The quality of the office environment plays a pivotal role in shaping both work efficiency and the health of employees. Consequently, the creation and maintenance of an optimal physical workspace within the office environment represent a crucial stride in optimizing a company’s economic growth.
While prior research has delved into the influence of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors, such as temperature, air quality, lighting, and noise, on work efficiency and worker health, these investigations often focus on these aspects in isolation. Moreover, they typically do not quantify the economic advantages linked to the enhancement of office environments.
A healthy environment
A recent study conducted by researchers from Hosei University took a comprehensive approach to exploring how various elements of the office environment impact both work efficiency and worker health. Additionally, the research sought to gauge the economic benefits associated with optimizing these elements.
The study encompassed 1,644 individuals working across 29 office buildings in Tokyo. Data concerning the built environment was gathered through worker questionnaires and physical measurements of IEQ. The perceived work efficiency, as reported by the workers, was compared between their current offices and an ‘ideal’ office characterized by maximal work efficiency, providing an estimate of the economic value conferred by the physical workspace.
Furthermore, the research investigated presenteeism, a phenomenon where employees work while dealing with health issues, and contrasted it with a scenario in which workers faced no health-related barriers to their work.
Work efficiency
The study revealed that participants assessed their work efficiency, on average, at approximately 77%. The degree of presenteeism varied, with some participants reporting no health symptoms in the past 30 days, while others experienced symptoms daily. The study determined that, on average, presenteeism led to a performance reduction of around 34%.
The investigation scrutinized the collective impact of various office environment elements on perceived work efficiency and presenteeism. The findings indicated a positive correlation between an improved overall office environment and higher perceived work efficiency among the employees.
“Workers in offices with lower environmental performance had low work efficiency, while those in higher-performing offices had high work efficiency. The 16.8-point difference in work efficiency between workers in offices with relatively good and poor environments equates to an annual economic benefit of about 1,039,000 JPY, highlighting the financial advantages of a good work environment,” the researchers explain.
Higher presenteeism
“The better the office environment, the lower the amount of loss due to presenteeism,” they continue. “The difference in annual economic loss due to presenteeism between workers in offices with relatively low environmental performance and workers in offices with relatively high environmental performance was 423,000 JPY.”
The study also found that better office features like the interior, cleanliness, air quality, and meeting spaces were linked to higher work efficiency in the eyes of employees. On the other hand, factors like disaster preparedness, room temperature, lighting, and communication networks were connected to lower economic losses due to employees working while not feeling well.
Surprisingly, the economic benefits of improved work efficiency were greater than the savings from reducing presenteeism (working while sick). In conclusion, the study highlights the potential for offices to increase their economic gains. It emphasizes the importance of creating high-quality office spaces worldwide to improve employee efficiency and well-being.
“Today, companies around the world are reaffirming the importance of human capital. We believe that widespread recognition of the fact that investment in the creation of a good office environment is directly linked to maintaining and improving the health of office workers and increasing the productivity of the company as a whole, will contribute to the building of a healthier society,” the authors conclude.
