Workspace satisfaction leads to greater productivity

A new survey of European workers has found that satisfaction in their workspace leads to greater productivity

Mick Jagger, frontman of The Rolling Stones, famously sang about how he couldn’t ‘get no satisfaction’ in his life. If the same is true of employees and their workspaces, chances are they aren’t going to be as productive as they could be, according to the results of a new survey of more than 6,000 employees across Europe – including 1,000 from the UK – carried out by Fellowes Brands.

It found that 91% of all European employees, and 89% of UK employees, say satisfaction is important to them in their workspaces, regardless of whether their working location is the corporate office or the home office. Moreover, 88% of UK employees say satisfaction improves their productivity by more than 25%.

Additional social media sentiment analysis conducted by Fellowes Brands backs up the survey results; it found that there were 1.9 million mentions of workspace satisfaction in the past 12 months, up from 1.5 million mentions in the previous year. Following a period where many Britons spent a year working almost exclusively from home, Fellowes Brands’ survey found that 36% of UK employees who work from home say they feel more productive in the office, and 29% say they feel more productive when working in the new ‘hybrid’ working environment.

Four core elements

The survey also revealed interesting commonalities between employees in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, as well as the UK. In comparing results from the European countries, the data paints a picture of four ‘core elements’ that make up workspace satisfaction – clean environment, healthy workspace, secure environment and tidiness/organisation.

Clean environment

• 77% of UK employees say it is important for an employer to invest in clean, healthy air (e.g. using air purifiers) to facilitate productivity in their workspaces.
• 54% of all European employees surveyed said that a well-ventilated space is the top ‘smell’ that gives them satisfaction in their workspace.
• 33% of UK employees say they find breathing cleaner, healthier air satisfying at work.

Healthy workspace

• 83% of all European employees – and 81% of UK employees – say having a good ergonomic environment, including a suitable desk, chair and monitor at eye level is important to their productivity.
• 80% of UK employees say it is important to their productivity that their employer invests in ergonomics.

Secure environment

• 66% of all European employees agree that being able to dispose of confidential or sensitive documents securely gives them satisfaction.
• 74% of UK employees say it is important that an employer invests in equipment to shred sensitive documents.

Tidiness and organisation

• 81% of UK employees say having a clean, healthy workspace is important to their productivity.
• 77% of UK employees say it is important that an employer invests in the effective storage and organisation solutions they need to be productive at the office.
• 79% of UK employees say having access to the equipment they need, such as an extra monitor to view large documents, is important to their productivity.
• 73% of UK employees and 69% of all European employees say it is important that an employer invests in equipment to produce the high quality presentations and documents, including laminators and binders, they need to be productive at the office.

A theme running throughout the four core elements points to the need for employers to ensure the correct equipment is provided in the hybrid workspace:

• 50% of all European employees said it positively impacts their productivity when they are satisfied with their working set-up.
• 36% of all European employees prefer to have a hybrid working option, versus 24% who prefer to work solely from home.

Hybrid future

“The future of work is hybrid,” says productivity expert Martin Geiger, who authored Fellowes Brands’ whitepaper on the results of the survey. “No longer is working solely relegated to the company office; the modern workspace now involves employees splitting a portion of their time working from within the corporate office, and a portion working from the home office.

“Throughout my career working with some of the world’s biggest companies, one thing I’ve come to notice is that the most productive people all seem to have one commonality – satisfaction. To successfully transition to this exciting hybrid working future, employers must implement practical strategies that allow their employees to be satisfied with the setup within the corporate office, as well as within their home working environment.

“Having employees who are well-equipped – and thus satisfied with their working conditions in both locations – will lead to outcomes of higher productivity.”

Fellowes Brands UK marketing manager, Jeremy Cooper, agrees. “The modern workspace is rapidly evolving, and with that comes a change in the tools that employees need to be successful and productive in their work. As employers begin to design new hybrid ways of working, ensuring that they outfit their employees for both corporate and home office working will be key. “Employers must ensure that their employees’ workstations are optimised for each of the Four Core Elements of Workspace Satisfaction. Doing so will keep employees safe, satisfied and productive.

“At Fellowes Brands, we understand that hybrid working is the future, and have built our hybrid workspace tools to meet the demands of this future, ensuring productivity for the long-term.”