Perceived conditions of workers in different organizational settings

Abstract

Purpose -Research into office design and its effect on employee satisfaction and performance has attracted considerable contemporary research interest. However, most studies have tended to concentrate on the impact of the built environment on human performance, ignoring the actual needs of employees working in different organizational settings. This paper hence aims to investigate the nature and extent of occupant satisfaction with the built environment in different organizational settings in Australia for a range of climates. Design/methodology/approach -A survey was conducted in Australia from 2004-2005, comprising 41 buildings, including six government buildings, 14 educational buildings and 21 commercial buildings. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to explore whether there are differences in the mean ranking of office environment satisfaction amongst the three organizational settings, and the Mann-Whitney U test was employed to further test whether there are differences in the mean ranking of office environment satisfaction between any two groups. Findings -Significant differences were found in aspects of air, temperature, space suitability, flexibility, usability and controllability. Employees in commercial settings seem to be more satisfied with their physical work environment than employees in other organization types. Employees in educational settings showed the highest satisfaction with most variables in the workspace design and management category. Government employees showed a lower level of satisfaction with their physical work environment and workspace design and management. Originality/value -Moreover, the government and educational groups showed more similarity with each other, while the commercial group displayed significant difference.

The workplace as a factor of job satisfaction and productivity

“…The current study adopts a survey technique and the data were collected through the use of a questionnaire. A questionnaire is a research instrument suitable for use in a survey setting like this, as it has already been used as a data collection tool in many similar studies (Batenburg and Voordt van der, 2008;Langston et al, 2008;De Been and Beijer, 2014). It quantifies formal aspects of unidirectional communication with the participants and offers an objective means of collecting information about people's knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behavior, and is one of the most common forms of research.…”

“…From the relevant literature (Davis et al, 2011;Kahler Slater, 2010;Myerson, 2009;Hameed and Amjad, 2009;Langston et al, 2008;Leaman and Bordass, 2005;Haynes, 2007b;Roelofsen, 2002), it seems that aspects of the contemporary workplace which can influence staff attitudes toward synergy and productivity are formed by a number of attributes, mainly: JFM 13,4…”

“…Bachner, 2000, Chigot, 2005, Oseland, 2009, Bakker and Voordt van der, 2010. Some investigations emphasize to the needs of employees, which vary according the organization type (Hansen et al, 2005, Langston et al, 2008.…”

The Impact of Sick Building Syndrome on Call Centre Agents’ Effectiveness

“…Low noise emission is acceptable and may even be useful to dampen the general noise level in open planned offices; however, when noise levels are intrusive a suitable contaminant or hearing protection partition can be used to drown out noise from office equipment (Joshi, 2008;Passarelli, 2009;Rostron, 2008). Research by Langston, Song and Purdey (2008) and All Business Consulting (2010) found that office noise is a potential obstacle to job satisfaction as it contributes to dissatisfaction within the physical environment and may filter through to the job. Significant correlates were also noted between noise and disruption in concentration (Banbury & Berry, 2005) and noise and stress (Evans & Johnson, 2000;Leather, Beale & Sullivan, 2003;Wallenius, 2004).…”

“…If the unhealthy environment persists then staff is often compelled to leave work seeking attractive employment elsewhere thereby contributing to increased staff turnover. Aside from the symptoms presented by physical and chemical components Fernberg, 1989;Heslop, 2003;Langston et al (2008); Muzi et al, 1997;Rooley, 1997), there is evidence that job stress and dissatisfaction can also exacerbate SBS if management fails to take cognizance of this in the workplace (Holman, 2003;Rostron, 2008; All Business Consulting, 2010).…”