workplace design study reveals decided employee opinions

Good air quality and an abundance of natural light are two of the most important components contributing to employee satisfaction, a new report contends.

The Workplace Wellness Study also shows employees responding particularly well to such additional amenities as sleep pods, basketball courts, and the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables in the company cafeteria.

Conducted by a New York research firm called Future Workplace, the study included an extensive survey of more than 1,600 employees nationally.

Of that number, some 44 percent indicated that a workplace’s poor air quality made them feel sleepy, with another 28 percent saying that poor air quality made their throats feel irritated or led to itchy and watery eyes.

The survey also showed that a solid 60 percent of respondents felt that the lighting in their  workspace was inadequate, with a desire for natural lighting taking precedence over all other workspace amenity desires.

Among the top so-called “wellness perks” most often cited by the study’s respondents was air quality and comfortable lighting, followed by water quality and comfortable temperatures.

Much lower on the list was the desire for fitness facilities and technology-based health tools.

Looking at the trends from another angle, 48 percent of respondents said they wanted to be able to personalize the temperatures in their workspace with an app; while 33 percent indicated that they would like to personalize their overhead lighting, desk lighting, and the amount of natural light coming in.

The study asserts that “organizations have the power to make improvements in these areas, but environmental wellness in the workplace involves interconnected factors that cross multiple groups and functions.”

“Understanding what matters most to employees,” the study adds, “can help companies prioritize and create a more comprehensive plan that encompasses a broad set of interconnected wellness influences.”

Future Workplace is an executive consulting agency focusing on ways to improve the nation’s workplaces.

By Garry Boulard

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