The purpose of this article was to apply the job demands-resources (JD–R) theory in a public university as a lens to ascertain the extent of measures undertaken by academic supervisors to provide physical environment resources that support administrative employees and enhance their performance of the demanding duties they constantly perform. Supervisors’ understanding of their role in catering to the physical environment needs of administrative employees has been ignored in previous studies conducted in the university sector. The research design was qualitative since data collection relied on semi-structured interviews with six academic heads of departments who supervised office administrative employees in a public university context. The participants’ responses indicated a high understanding of the importance of providing resources such as updated equipment and eliminating any physical environmental factors that could enhance office employees’ performance in their demanding administrative duties. The challenges expressed were mainly with the budget that proved to constrain them. This finding on supervisors is significant as it addresses a research gap in which the focus on physical environment factors has mainly been on employees’ perceptions and experiences in the business sector with less interest in the public sector and developing countries. The success of an organization requires a caring leadership that strives to provide enabling workplace physical environment resources that meet the work demands of employees.
Administrative office employees spend much time confined in their workspaces as they work hard to provide the critical support required for the overall performance of their organizations. As a result, their comfort should be given priority by their organizations, be it private or public. This article investigated the administrative employees’ perceptions of their offices’ physical environment comfort in a public university. Different aspects of their physical environment, such as furniture, noise, office temperature, lighting and space, were examined as variables influencing their performance. The systematization of literary sources for solving the problem of arranging a comfortable physical environment in private organizations proved a significant dependence of the productivity of employees on the physical environment in which they perform their duties. However, there is the scarcity of research conducted in a public organization, especially in the higher education sector. The methodological tool of the research was the method of quantitative analysis, in which a questionnaire was used to collect data from 81 administrative staff of a public university with several campuses in South Africa. The findings indicated that many respondents generally perceived a comfortable physical environment necessary to increase performance. These were, however, not always matched by their perceptions of what transpired at their offices. For instance, 63% of respondents viewed comfortable furniture as critical for the performance of their duties. Nevertheless, only 55% of respondents agreed that their university furniture was comfortable, with 24% disagreeing and 21% taking a neutral stance. The split in perceptions makes it imperative for the university to attend to areas of weakness and inequality in providing physical environment resources. A future study could examine whose offices are more comfortable than others in university contexts. In addition, a promising direction of future research should be the reconciliation of employees’ perception of the comfort of the physical environment in offices with the results of observations. This will enrich the obtained results.
Administrative office employees spend much time confined in their workspaces as they work hard to provide the critical support required for the overall performance of their organizations. As a result, their comfort should be given priority by their organizations, be it private or public. This article investigated the administrative employees’ perceptions of their offices’ physical environment comfort in a public university. Different aspects of their physical environment, such as furniture, noise, office temperature, lighting and space, were examined as variables influencing their performance. The systematization of literary sources for solving the problem of arranging a comfortable physical environment in private organizations proved a significant dependence of the productivity of employees on the physical environment in which they perform their duties. However, there is the scarcity of research conducted in a public organization, especially in the higher education sector. The methodological tool of the research was the method of quantitative analysis, in which a questionnaire was used to collect data from 81 administrative staff of a public university with several campuses in South Africa. The findings indicated that many respondents generally perceived a comfortable physical environment necessary to increase performance. These were, however, not always matched by their perceptions of what transpired at their offices. For instance, 63% of respondents viewed comfortable furniture as critical for the performance of their duties. Nevertheless, only 55% of respondents agreed that their university furniture was comfortable, with 24% disagreeing and 21% taking a neutral stance. The split in perceptions makes it imperative for the university to attend to areas of weakness and inequality in providing physical environment resources. A future study could examine whose offices are more comfortable than others in university contexts. In addition, a promising direction of future research should be the reconciliation of employees’ perception of the comfort of the physical environment in offices with the results of observations. This will enrich the obtained results.
In a dynamic world of office environment where the office is continually changing, there has been a huge need for addressing physical environment comfort of employees to improve their performance, while retaining a happy and healthy workforce. It is against this backdrop that the study was carried out to measure the perceptions of physical environment comfort on employee performance at Durban University of Technology (DUT). A model of office physical elements was used as a conceptual framework to highlight physical environment comfort elements that affects employee performance. The objectives of the study were to measure perceptions of physical environment comfort on employee performance, as well as identify the relationship between physical environment comfort and employee performance. This research adopted a mixed method approach, using the DUT as a case study, with questionnaires and interviews employed as data collection instruments. The target population comprised 81 administrative staff members, including six interviewees who were Head of Departments (HoDs) based at all six DUT campuses. The findings generally indicated a high agreement level with regard to the role of office furniture’s comfort, favourable temperature, good office design and welcoming colours as important in increasing their performance. There were, however, divisions and high disagreements where office furniture’s flexibility is concerned in addition to the strain it caused. Moreover, the amount of noise across offices was found to be quite distracting. It was concluded that the academic administrative staff generally expressed positive perceptions on the importance of physical environment comfort for office employee performance, echoed by the interviewed HoDs. In conclusion, office employees and HoDs expressed positive perceptions on the importance of physical environment comfort for improved performance. This makes it critical for DUT management to address areas of weakness on physical environment comfort for improved productivity.
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