Theo van der Voordt

Productivity and employee satisfaction in flexible workplaces

In the early 1990s, a few organisations in the Netherlands began to experiment with flexible workplaces. Traditional cellular offices and the open‐plan offices or team‐oriented bullpen spaces in which everyone had their own fixed workplace were no longer a matter of course. Making use of modern information and communication technology, the pioneers redirected their attention towards the sharing of activity related workplaces in a combi‐office. Economic considerations (eg low occupancy of expensive workplaces), organisational developments (network organisations, teamwork, fast exchange of knowledge, part‐time work) and external developments (globalisation, strong competition) are important drivers for change. The aim is to stimulate new ways of working (dynamic, less closely linked to place and time), to improve labour productivity and to make major cost savings (fewer workplaces, fewer square metres), without reducing employee satisfaction. Since then a number of new offices have been realised. Twelve per cent of organisations that have moved recently use flexible workspaces for the most part or exclusively. An important question now is whether the aims have been achieved. What are the actual benefits? What are the risks? How should consultants advise their clients? The field is dominated by the opinions of those in favour and those against. Statements expressing the successes or failures of flexible offices contradict each other. Hard data are almost lacking. Due to the scarcity of empirically supported insights, the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands together with the Centre for People and Buildings and the Centre for Facility Management are carrying out investigations into the costs and benefits of workplace innovation. This paper reports on progress so far, with a focus on employee satisfaction and labour productivity.

Impact of real estate interventions on organisational performance

Purpose – Real estate is increasingly used as a “fifth” resource to improve the performance of organisations by a positive image, cost reduction, increased employee satisfaction and increased labour productivity. A clear conceptual framework and standardised key performance indicators (KPIs) are needed to understand and monitor the effects of real estate interventions. This paper aims to explore the added value of real estate interventions to organisational performance, theoretically and empirically, including unforeseen positive and negative side‐effects.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework was based on an extensive literature survey and has been empirically used in a survey among 47 Institues of Higher Professional Education in The Netherlands and additional in‐depth interviews at nine institutes. The effects of real estate interventions were studied by conducting time series analyses of changing organisational performance using several KPIs.Findings – The research has shown that real ...

In search for the added value of FM : What we know and what we need to learn

Purpose – This article aims to present and compare research perspectives and theoretical reflections from a variety of academic fields on the concept of added value of facilities management.Design/methodology/approach – The starting point is the so‐called FM Value Map, which was presented in a recent article in Facilities by Per Anker Jensen in 2010. The article is a first result of the work in the EuroFM research collaboration group and is based on literature reviews of the most influential journals within the academic fields of facilities management (FM), corporate real estate management and business‐to‐business marketing.Findings – Good relationship management and building on trust is shown to be equally important as delivering the agreed services.Originality/value – Usually the concept of added value is discussed from a monodisciplinary point‐of‐view. The different backgrounds of the authors add value to an increased understanding of the added value of FM by comparing and testing different ways of con...

After the fire: New ways of working in an academic setting

– This purpose of this paper is to present the research findings of a Post‐Occupancy Evaluation of new ways of working in the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology and the lessons that can be learned from this particular case in connection with research findings from similar cases., – The paper is based on an internet survey among 266 daily users, additional interviews with decision makers and other participants involved in the implementation process, analyses of documents and personal observations., – The new office plan scores highly on possibilities of meeting other people. Work spaces are considered to be functional, but employees also reported a lack of spaces suited for confidential (telephone) conversations and insufficient visual and auditory privacy. Employees are unable to control sufficiently the climate of their direct work environment and the way the environment looks. Security of the workplaces is rated below average. People want more rooms equipped with doors, and doors that can be locked. Another important complaint was lack of personal and collective filing and storage possibilities., – The paper focuses on office space; because of limited time and budget restrictions educational space was not included in this building‐in‐use study. There was no opportunity to conduct a zero measurement ex ante. Long‐term effects on use and experience are not known yet, nor the effects of improvements that are being implemented this year., – The results can be used to support decision makers in implementing new office concepts in general and in particular in an academic setting, ex post or ex ante., – Much has been written about new ways of working, but research on this topic in academic settings is scarce.

Measuring employee satisfaction in new offices – the WODI toolkit

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a toolkit to measure employee satisfaction and perceived labour productivity as affected by different workplace strategies. The toolkit is being illustrated by a case study of the Dutch Revenue Service.Design/methodology/approach – The toolkit has been developed by a review of literature and tools for data‐collection. The toolkit has been tested and explored further in a number of case studies.Findings – The toolkit includes a working environment diagnostic tool for an indicative or diagnostic evaluation, a list of key performance indicators that can be used for benchmarking purposes, and a space utilization monitor to measure the occupancy of workplaces. Data collected with the tool provides organizations with a clear picture of user experience of the working environment on its own, in comparison to other organizations and in comparison to the goals of the organization. Employees are also asked to rank the issues in order of importance to overall satisfac...

