Designing for Wellbeing in the Workplace
Description
Employee wellbeing is a top concern for many organizations as its been linked to job performance and organizational commitment (Colquit, LePine, & Wesson, 2019). Research suggests that overall wellbeing is important to employees as well. Organizations are significantly investing into upgrading workplace environments, and there is a need for a clear understanding of how those improvements truly impact employee wellbeing. Current workplace research reveals that the open-office floorplan accounts for more than 70% of office layouts in the United States and is most commonly used for the benefits of collaboration and efficiency (Gallup, 2017). However, the open office layout ranks poorly in current employee wellbeing studies with a number of office environment stressors such as noise, distractions, and privacy concerns noted to impact employee wellbeing (C. Bodin-Danielsson, 2016; Haynes, Suckley, & Nunnington, 2017). The knowledge work performed in office environments require high amounts of cognitive tasks and when combined with filtering distractions in the workplace it can increase strains caused by common office stressors, thereby impacting employee wellbeing (Bridger & Brasher, 2011). This study will examine common stressors from the open office environment and compare employee’s perceptions of their work environment before and after renovations, as well as observations and behavioral mapping that record how the built environment influences the behaviors of the occupants. This research seeks to understand how wellbeing in the open office is affected by its different physical environmental settings, and how this environment influences employee’s behaviors. The end research goal is to see if there is a significant correlation of physical work environment and workplace behaviors that are common in the open office to help understand how the designed interior workplace impacts the wellbeing of its users.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2020
Agent
- Author (aut): Frederick, Laura
- Thesis advisor (ths): Zingoni Phielipp, Milagros
- Thesis advisor (ths): Brunner, Lori
- Committee member: Trinh, Mai
- Committee member: Pijem, Maria
- Publisher (pbl): Arizona State University