopher at December 8, 2005 9:14 AM