In recent years workplace research and management topics became even more relevant due to many changes that our societies experience. Businesses started to see the hidden value that thoughtful management of workplaces can bring to organisations and people. More research is conducted providing evidence of the impact that workplace interventions create. People more freely express their preferences in the working environments they want to have.@en

The rise of remote working has highlighted the importance of office spaces that support employees’ social well-being. However, there is a lack of explicit knowledge on how to design such spaces. In order to address this gap, this study explored the strategies employed by practitioners in designing social office spaces. In-depth interviews with fifteen experienced interior designers were analysed using means-end chain theory. This revealed the designers’ common aim to encourage informal social interactions through creating attractive, spacious, recognisable, and spatially integrated breakout spaces. Additionally, communicating group identity, promoting visibility, and offering a cosy atmosphere aimed to foster a sense of connectedness among employees. These findings not only enable more deliberate design decisions but also serve as valuable insights for less experienced designers. Moreover, the framework of design components, affordances and design objectives that emerged from this study can enhance communication between designers and stakeholders involved in office projects.

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BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, office workers were obliged to work from home (WFH). Alongside known positive aspects of home-based telework, it is associated with reduced health and productivity impacts. Its success depends on employee and environmental characteristics. OBJECTIVE: This paper fills the gap in knowledge on the mediating role of health between personal and environmental factors and employee productivity, when obliged to work from home full-time. It covers health in full (physical, mental, and social) unlike other WFH studies. METHODS: Two large survey-based datasets (gathered April 27th - November 20th, 2020) were analysed resp. with a path model and descriptive analyses. The data provide experiences on health and productivity of resp. 25,058 and 18,859 Dutch office workers from different public organisations, who were obliged to work from home during the COVID-19 lockdowns. RESULTS: In general, the workers in the sample perceived their health to be quite good. Path analysis revealed that gender, age, education, the at-home workspace, the presence of children in the household, and perceived organisational support were significantly related to self-perceived productivity. However, most of these effects were found to be mediated by physical, mental, and/or social health indicators. Possible explanations for health issues from the descriptive analyses were sedentary behaviour, unsuitable furniture, having to be at home, social isolation and changed content and frequency of contact with colleagues. CONCLUSION: Findings imply that specifically engagement and organisational support of teleworkers are most relevant to steer on to ensure productivity while WFH.

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Many theories from different research disciplines apply to workplace design and management. This chapter describes a first attempt to integrate 21 of those theories into an overall employee-workplace alignment (EWA) framework, as a starting point towards developing a grand EWA theory. Through concept mapping, the tacit knowledge underlying each theory was made explicit in three to five statements that were sorted by 22 experts. By performing multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, the statements were grouped into eight concepts that reflect the essence of the 21 theories within three regions of meaning: ‘Need-Supply Alignment’, ‘Cognition and Behaviour’, and ‘Organisational Context’. The framework created from the eight concepts connects the different theories in many ways. A further discussion of the three regions and underlying concepts of the framework, in relation to existing workplace research and theory, identifies many research gaps that need attention before the EWA theory can be fully developed. The chapter ends with implications for practice and some closing words for the entire book.

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Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Dutch employees were told to work from home as much as possible. Homeworking can have benefits both for employees and employers, as some experience a productivity increase and a better work-life balance. However, it is also harder for employers to measure and monitor employees’ performance and for the employee it can cause social and professional isolation. Previous research studied homeworking from a voluntarily perspective assuming that the home work environment was suitable to conduct homeworking. Little is known about the experience of ‘obliged’ home working. In this research, the suitability of the home work environment is examined by looking at the relationship of physical aspects of the home work environment with perceived individual productivity.@en

This second book in the series focuses on the role of workplace management in the organization and the tasks that workplace management needs to consider. The 18 theories that are presented in this book and applied to workplace research discuss management aspects from the organization’s perspective or dive deeper into issues related to people and/or building management. They all emphasize that workplace management is a complex matter that requires more strategic attention in order to add value for various stakeholders. The final chapter of the book describes a first step towards integrating the presented theories into an interdisciplinary framework for developing a grand workplace management theory.@en

