If you’re in the 48% of the workforce currently working remotely (an increase from 30% over the past 3 years)[1] you might consider yourself lucky to have major, if not full control over your workspace design. But for millions of workers, this has never been an option, and their wellbeing and motivation often suffers as a result. Energy that people would otherwise put into their work is spent on dealing with a detrimental and sometimes even harmful environment. As we observed with one of our clients, this can ultimately create significant challenges for companies to retain valuable employees and attract new ones to provide essential yet often demanding services.

So how can companies level up their workspaces to respect the needs of their current teams and welcome potential workers, for that sweet spot of productivity powered by motivation?

Isn’t it ironic that the workers we need the most – bus and train drivers, nurses and paramedics, factory employees, you name it – often end up working in the least comfortable, let alone inspiring conditions? We might think that in such work environments, there’s not much that can be done in terms of design that doesn’t compromise efficiency and safety. However, what we often don’t realize is that when workers spend their (often long) shifts in spaces that are designed to promote physical comfort as well as mental and emotional wellbeing, their focus and productivity increases, leading to an improved overall quality of service being given.

On the flipside, workers whose jobs are causing their mental health to suffer have shown limited ability to concentrate, communicate, manage their time, and achieve required results (no surprise there). In fact, poor mental health, which leads to presenteeism and absenteeism, is considered the 3^rd highest cost to businesses after heart disease and hypertension [2] in the US. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: there’s massive underreporting of work-related stress, with 90% of workers who take leave due to stress actually reporting an alternative reason for their absence [3].

Shouldn’t this be reason enough to take a more holistic, human-centric approach when creating and upgrading workspaces? Our client – an employer of tens of thousands of individuals - said yes, so we got down to work designing concepts for their future workspaces. Here’s some of what we learnt along the way.

1. For a diverse workforce, personalization is key

One of the issues faced by our client is shared with countless companies across Europe and central Asia: with 22% of Germany’s population being over 65 [4],millions of workers are soon reaching retirement age and, together with the younger, upcoming workforce, have increasingly diverse needs that many businesses aren’t prepared for. A sensible strategy should not simply advertise diversity and inclusivity in theory, but make sure that the workplace actually reflects these values by going beyond standard design toward a more personalized approach.

What enables one person to work happily and efficiently – from the temperature and seating position at the workstation, to the type of bathroom facilities on site, or even the level of privacy within resting areas – might be completely different to what their colleague might need. By going that extra mile to assess individual needs on the shop floor and make informed changes wherever possible, employers can enable workers of any background, body type, or level of ability to thrive and excel in their role at work.

An excellent example is Porsche [5], where managers plan hour-long rotating shifts in a way that minimizes physical overburdening. Traffic-light indicators (green for good, yellow for strain levels equal to a home setting, and red for excessive strain) serve to prevent rather than react to strain and injury. From integrating work tools into ergonomic chairs, providing lightweight support for workers’ bodies during repetitive tasks, to redesigning whole floors in assembly plants, the list of improvements we found for employers can invest in are endless – as are the benefits of keeping workers healthy and at ease.

2. Stop Greenwashing, start Green building

We see the terms ‘green’, ‘environmental’ and ‘sustainable design’, not unlike ‘inclusivity’ and ‘diversity’, too often as marketing concepts rather than the calls to action that they are meant to be. We strove to move past this and embrace the simple truth which countless publications have confirmed: workplaces that adopt design that prioritizes the surrounding natural environment tend to have happier, more productive teams.

To name just one case, the cofounder of VeriFone William Pape reported that 18 months after the company’s employees started working in a building retrofitted to cut indoor pollutants and improve environmental quality, absenteeism rates decreased 40% and productivity went up by 5%⁶. Still, accurately measuring the impact of greener buildings often proves difficult, mainly because links between working in poor indoor environments and, say, increased incidences of absenteeism and respiratory ailments can be ignored when reporting sick days and medical costs.

So what makes a workspace ‘green?’ Essentially, its design, construction and operation should reduce or remove factors that negatively impact the natural climate and environment and improve the quality of life of those working inside[6]. This can be done through:

·     efficient resource and energy use and recycling

·     reducing pollution and waste

·     optimizing indoor air quality

·     using sustainable and non-toxic materials.

What takes this up a notch is designing a workspace that’s adaptable to a changing environment – such as seasonal or sudden weather changes or an influx or decrease in workload.

3. Go Bio(philic)

 A question that came up in our research is: what’s really the difference between ‘green’ and ‘biophilic’ design? While green building concepts focus on minimizing buildings’ negative effects on the natural environment, biophilic design elements dive deeper into the relationship between humans and nature, and maximize the positive effects of nurturing this connection even indoors.

Research in the last few decades has revealed a lot about the impact of exposure to biophilic elements - such as natural light, plants, nature views and water features – on our wellbeing, and workspaces are no exception. Considering that among those of us working indoors, only around half spend more than an hour a day outside, it’s hardly surprising that interior design which reinforces our connection to nature has a positive effect on workers’ mental and physical health.

Here’s what can happen when biophilic design is incorporated in workspaces [7]:

• Offices: productivity can be increased by 8%; rates of well-being increased by 13%

• Educationspaces: increased rates of learning; improved test results, concentration levels and attendance; reduced impacts of ADHD

• Healthcarespaces: post-operative rates of recovery reduced by 8.5%; reduced pain medication by 22%

• Retail: customers are willing to pay 8-12% more for goods and services in the presence of vegetation & landscaping.  

