Influence of the Physical Work Environment on Work Engagement and Performance. Kay Meulensteen Pascale Le Blanc Astrid Kemperman

Transcription

1 Influence of the Physical Work Environment on Work Engagement and Performance Kay Meulensteen Pascale Le Blanc Astrid Kemperman

2 Background Efficient use of workspace è Cost reduction Increase flexible use of the workspace while at the same time Stimulate and support employee satisfaction and performance èoptimize company performance

3 Background Initiatives: New Ways of Working + Efficiency Activity-based offices + Effectiveness Flexible workspaces - Costs

4 Background Research Physical Work Environment: Use of the physical work environment (e.g., Appel- Meulenbroek, 2011) Activities performed in these physical work environments (e.g., Tabak, 2009) Level of control over the indoor environment - occupants perceptions of the work environment (e.g., Lee & Brand, 2005)

5 Background Research work satisfaction, work motivation, productivity & performance: (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2000; Schaufeli et al., 2006; Van Den Broeck et al.,2008): relationships between physical office environment & performance or productivity, but did not include atmosphere of the work environment, work motivation, or employee wellbeing (Stokols et al., 2002; Van Ree, 2002) èlimited research captures all these constructs at once: the underlying process relating the physical work environment and performance of office workers

6 Dutch Government Housing Government-wide housing policy plan (Fysieke Werkomgeving Rijk, FWR; De Been et al., 2015) health and safety norms how workspaces are supposed to be used what kind of overall atmosphere is attempted to be created èto stimulate civil servants to work more flexible, and time, place, and device independently èimplementation of hubs in governmental offices

7 WorkSpace Hub A Hub is a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity aims to stimulate interdepartmental interaction between office workers A Hub should support various types of activities: meeting people short-term desk work having a (coffee) break

8 Research Aim Aim: to examine the underlying process of the relationship between aspects of the physical environment in office environments and work performance to provide insights in how hubs are being used in governmental offices, and subsequently what factors determine the success of a hub to provide guidelines for the Dutch government regarding the design and management of hubs

9 Literature Research Work-related need satisfaction Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance

10 Literature Research Physical Work Environment Work-related need satisfaction Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness

11 Literature Research Behavioral Work Environment Work-related need satisfaction Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness - Distraction - Interaction - Activities - Stimulation

12 Literature Research Work-related Need Satisfaction Work-related need satisfaction - Need for competence - Need for relatedness - Need for autonomy Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness - Distraction - Interaction - Activities - Stimulation

13 Literature Research Work Engagement Work-related need satisfaction - Need for competence - Need for relatedness - Need for autonomy Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness - Distraction - Interaction - Activities - Stimulation - Vigor - Dedication - Absorption

14 Literature Research Work Performance Work-related need satisfaction - Need for competence - Need for relatedness - Need for autonomy Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness - Distraction - Interaction - Activities - Stimulation - Vigor - Dedication - Absorption - Productivity - Efficiency - Quality

15 Conceptual Model Work-related need satisfaction - Need for competence - Need for relatedness - Need for autonomy Physical environment Behavioral environment Work engagement Work performance - Basic facilities - Accessibility - Attractiveness - Distraction - Interaction - Activities - Stimulation - Vigor - Dedication - Absorption - Productivity - Efficiency - Quality

16 Data Collection Survey (IPad) 4 Hubs of different governmental offices Visitors of the hub were invited to fill in the questionnaire Last week of August, until the third week of September 2016

17 Belastingdienst Utrecht- Overvecht

18 Rijkswaterstaat Utrecht

19 Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland Den Haag

20 Belastingdienst Amsterdam

21 Survey Physical Work environment - statements (7-points likert scale): the facilities accessibility attractiveness availability of workspaces number of power outlets connectedness to the rest of the building level of comfort of the furniture climate in the hub

22 Survey Behavioral environment - statements (7-points likert scale): experience of visual and noise disturbance how inclined they are to have meetings in the hub degree to which they feel at home degree to which they feel stimulated when working in the hub which activities the respondents performed & where (type of workspace) working in a group or alone visit was planned or not nature of the visit duration of visit frequency of visiting the hub

