Peggie Rothe

Work environment preferences does age make a difference

Purpose – The paper aims to identify the differences and similarities in work environment preferences of office users of different age.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses results of a preference survey answered by more than 1,100 office employees in Finland. The survey included questions concerning user preferences in terms of location, buildings, workspaces, and services. The analysis starts with a principal component analysis (PCA). The respondents are divided into five clusters based on their year of birth, and their responses are compared based on regression analysis. The identified differences are confirmed by discriminant analysis.Findings – The study shows that there are differences in the work environment preferences of users of different age. Significant differences were found concerning personal services, commuting, collaboration, restaurant services, and adjustability of indoor climate. The study also identifies areas in which preferences between younger and older employees did not...

A problem is a problem is a benefit? Generation Y perceptions of open‐plan offices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how the youngest generation at work perceives problems that are linked to open‐plan offices. They are the future users of the work environments and thus it is important to understand how they perceive different office solutions. The paper looks at one specific type of job and one group of office employees: generation Y – those born in the 1980s and early 1990s – working in a contact centre environment.Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out as a case study. In total, 20 thematic interviews were conducted among the representatives of generation Y from three different sites of one big Finnish telecommunications company. The themes of the interviews were outlined by a thorough literature review concerning problems that are often linked to open office solutions.Findings – The findings suggest that in this case, the generation Y employees in fact liked their open‐plan office. They acknowledged most of the issues or “problems” that the lite...

Workplace experience – a journey through a business park

Purpose – This paper aims to present a methodology for assessing end‐user experiences of workplace environments and proposes an “experience sheet” as a way to illustrate the findings.Design/methodology/approach – In the theoretical part, the article combines understanding from post‐occupancy evaluations in the facilities management field with service process audits in the hospitability sector. This methodology is then tested in a case environment.Findings – The findings suggest that the methodology and the experience sheet provide a usable and interesting way of assessing user experience in the workplace environment.Practical implications – This article offers an illustrative way to understand user experience in workplace environments, and through that helps in improving existing working environments and in creating new ones.Originality/value – This article combines theoretical understanding in a cross‐disciplinary manner in a novel way, and through that introduces a usable method for workplace improvemen...

Dimensions of usability assessment in built environments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the usability dimensions that end‐users utilise when they assess the usability of built environments in Finland.Design/methodology/approach – This study is carried out by utilising directed content analysis. A directed content analysis starts by creating (theoretical) pre‐understanding of possible categories and then goes on to test this pre‐understanding with empirical evidence.Findings – The findings suggest that the users use 12 different dimensions when they assess the usability of built environments.Practical implications – Understanding the usability dimensions end‐users use in assessing built environments makes it possible to make improvements in existing environments and in creating new environments that suit end‐user needs better.Originality/value – Even though discussion about usability dimensions and user experiences is vast, the existing discussion about usability dimensions in built environments is limited and this paper adds understanding of fo...

Office Relocation Management in Finland Challenges and Service Opportunities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the management of office relocations in Finnish organisations with a focus on the use of, and need for, external advisory services. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a sequential mixed method approach. First, the use of relocation-related services, and organisations’ perception of the need for them, was assessed through a questionnaire sent to all organisations with more than 50 employees in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA). The data includes 83 responses. Subsequently, service experiences, perceived service needs, and the challenges that organisations face in relocation are studied through thematic interviews with 15 organisations that have recently relocated. Findings – The findings show that, despite facing many challenges when relocating, many organisations do not consider using external service providers. Most organisations do not acknowledge the complexity of the process until afterwards, and they also lack knowle...

Demystifying the short-distance relocation process: 5 cases from Finland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe different short-distance relocation management approaches applied by organisations in Finland. Corporate short-distance relocation is a significant event in the course of an organisation’s lifetime. While these kinds of relocations happen frequently, they are an infrequent event from the perspective of a single organisation. Therefore, few organisations have experience and knowledge on relocation management, which can result in improvised ways of managing the process. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a multiple-case study approach where the relocation management of five organisations is assessed post-relocation. Different aspects of the process, such as process phases and tasks, the organisation involved and employee participation, are scrutinized through 32 interviews with company representatives and documents provided by the organisations. Findings – The study describes five unique relocations that vary based on the level of change from a “r...

Short-distance corporate relocation: the employee experience

Purpose – This paper aims to examine short-distance firm relocations, the most frequent form of relocation, to better understand how employees as individuals experience those relocations. Design/methodology/approach – This study was a multiple-case study with five organisations that had relocated within the same metropolitan area during the previous 18 months. To understand why and how the relocation was carried out, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with company representatives who were actively involved in making decisions and executing the relocation of their organisation. Subsequently, to study the employees’ experience and perception of the process, 17 employees who did not have an assigned role in the process were also interviewed. Findings – The findings show that even within the same organization, people experience relocation differently; therefore, the employees should not be treated as one object of change but as several individuals who experience change. Further, it was identified th...

Social impacts of a short-distance relocation process and new ways of working

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social impacts of short-distance office relocation that also involved a new way of working, as perceived by employees during a relocation process. Relocation is any process of moving business premises and can consist of (often) significant change in locality, building change, workplace change and ways of working. This case study was not influenced by the effect of locality change making it hence a short-distance relocation. Design/methodology/approach The social impacts are analysed based on the perceptions of approximately 15 per cent (nine employees) of the case organization across the relocation process – two months before, one week before and four months after the move. The qualitative data collection is conducted by semi-structured interviews, supplemented by diaries and participatory action research. Findings Before the relocation, the subject organization’s old premises were considered inadequate. Still, employees had concerns during the process about the new open office environment including the adoption of new ways of working. Some employees did experience resistance towards the change, although the amount of engagement possibilities was deemed sufficient and engagement recognized as an important part of the process. After the relocation, adaptation was considered easier than originally anticipated and experiences of improved inter-team collaboration were reported by most while others experienced just the opposite, pointing out to emerging individual differences. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study arise mainly from the ability to statistically generalize on the basis of a single case study which this paper represents. Furthermore, since the last interviews were made four months after the move, all post-occupancy implications were possibly not yet fully experienced. Originality/value The paper provides information on the social impacts of organizational relocation process, as it identifies individual employee perceptions during a relocation process where locality change is minimal. Moreover, the threefold research approach across the relocation process enables the appearance of possible time-dependent development of adaptation to change in employee perceptions and these perceptions to be analysed in more detail.