A new life: conversion of vacant office buildings into housing

Purpose – The vacancy of office buildings leads to financial problems for the owners and social problems for the community, e.g. vandalism, dereliction and deterioration. A solution may be found through the conversion of vacant office buildings into housing. Vacancy‐threatened buildings are often part of the mediocre part of the building stock. Does conversion make sense in this case? What are the opportunities, threats and risks? What are the critical success factors? The purpose of this paper is to discuss financial, functional, structural, technical and aesthetic issues.Design/methodology/approach – Through previous research at the Delft University of Technology, tools are developed to decide the potential for the conversion of buildings. This paper discusses the risks and chances, and brakes and triggers of transformation projects, based on case studies. These case studies are performed through interviews with professionals involved in the transformation process and through analyses of architectural d...

Architects about briefing

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a better understanding of how architects perceive and use briefing documents. It discusses what type of briefing information architects find relevant for their design process, and how and when briefing information should be presented. It also gives recommendations for clients and consultants that produce the brief.Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on a review of briefing literature, six exploratory interviews with two clients, two architects and two consultants, 18 in‐depth interviews with Dutch architects, and a workshop with Dutch experts on briefing.Findings – A brief (or “program of requirements”) is a crucial means of communication in the interaction between clients and architects. A good brief explains what the client needs, desires and expects from a project. This is all crucial information for the design process. In the interviews, however, many architects indicated that, in daily practice, briefing documents are not as useful as they should be...

Comparative floorplan-analysis in programming and architectural design

Abstract Every floorplan may be regarded as a reflection of the goals and activities of the users as interpreted by the architect. By comparing a wide range of building layouts for similar organizations one may achieve a good understanding of the ways in which goals and values can be expressed in spatial solutions, It offers the opportunity to develop a spatiofunctional typology of design solutions. Postoccupancy evaluations focusing on underlying arguments and user experiences with different design solutions give insight into relevant points of decision, (dis)advantages for use and perception, and (dis)congruencies between spatial systems and social systems. This article demonstrates how an integration of comparative floorplan-analysis and postoccupancy evaluation may contribute to more soundly based solutions in programming and architectural design. The relationship between spatial and social configurations is illuminated by an analysis of the floorplans of two schools with different educational systems and the spatial implications of a shift from a medical care concept into a residential care concept in nursing homes.

Costs and benefits of flexible workspaces: work in progress in The Netherlands

The last decade has witnessed the introduction of non‐territorial offices with desk sharing and desk rotation linked to different job functions and working processes. This paper discusses the motives behind the application of these new concepts, potential costs and benefits and data on accommodation costs. A framework of potential costs and benefits is presented and illustrated by data from cost analyses and post‐occupancy evaluations of new offices. The author advocates the creation of an integral framework of (potential) costs and benefits, structured according to the principles of the balanced score card. This may help decision makers to set priorities in objectives and to anticipate on effects of interventions in office accommodation. Empirical data on costs and benefits of innovative workplace design are scarce. The framework according to the balanced score card should be explored further by interviewing experts from different organisations. The integral framework is new. The conceptual framework and data from empirical research may support decision making.

Accommodating new ways of working: lessons from best practices and worst cases

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore which factors may explain the high or low percentages of satisfied employees in offices with shared activity-based workplaces. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares data on employee satisfaction from two cases with remarkably high satisfaction scores and two cases with significantly lower satisfaction scores (total N = 930), all of the same organisation. These cases were selected from a database with employee responses to a standardised questionnaire in 52 flexible work environments. In the four case studies, also group interviews were conducted. Findings – Overall, there are large differences in employee satisfaction between cases with, at first sight, a similar activity-based office concept. The main differences between the best and worst cases regard employee satisfaction with the interior design, level of openness, subdivision of space, number and diversity of work places and accessibility of the building. Employee satisfaction shows to be influenced by many physical characteristics of the work environment and by the implementation process. Satisfaction with the organisation may have an impact as well. Research limitations/implications – Almost all cases regard Dutch organisations. Due to the lack of quantitative scales to define the physical characteristics of the work environment, the study is mainly descriptive and explorative and does not include advanced multivariate statistical analyses. Practical implicationsThe data revealed clear critical success factors including a supportive spatial layout to facilitate communication and concentration, attractive architectural design, ergonomic furniture, appropriate storage facilities and coping with psychological and physical needs, such as privacy, thermal comfort, daylight and view. Critical process factors are the commitment of managers, a balance between a top-down and a bottom-up approach and clear instructions on how to use activity-based workplaces. Originality/value – The study connects descriptive research with inductive reasoning to explore why employees may be satisfied or dissatisfied with flex offices. It is based on a combination of quantitative survey data from 52 cases and a closer look at two best cases and two worst cases based on qualitative data from interviews and personal observations. The study has high practical value due to the integral approach that incorporates many items of the physical environment and context factors like the implementation process.