Office Design and Dignity at Work in the Knowledge Economy

Abstract

SUMMARYThe current chapter looks at a grossly overlooked aspect affecting employee dignity in the workplace -the physical environment. While the knowledge economy has grown tremendously in the last four decades, researchers have not paid much attention to the new needs of the physical workspace despite the fact that office buildings represent the second largest financial overhead after human resource. At the same time, the physical space is a critical element in the organization of the processes, activities and ultimately the power structure of any organization.Dignity in itself has not been in the center of management and organizations research, either. The few scholars who have written on the subject have mostly relied on writings in philosophy, sociology, political science, and law. We use their deconstruction of dignity into matters of identity, autonomy, dependency, seriousness, and trust to link the concept to the studied effects of the office physical environment on employees.The chapter presents an overview of the different elements of the workspace environment that have been subject of interest to researchers and their effects on employees. The characteristics of the physical environment are organized in three broad groups: (i) the office structure and layout (e.g., enclosed offices vs. open plans, the presence of other barriers, the size), (ii) the office décor and design (e.g., furniture and equipment), and (iii) ergonomic aspects such as lighting, noise, temperature, and air. Their effects are expressed at multiple levels and encompass broad outcomes ranging from individual physical and psychological wellbeing to job satisfaction to team cohesion and organizational performance. The important point is that employees are almost never consulted on their preferences for elements of the office design and that there is no recognition for the need for different solutions for different types of employees and contexts. This state of affairs brings the question of employee dignity into the picture.The chapter concludes by linking the elements of the physical environment of the 21 st century office to the concepts of power and dignity. We make three basic points. First, the knowledge economy is increasingly dependent on knowledge workers who are narrowly specialized and hence tend to have different needs in the workplace. Second, decisions about the physical environment are extremely complex and giving agency to employees in these decisions is crucial because of knowledge workers' high demands of autonomy. Third, due to this complexity, a systems approach is best suited to abet the understanding of the place of the physical workspace in a constantly evolving organic system of people and organizations. We suggest that such an approach taking into consideration the physical

Godność w pracy zarobkowej: perspektywa młodego pracownika. Badanie pilotażowe

“…The analysis of the received articles indicated what issues related to dignity in gainful employment were addressed in them . Nikolaeva and Dello Russo (2017) found that physical environment (office structure and layout, office decor and ergonomic aspects of design) as an aspect affecting dignity at work is grossly overlooked in the literature . Proper shaping of these elements can positively affect employees' physical and mental well-being, job satisfaction, team cohesion, and productivity .…”

The effects of social density, spatial density, noise, and office views on perceived personal space in the virtual workplace

“…The most notable are the flexibility of the space and the facilitation of collaboration in a work market which increasingly demands teamwork (Zahn, 1991;Vischer, 1999;Pinder et al, 2009;van Duinkerken and MacDonald, 2013). Still, a considerable body of research has shown disadvantages to shared offices such as increased noise and distraction (Hedge, 1982) and employees are seldom consulted about their implementation (Nikolaeva and Russo, 2017).…”

Differences in office-based personal space perception between British and Korean populations

“…Benefits, such as flexible use of space and facilitation of collaboration, support the adoption of shared office space within organizations ( vanDuinkerken and MacDonald, 2013 ); in contrast, others argue that the increase in noise and distraction, and a reduction of autonomy are considerable disadvantages ( Kim and de Dear, 2013 ; Nikolaeva and Dello Russo, 2017 ). A recent review found that a shared office workspace could have negative effects on the health and wellbeing of workers ( Richardson et al, 2017 ).…”