Purpose: This paper aims to explore, which characteristics of activity-based offices are related to the position of workers on the burnout – engagement continuum. Design/methodology/approach: Literature review and an online survey amongst knowledge workers in the Netherlands, which provided data of 184 respondents from 14 organisations. The data has been analysed by descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analyses and path analysis, to test the conceptual model. Findings: Five physical work environment constructs were identified of which three showed to have significant relations with employees’ position on one of the three dimensions of the burnout – engagement continuum. Distraction has a direct and indirect (through overload) negative relation with the individual strain (meaning increased exhaustion). Office comfort has indirect positive relations (through recognition and appreciation) with the interpersonal strain (meaning increased involvement). The possibility for teleworking has an indirect positive relation (through control) on the self-evaluation strain (meaning increased efficacy). Practical implications: The findings show that in the design and management of a healthy physical work environment, corporate real estate managers and human resource managers should particularly pay attention to lowering distraction, providing comfortable workplaces and considering the option of teleworking to some extent. Originality/value: This paper provides new insights into the impact of distinct activity-based workplace characteristics on workers’ position on the burnout – engagement continuum.

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Purpose: The purpose of this article is to aid conceptualization of social well-being at work by identifying its components in a contemporary office context, so adequate measures can be developed to monitor social well-being and to assess the impact of interventions in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: This study used existing interview data from recent post-occupancy evaluations of two large activity-based flexible offices in the Dutch public sector. Data-driven concept mapping of 182 different employees' statements on social aspects of well-being was used to find communalities in their perceptions. Findings: From the data 14 key concepts emerged referring to employees' social needs, reactions to (anti-)social behaviour of others and perceived social affordances of the work environment. Contrary to established theory, social well-being appeared to be a context-bound phenomenon, including components of both short-term hedonic and long-term eudaimonic well-being. Research limitations/implications: The findings serve as an inductive source for the further development of adequate measures of social well-being at work. Limitations concern the specific (cultural) setting of the cases and the use of existing data. Practical implications: Preliminary suggestions for fostering social well-being include change management, participatory design, being alert of the identified risks of activity-based offices and supporting privacy regulation, identity marking and a sense of community, as well as a diversity of informal face-to-face interactions balanced with quiet spaces. Originality/value: This article contributes to the conceptualization of social well-being in contemporary offices by discussing established social well-being theory and analysing real-world data, using a method novel to management research.

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This chapter will focus on the financial side of Corporate Real Estate (CRE). The effect of ownership or lease on the balance sheet will be discussed. In addition, the lifecycle effects of ownership will be looked at from aspects like renovation, restructuring or alternative use. The importance of regularly valuing CRE at market value will be highlighted, as well as the financial risks of not valuing and not strategically managing CRE. CRE is not always easy to value: it might have specific characteristics, which will not have a market value, or only for similar enterprises and specific use. The value might also be influenced by industry trends or labour costs followed by shifts of the company’s activities to other locations or even other countries. Consequently, active CRE financial management should be given high priority. Involvement of CREM in business plans and decisions is essential to fulfil that role.@en

This chapter presents the findings from employee surveys on employee satisfaction with different work environments in the Netherlands and various other European countries. It first discusses why employee satisfaction is relevant for organisations and which factors may influence employee satisfaction. Then the chapter discusses empirical data about employee satisfaction with various building characteristics, facilities and services, and which items are perceived as most important. Based on these analyses typical interventions are presented with related benefits and sacrifices. Furthermore the chapter discusses how to measure employee satisfaction and suggests a list of 11 topics that should be included in employee surveys to measure employee satisfaction: opportunities to communicate and to concentrate, meeting rooms, seclusion rooms, personal storage facilities, indoor climate, noise levels, chairs, desks and other office equipment, office leisure (e.g. tea/coffee, washroom/shower, restaurant/canteen), general cleanliness and IT-services. The chapter ends with a number of research questions for future research.@en