23 Survey Work-related Need satisfaction-9 items (5-points likert scale): Based on a 16-item scale - Van den Broeck et al. (2010): Autonomy: to what degree the respondent feels (s)he can make its own work-related decisions Competence: to what degree they respondent feels that (s)he is good in its job Relatedness: how connected the respondent feels to his/her coworkers è3 items with the highest factor loadings on each of the 3 work-related needs were selected

24 Survey Work Engagement - 9 items (7-points likert scale): Based on a 9-item scale - Schaufeli et al. (2006) Vigor: degree to which the respondent feels energetic at his/her job Absorption: how happy (s)he feels when working intensely Dedication: the degree to which the respond gets carried away by his/ her work Work Performance 7 items (5-points likert scale): Based on Williams & Anderson (1991) how productive and how efficient the respondent is in his/her work Socio-demographics

25 Sample (N=236) Location BD-UO BD-AMS RWS RVO Total Age Mean Service years at government Mean Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Respondents Gender Male Female Internal or external Internal External Level of education Low Intermediate High Function Support Project worker Advisor Management Board

26 Analyses Data reduction Factor Analyses & Reliability Tests - Sum-scores Bivariate correlations basis for the model estimation Path Model Estimation

27 Estimated Path Model Physical environment Basic facilities Behavioral environment Pleasantness Work-related need satisfaction Work engagement Work performance Connectedness Distance Comfort & climate Disturbance Need for autonomy Work engagement Work performance Meetings Home Need for competence Drinks Positive effect Negative effect Goodness-of-fit Statistics Degrees of freedom 66 Chi-square Chi-square/df 1.74 RMSEA.062 Goodness of Fit Index.934 Findability Stimulation

28 Results: Physical Environment è Behavioral environment All variables from the physical environment have a significant effect on one or more of the variables of the behavioral environment meetings and stimulation are connected in series with pleasantness, disturbance, and home serving drinks of a high quality è attracts more visitors & stimulates perceived productivity, performance, quality of work, and creativity the better people can find the hub è the more visits & meetings

29 Results: Physical Environment è Behavioral environment The degree to which visitors find the hub a pleasant place to work is affected by: the basic facilities connectedness meetings stimulation comfort of the furniture & indoor climate

30 Results: Physical Environment è Behavioral environment visitors experience more disturbance, the larger the distance to the hub from their regular workspace on the other hand the more comfortable and stimulating the hub is, the less disturbance is experienced feeling at home in the hub, is positively affected by: comfort of the furniture and the indoor climate quality of the drinks accessibility of the hub

31 Results: Effects on Work Related Needs Effects on Need for autonomy the need for autonomy is more satisfied for visitors that experience the hub to be a pleasant place to work in at the same time the satisfaction of the need for autonomy is negatively affected by noise and visual disturbance

32 Results: Effects on Work Related Needs Effects on Need for competence Disturbance also negatively affects the need for competence Visitors that feel more at home in the hub have a higher satisfaction of the need for competence

33 Results: Effects on Work Engagement & Performance Effects on Work Engagement The more visitors experience the hub to be a pleasant workplace and have their work-related needs satisfied, the higher their work engagement is Effects on Work Performance Satisfaction of the need for competence has a positive effect on work performance work engagement positively affects work performance

34 Conclusion This study showed that: the satisfaction of work-related needs, work engagement and performance are closely related, but also that these aspects are related to the physical environment, through the behavioral environment All variables from the physical environment were related to behavioral environmental variables Most importantly: the quality of the served drinks on the frequency of meetings the influence of facilities on a pleasant working environment

35 Conclusion Managerial relevance: This study shows that even though all the physical aspects have an effect on the success of a hub èthe facilities in the hub (sufficient power sockets, variation of workplaces, comfortable furniture, indoor climate, high quality of drinks) turn out to be most important (compared to for example the location of the hub) Furthermore, èinform workers in governmental buildings about the presence and possibilities of the hub

36 Future Research Test the model in other organizations/situations Sample all employees Longitudinal study