Room for Improvement – Workspace Design

Research shows that employee health costs have risen by 61% in the past 10 years and these costs are estimated to be doubled before 2030 (1). As the world is moving towards more sustainable ways of handling resources, it is time to rethink this path and start preventing the problem at a much earlier stage. Because our responsibility is not only to be environmentally sustainable, but also to be socially sustainable.

Nowadays, generation Y makes up the majority of the workforce globally. This generation has a significant difference with the previous generation (baby boomers) when it comes to workspace conditions. The past generation thrived by working individually while generation Y requires a more open space in order to connect and collaborate easier with each other (2). In today’s workspace, collaboration happens in different ways because even within the same age group, people like to work in different conditions. If the traditional designed office space is not built properly for them, they can get office anxiety (read more in the next coming article).

In order to bring mental and physical well-being to the employees, it is important to give the people in a workspace the ability to choose the amount of stimulation they need at any given time (3). The amount of stimulation can vary in different work modes. Office buildings that support this variety boost employees’ wellbeing. That is why we believe that organizations have a great opportunity in building a strong sense of wellbeing for employees by rethinking and redesigning their office space. The process should be done in a way that aligns the body and mind of each employee in the workplace. However, it is believed that further research in the field of future workplace is needed.  We are not sure how the workspace in the future will look like 100%, but what we know for sure is that it needs to be flexible and attractive for recruiting talent (4).

Sources
1. Miller, M., Williams, P. and O’Neill, M., 2018.  The Healthy Workplace Nudge . New Jersey: Wiley.
2. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/workplace-design-tips-well-being
3. Dialogue 22. The Changing Nature of Workplace Revolution 2.0 Startups and Post-Startups Reinventing the Headquarters. Susan Cain and Sherry Turkle.
4. https://www.workdesign.com/2019/ 06 / workplace-of-the-future-designing-to-recruit-top talent /