Your office environment reflects your culture
Your office environment reflects your culture
We talk a lot about corporate cultures and how humans are the driving force that shape, bend, twist and form them. We also know that people are the single greatest contributing factor in achieving and sustaining the success of an organizations performance. Human-centered, cultural and behavioral focused efforts drive innovation, collaboration and promote personal and team development within organizational culture.
Yet a key and often-overlooked aspect of such efforts is the actual, physical environments in which we work. Companies with insufficient work environments tend to find their cultures struggling to move forward. Poor environments simply do not motivate employees. Perhaps a change in environment is what’s needed.
Have you ever walked into an office, perhaps your own, and immediately feel like you have had the energy sucked right out you? No, I’m not talking about the 5 cups of coffee crash. I’m talking about the environment you just entered. You’ve seen it: the low ceilings, the maze of cubicles, bad lighting, and no windows. If grey was a feeling, that’s what grey would feel like. Tosan’s work has taken us to many such environments and every time I’m given the “office tour” I think to myself, why is this the standard? Why is this acceptable? Are these the reasons their communications suffer or their teamwork lacks and innovation moves at the pace of a snail? They are not likely the only reasons, but we contend they are significant influences.
Why is the work environment an influence? I like to think the answer is rather simple: these environments’ allow your employees to hide. They don’t foster collaboration, innovation, communication or change. They hinder your employee’s ability to align with your mission and vision. Yet inadequate work environments have become the standard for so many companies.
We’ve found that organizations wanting to maintain and foster a strong culture or those seeking to move forward into a stronger constructive culture must have an office space that reflects their goals. Companies who provide workplaces that better support collaboration, learning and socializing see higher levels of employee engagement, relationship building, brand equity and productivity than those with less supportive work environments. Edgar Shein in, Organizational Culture and Leadership,” describes a number of embedding mechanisms that help shape culture. One of these mechanisms is the design of physical space and buildings. Remember: your work environment reflects your culture.
I hate to follow the trend of using Google as an example, however ideal their culture is for them, they illustrate the optimal work environment, which models their cultural beliefs. They built their offices with their employees in mind. The result is an office environment that supports socializing, collaboration and learning. For example, they have thinking rooms. Yes, a room to let leaders and employees just think about the possibilities for innovation. Google has bicycles and scooters for efficient travel between meetings; dogs; lava lamps; massage chairs; large inflatable balls, sharing cubes, yurts and huddle rooms – and very few solo offices. The result is a healthy culture congruent with their beliefs. Google is a trendsetter; therefore their office environment must embody that.
So what’s the ROI?
According to the Gallup Management Journal, in a national employee survey, they confirmed uncomfortable work environments make for disgruntled employees. Also, according to a Gensler survey of the connection between workplace design and business performance the following was found:
- 90% of knowledge workers agree that workplace design affects productivity
- 70% of project specific knowledge is gained from peer interaction
- Knowledge is transferred more between people than any other sources of information by five times (5x)
- 32% of knowledge workday is spent in collaboration
Tosan’s partner and environment designer, Hmarq Studios, says the number one reason companies come to them is to seek a more effective work environment and gain more productivity from their employees. Hmarq Studios believes designing the right work environment promotes team building and collaboration, which results in a highly engaged and more efficient workforce.
If you’re seeking culture change within your organization, having the right leaders in place is crucial, gaining mass support is a must, training is essential and typically a change of environment is the missing, yet compulsory set piece needed to fully integrate your change efforts! Remember, your office environment reflects your culture and you are asking your employees to move with you, the right office environment can go a long way.
