Influence of the Physical Work Environment on Work Engagement and Performance Kay Meulensteen Pascale Le Blanc Astrid Kemperman

Efficient use of workspace  Cost reduction Background Efficient use of workspace  Cost reduction Increase flexible use of the workspace while at the same time Stimulate and support employee satisfaction and performance Optimize company performance

Initiatives: Background New Ways of Working + Efficiency Activity-based offices + Effectiveness Flexible workspaces - Costs

Research Physical Work Environment: Background Research Physical Work Environment: Use of the physical work environment (e.g., Appel-Meulenbroek, 2011) Activities performed in these physical work environments (e.g., Tabak, 2009) Level of control over the indoor environment - occupants’ perceptions of the work environment (e.g., Lee & Brand, 2005)

Background Research work satisfaction, work motivation, productivity & performance: (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2000; Schaufeli et al., 2006; Van Den Broeck et al.,2008): relationships between physical office environment & performance or productivity, but did not include atmosphere of the work environment, work motivation, or employee well-being (Stokols et al., 2002; Van Ree, 2002) Limited research captures all these constructs at once: the underlying process relating the physical work environment and performance of office workers

Dutch Government Housing Government-wide housing policy plan (Fysieke Werkomgeving Rijk, FWR; De Been et al., 2015) health and safety norms how workspaces are supposed to be used what kind of overall atmosphere is attempted to be created to stimulate civil servants to work more flexible, and time, place, and device independently implementation of “hubs” in governmental offices

WorkSpace Hub A Hub is a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity aims to stimulate interdepartmental interaction between office workers A Hub should support various types of activities: meeting people short-term desk work having a (coffee) break

Research Aim Aim: to examine the underlying process of the relationship between aspects of the physical environment in office environments and work performance to provide insights in how hubs are being used in governmental offices, and subsequently what factors determine the success of a hub to provide guidelines for the Dutch government regarding the design and management of hubs

Literature Research

Literature Research – Physical Work Environment

Literature Research – Behavioral Work Environment

Literature Research – Work-related Need Satisfaction

Literature Research – Work Engagement

Literature Research – Work Performance

Conceptual Model

Data Collection Survey (IPad) 4 Hubs of different governmental offices Visitors of the hub were invited to fill in the questionnaire Last week of August, until the third week of September 2016

Belastingdienst Utrecht-Overvecht

Rijkswaterstaat Utrecht

Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland Den Haag

Belastingdienst Amsterdam

Survey Physical Work environment - statements (7-points likert scale): the facilities accessibility attractiveness availability of workspaces number of power outlets connectedness to the rest of the building level of comfort of the furniture climate in the hub

Survey Behavioral environment - statements (7-points likert scale): experience of visual and noise disturbance how inclined they are to have meetings in the hub degree to which they feel at home degree to which they feel stimulated when working in the hub which activities the respondents performed & where (type of workspace) working in a group or alone visit was planned or not nature of the visit duration of visit frequency of visiting the hub

Survey Work-related Need satisfaction-9 items (5-points likert scale): Based on a 16-item scale - Van den Broeck et al. (2010): Autonomy: to what degree the respondent feels (s)he can make its own work-related decisions Competence: to what degree they respondent feels that (s)he is good in its job Relatedness: how connected the respondent feels to his/her coworkers 3 items with the highest factor loadings on each of the 3 work-related needs were selected

Survey Work Engagement - 9 items (7-points likert scale): Based on a 9-item scale - Schaufeli et al. (2006) Vigor: degree to which the respondent feels energetic at his/her job Absorption: how happy (s)he feels when working intensely Dedication: the degree to which the respond gets carried away by his/her work Work Performance – 7 items (5-points likert scale): Based on Williams & Anderson (1991) how productive and how efficient the respondent is in his/her work Socio-demographics

Sample (N=236)

Data reduction – Factor Analyses & Reliability Tests - Sum-scores Bivariate correlations –basis for the model estimation Path Model Estimation

Estimated Path Model

Results: Physical Environment  Behavioral environment All variables from the physical environment have a significant effect on one or more of the variables of the behavioral environment meetings and stimulation are connected in series with pleasantness, disturbance, and home serving drinks of a high quality  attracts more visitors & stimulates perceived productivity, performance, quality of work, and creativity the better people can find the hub  the more visits & meetings

Results: Physical Environment  Behavioral environment The degree to which visitors find the hub a pleasant place to work is affected by: the basic facilities connectedness meetings stimulation comfort of the furniture & indoor climate

Results: Physical Environment  Behavioral environment visitors experience more disturbance, the larger the distance to the hub from their regular workspace on the other hand the more comfortable and stimulating the hub is, the less disturbance is experienced feeling at home in the hub, is positively affected by: comfort of the furniture and the indoor climate quality of the drinks accessibility of the hub

Results: Effects on Work Related Needs Effects on Need for autonomy the need for autonomy is more satisfied for visitors that experience the hub to be a pleasant place to work in at the same time the satisfaction of the need for autonomy is negatively affected by noise and visual disturbance

Results: Effects on Work Related Needs Effects on Need for competence Disturbance also negatively affects the need for competence Visitors that feel more at home in the hub have a higher satisfaction of the need for competence

Results: Effects on Work Engagement & Performance The more visitors experience the hub to be a pleasant workplace and have their work-related needs satisfied, the higher their work engagement is Effects on Work Performance Satisfaction of the need for competence has a positive effect on work performance work engagement positively affects work performance

This study showed that: Conclusion This study showed that: the satisfaction of work-related needs, work engagement and performance are closely related, but also that these aspects are related to the physical environment, through the behavioral environment All variables from the physical environment were related to behavioral environmental variables Most importantly: the quality of the served drinks on the frequency of meetings the influence of facilities on a pleasant working environment

Conclusion Managerial relevance: This study shows that even though all the physical aspects have an effect on the success of a hub the facilities in the hub (sufficient power sockets, variation of workplaces, comfortable furniture, indoor climate, high quality of drinks) turn out to be most important (compared to for example the location of the hub) Furthermore, inform workers in governmental buildings about the presence and possibilities of the hub

Future Research Test the model in other organizations/situations Sample all employees Longitudinal study