The best news about biophilic design is that employers can achieve results with even the simplest of changes, especially in areas with limited space or which require, say, a sterile or dry environment. Placing fake plants where space allows, playing birdsong or peaceful water sounds in the background, and choosing interior design that mimics wood (or preferably, use wood itself) are relatively easy steps that still work. This knowledge made it all the easier for us to encourage our client to bring those much-needed natural factors into their workers’ daily lives.

4. Let there be (circadian) light

One of the most important biophilic elements we found that impacts workers’ wellbeing and capacity to work is light. As the main affector of the circadian rhythm – our in-built ‘biological clock’ that controls our sleep-wake cycle and hormone levels – light quality and availability determines our ability to work and handle stress in both the short and long term. Knowing that disordered sleep – which shift workers are already at a higher risk of [8] -hinders focus, attention and vigilance [9], how do we design a lighting system that enables individuals to work sustainably?

With so much intangible value in natural sunlight, the most effective approach for this is to maximise daylight access wherever possible and where not, use biophilic design principles such as:

Intensity tuning: create a controlled dimming system by which lights are set at a lower intensity in the early morning, increase intensity throughout the day, and lower intensity once again in the evening to match the sun’s natural path.

Color tuning: cooler light colors promote attention and alertness, while color tuned lights would cast warmer tones at, say, sunrise or sunset. This circadian approach mimics the daylight workers would experience outside [10].

In short, create a design that mimics as close as possible the natural rhythm of sunlight and in this way supports healthy sleep-wake cycles among workers [11].  

While the learnings we’ve discussed so far mainly revolve around physical workspace design, our research – which included intensive interviews with the client’s workers themselves – revealed that what’s perhaps most impactful in creating and nurturing the workspace of the future is not tied to material elements at all, but the people themselves …

5. Community holds power

No matter how beautiful the setting, or how fancy the gadgets, our conversations with workers showed that they need to feel appreciated, respected and included among their colleagues and superiors. This takes work, but there’s a lot already being done by employers: 

·     Companies like Microsoft [12] and Google [13] invest in providing services to improve their employees’ work-life balance: childcare, physical therapy, fitness and massage centers, financial advisors, counselling support, you name it.

·     Hitachi Rail developed an award system open to all company employees around the globe and aligned with company values such as honesty and innovation; annual award ceremonies serve as opportunities to celebrate strong performers while sharing projects across the international business [14].

·     Google also provides its employees with dedicated spaces and materials to be creative, test ideas for work improvement, and explore personal hobbies.

·     On the International Space Station(ISS), astronauts gather daily for ‘family dinners’ during which a simple shared meal proves crucial for building a sense of camaraderie, community, and just plain old fun in an otherwise limited environment [15].

By showing our client the countless actions that could transform their workplaces across dozens of locations, we opened the door to a new understanding of why – and how – shifting the priority to happy, healthy workers who feel supported and empowered can level up their success.

Now that you’re a little more aware of the possibilities, try it for yourself! Take a look around your workspace, and think about your day at work. If you lead a team, strike up a dialogue with your workers. Are they happy with their conditions? Which elements help them work sustainably, and which aspects hold them back? Taking the time to delve into these questions, and investing in solutions to tackle the answers that come up, might be the key to keeping your company’s people engaged, resilient,and ready for the future.

[1] Ruairi O’Donnellan: Remote WorkingStatistics You Need to Know in 2022.www.intuition.com

[2] Goetzel, Ron Z., Stacey R. Long, Ronald J.Ozminkowski, Kevin Hawkins, Shaohung Wang, and Wendy Lynch. 2004. “Health,Absence, Disability, and Presenteeism Cost Estimates of Certain Physical andMental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers”. Journal of Occupational andEnvironmental Medicine 46 (4): 398–412.

[3] Mind. 2013. “Work is biggest cause of stressin people’s lives”. 9 October 2013.

[4] O’Neill, A. (2021) Age structure in Germany2021. www.statista.com

[5] McGee, P. (2019) Germany invests to prolong employees’ working lives. Financial Times.

[6] https://worldgbc.org

[7] Andrew Knox, Howard Parry-Husbands, Pollinate (2018) Workplaces:Wellness + Wood = Productivity. A report prepared for Forest & Wood Products Australia. Pollinate

[8] Akerstedt T, Wright KP Jr. Sleep Loss andFatigue in Shift Work and Shift Work Disorder. Sleep Med Clin. 2009 Jun1;4(2):257-271.

[9] Alhola, P., & Polo-Kantola, P. (2007). Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance. Neuropsychiatricdisease and treatment, 3(5), 553–567.

[10] What Is Circadian Lighting and How Does It Affect the Body's Rhythm? viawww.gelighting.com

[11] Fitzgerald, r. & Stekr, K. (2018) Circadian in the Workplace: Does It Make Sense…Yet? Illuminating Engineering Society.

[12] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com

[13] https://careers.google.com/how-we-care-for-googlers/

[14]https://www.hitachirail.com/our-company/mission-vision-and-values/

[15] Ohlheiser, A. (2015) When nine people eat dinner on theInternational Space Station, the ceiling becomes a seat. www.washingtonpost.com