Member Article

Research Reveals Secret to Unharnessing Productivity

Research released today reveals how employees who embrace activity-based working report significantly higher levels of workplace productivity (66%) and pride (82%), in a new study of over 70,000 employees.

The research also reveals a clear and dramatic increase in satisfaction levels with creative (22%) and collaborative (21%) tasks in Activity Based Work (ABW) settings - but only when appropriate mobility behaviours are adopted.

66% of employees who use workplaces designed for ABW in an activity-based way state that their workspace enables them to work productively, compared to the 43% that admit to being anchored to their workstations. However, 3 in 4 workers (73%) within activity-based environments perform most, if not all of their tasks in the same location, despite the variety of spaces that are provided for them to work in.

This new study, conducted in partnership for IFMA Sweden and financially supported by Tenant and Partner Sweden, has revealed a high level of ‘employee inertia’. The data suggests that this apparent inability to adapt to surroundings designed for working in an activity centric way could be crippling the productivity gains client organisations thought possible.

“At the close of the yearlong study, Leesman can now reveal that, despite commendable business intentions, employees are failing to adopt the behaviours necessary to realise the potential benefits of activity-based work models,” commented Tim Oldman, Leesman CEO. “Giving employees the freedom to move around in the spaces provided could significantly increase their engagement levels and performance. However, productivity levels will remain stagnant if employees aren’t encouraged to break the ingrained habit of only ever working in one place. Organisations should not underestimate the pivotal importance of behavioural change in delivering a successful outcome.

Activity-based working is a worthwhile venture but only if the workforce in question is able to adapt their mobility profiles accordingly. Variety and mobility is mission critical when seeking to improve business productivity and performance.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jo Sutherland .