For years, AEC firms and their developer clients have worked under the assumption that a good workplace is effective when it fosters working alone, with others in-person and virtually, learning, and socializing.
These factors are foundational as workplace performance indicators. “But having a good workplace is no longer enough,” states The Gensler Research Institute in its Global Workplace Report 2024, which is based on over 16,000 employee responses to a survey conducted in 15 countries and with 10 client industries. (The survey, conducted from October 2023 to January 2024, did not include fulltime remote workers.)
The report contends that employees are seeking different experiences that go beyond functional and effective office spaces, and now include feeling that the space is beautiful, welcoming, and inspires thinking. Within the office, spaces with the greatest impact on performance are innovation hubs, cafés, outdoor areas, and “focus” rooms. Beyond the building itself, exceptional workplaces leverage their surrounding neighborhoods’ amenities and services.
Gensler’s research shows, however, that many workplaces across industries and countries lag in the quality of their workplace experiences.
High-performing employees have more workplace choices
Gensler’s latest study highlights the shift, in gauging an office’s effectiveness, from real estate occupancy to people-centric performance measures, to assess the design impact on how employees work and feel in the workplace, individually, in teams, and as part of a company.
The report defines workplace performance as an average of two composite scores that measure how space supports work and how employees feel about that space. Effectiveness measures factors such as function, layout, and so forth; experience measures factors such as beauty and inspirational feelings.
Global office workers spend half of their typical workweeks in the workplace, 20% of their time at home, and 29% in other locations that might include coworking space. Pre-pandemic, this average was closer to 70% of time in the office. “Now, more than ever, the workplace needs to respond to a wider offering of spaces and experiences,” states the report, adding that employees across the world have unique and individual needs within the office.
The report looks closer at how top performing employees are experiencing their workplaces. The report scores the most-engaged individuals on factors such as how energized and happy they feel while working. Employees with the highest engagement score differ from other workers in the amount of time they spend working alone, learning, and socializing. (The report finds that these employees spend just 36% of their time working alone, versus 44% among the least-engaged employees.)
Nearly all top performers—96%––also say they have control over how they manage their time, versus half of those working in low-performing offices. Gensler emphasizes that “exceptional” workplaces offer their employees choices about where they work within the office. High-performing workplaces offer greater access to spaces for critical work activities, and overall have more work settings to choose from. This empowers the employees to work at the most effective spaces for their tasks.
It's not all about work, either. More than 90% of employees in high-performing workplaces says the office allows them to occasionally unplug from technology. And these workers also tend to use the office more for socializing and having fun.
Amenities add to workplace’s cache
Two-thirds of the workers surveyed describe their company’s office building as “one of the premium, higher-quality” commercial buildings in their areas. Gensler contends that building quality has a direct relationship to workplace quality: high-performing workplaces are twice as likely to be inside high-quality office buildings. These buildings, as often as not, are located in neighborhoods that offer diverse amenities, services, and alternate workspaces. High-performing workplaces, estimates Gensler, have access to 2.6-times as many amenity spaces on-site and 1.6-times as many amenities and services in the neighborhood. “Access to amenities and services appears to make a particular difference,” Gensler states about such “ecosystems” of spaces and experiences.
However, the report also finds that less than one-third of workplaces globally has been redesigned in the last three year, making these workplaces less likely to be able to meet the expectations of young people entering the workforce. “There’s a pressing need for organizations to intentionally rethink office spaces to boost company culture and drive business growth,” says Gensler.
Janet Pogue McLaurin, Gensler’s Global Director of Workplace Research, observes that a great workplace “must not only be a tool to get work done effectively but be intentionally designed for human emotion,” creating experiences that support new ways to work in and outside of the office.
Related Stories
| Jul 10, 2013
TED talk: Architect Michael Green on why we should build tomorrow's skyscrapers out of wood
In a newly posted TED talk, wood skyscraper expert Michael Green makes the case for building the next-generation of mid- and high-rise buildings out of wood.
High-rise Construction | Jul 9, 2013
5 innovations in high-rise building design
KONE's carbon-fiber hoisting technology and the Broad Group's prefab construction process are among the breakthroughs named 2013 Innovation Award winners by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jul 8, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: offices, daycare centers, convenience stores, fast food
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for offices, daycare centers, convenience stores, fast food.
| Jul 3, 2013
Architects team with HUD to promote 'Rebuild By Design' competition for Hurricane Sandy recovery effort
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced a communications campaign urging its membership to enter the “Rebuild by Design” multi-stage regional design competition announced by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan on June 20.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
LEGOLAND builds 12-foot replica of One World Trade Center
The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, N.Y., celebrated the completion of a LEGO replica of One World Trade Center by lighting the 12-foot-tall, 100-pound model.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 18, 2013
Report: HVAC occupancy sensors could slash building energy demand by 18%
Researchers at the DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conclude that significant energy savings can be achieved by varying ventilation levels based on the number of people in a given space.
| Jun 17, 2013
First look: Austin to get first high-rise since 2003
Developer Cousins Properties broke ground on the 29-story Colorado Tower in downtown Austin, Texas, the city's first high-rise building since Cousins' completed the Frost Bank Tower a decade ago.