Less than one in four American employees work in an optimal environment, according to a survey by global design and architecture firm, Gensler. The rest struggle to work effectively, resulting in lost productivity, innovation and worker engagement.
More than 2,000 workers were surveyed about design factors that impact productivity across four work modes: focus, collaboration, learning and socializing. As a result of new technologies, globalization and a new generation of workers, there have been fundamental changes to where, when and how workers perform their jobs.
These changes have resulted in new performance drivers. Analysis shows the ability to effectively balance focus and collaboration through workplace design are important to innovation and success.
A comparison of the 2013 and 2008 surveys indicates workplace effectiveness has declined. The inability to focus is a major driver of workplace ineffectiveness. Without effective focus, collaboration, learning and socializing are dragged down, impacting the workplace as a whole.
Respondents who can focus are more satisfied (31 per cent), higher performing (14 per cent) and see their companies as more innovative (31 per cent). Interestingly, this pairs with a shift in how employees report spending their time. Despite many workplaces designed expressly to support collaboration, time spent collaborating has decreased (20 per cent), while time spent focusing has increased (13 per cent).
While individual focus and collaborative work are often thought to be opposites, the 2013 survey found that individual focus and collaborative work function best when paired together. Almost 25 per cent of respondents report their workplaces communicate that their companies value both individual and collaborative work or, in other words, a balanced workplace.
“Our survey findings demonstrate that focus and collaboration are complementary work modes. One cannot be sacrificed in the workplace without directly impacting the other,” says Diane Hoskins, co-CEO of Gensler. “We know that both focus and collaboration are crucial to the success of any organization in today’s economy.”
