Impact of workspace change on organisational outcomes

Abstract

Worldwide, organisational workspaces are changing dramatically, due to the social, legal and economic pressures. Organisational workspaces must support the rapid technological enhancements, the balance of privacy and collaboration as well as the dynamic organisational changes. This dynamic change in organisations is essential because maintaining and operating a building is less costly than employing people, and spending money on enhancing and improving the physical workspace may in turn increase productivity. Therefore it is critical to understand the manner in which the design of an office workspace impacts on employees perceived productivity, job satisfaction and well-being from moving from a conventional building (time 1) to a green building (time 2). This study firstly investigated whether there was a change in workspace aspects, perceived productivity, job satisfaction, and well-being of employees from time 1 to time 2. Secondly it investigated whether there was a relationship between workspace aspects impacting on perceived productivity, job satisfaction and well-being. This was achieved by sampling employees from the Ernst & Young building who were first situated in the Wanderers building and then moved to a green building in Sandton. This study adopted a mixed method approach in which questionnaires were sent out at time 1 and time 2, followed by conducting one-on-one interviews with participants. The data were compared over two time frames, which were 8 months apart. The results indicated improved workspace aspects, a slight increase in psychological well-being and job satisfaction, and a decrease in perceived productivity, and physical well-being from time 1 to time 2. However, it was found that workspace aspects have a relationship with psychological well-being and job satisfaction. Therefore understanding these results is essential, as it will aid in creating effective and well-used workspace for the future.