A huge amount of research has gone into employee engagement to date, showing that engaged employees are far less likely to leave their current employer, work more productively and take less sick days. We know this and we all strive to keep our employees highly motivated, engaging a range of tactics including team building events, ongoing leadership skills and management training and top-down culture change programs.

Whilst a recent survey by Deloitte quoted 87% of organisations are putting culture and engagement at the top of their priority lists, only one-third of employees feel engaged. So what else should we be looking at? What other factors alongside company culture can help to engage your teams?

The global study found a correlation between high engagement levels and employees who have greater control over where and how they work, including access to private areas where they can concentrate and work more productively. It also showed that the most engaged workers had more choice over where they worked in the office, based on their current task.

This leads us to question how much impact our office design and layout could impact employee engagement levels. If research has shown that employees prefer greater control of their workspace and how they work, could we provide a working environment which offers plenty of choice? Alongside a culture of trust and autonomy, employees would have the freedom to work where they are most comfortable, whether that be as a team or individually, in order to get the task done.

In recent years we have seen a rise in employees working from home, often as a form of flexible working for parenting duties, but also because it offers much greater flexibility when it comes workspace and focusing on a particular task. In fact, the Society of Human Resource Management cited 60% of the companies they surveyed allowing some form of telecommuting in 2017, up from 20% in 1996.

A fantastic example of a company who has thought very hard about their internal workspace is Google. Whilst famous for it’s creative and wacky offices, there is more behind those crazy perks than meets the eye. Google worked with Clive Wilkinson, an Architect who focuses specifically on the connection between building interiors and human psychology, to design spaces which make employees feel engaged, focused and connected.

Why? Because organisations that foster a workplace culture of creativity are likely to have happy, engaged employees who are more loyal and more productive.

“There’s an unfortunate dilemma that has occurred in the marketplace where people feel disconnected. Our clients are asking us to do things that are not healthy at all, part of a fear-based reaction to the alienating and disenfranchising aspect of large corporate offices.” answers Clive, when asked what was wrong with workspaces today.

You don’t have to take your workspace design as far as Google have done, but there are lessons to be learnt from these spaces when looking at the variety of choices employees have. From standing desks, individual quiet pods, outdoor balconies, large team meeting rooms & relaxed cafe zones, there is a workspace available for every mood. With workers given this much flexibility about where and how they work, Google has surely found no issues with employee engagement.

Employee engagement is an ongoing research area and there are so many factors to consider when looking to improve engagement levels. Workspace design and flexibility does seem to be a factor often overlooked by senior leaders, something we expect to change as the impact an environment can have becomes more apparent.

Your workspace design is not just an opportunity to motivate employees but also to demonstrate your company culture and values. Richard at Brightstone is here to help you understand what your company culture is, what it looks like to employees and help you envision a culture of engaged and motivated workers! Why not get in touch?