Offices hinder workplace productivity

Data released from the Leesman Index – the world’s largest independent measure of workplace effectiveness – shows only 54% of office environments allow employees to work productively.

Leesman’s latest findings from its global index were presented at a Data Debrief Conference in London. The briefing outlined the growing problem of organisations failing to adapt to modern work activity with 46% of the 110,000 employee responses selecting over 10 activities as being important to their everyday work – more activities than a single desk can support.

The Index, which records satisfaction levels with numerous workplace features and services, shows employees are increasingly looking for a variety of workspaces, including social, informal areas to collaborate and communicate with colleagues, yet their employers are failing to provide them.

Tim Oldman, founder and CEO of Leesman comments, “There’s a woeful lack of science being applied to the workplace environment. High performing organisations allow individuals to choose the workspace most suited to the task they’re being asked to perform and they provide connectivity.”

He concludes, “Organisations must, alongside skills, investment and infrastructure, include the workplace in their productivity focus. Those that do will boost productivity and their organisation performance.”

The Leesman Index is unrivalled in its research; it benchmarks employee satisfaction in 90 areas, covering workplace design, activities, features and facilities, and contains feedback from more than 110,000 employees in 1000 workplaces in 49 countries.