Office surroundings affect performance, says new research

04-09-2007

New research carried out by Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital has indicated that an employee's physical environment can have a major impact on their mood and, in turn, job performance.

Improvements to the physical surroundings of workers, such as office layout or design, were seen to impact on productivity as employees respond to the notion of employers acknowledging their presence, according to the study.

Harvard Medical School faculty member Dr Nancy Etcoff told the Arizona Republic that physical work environment can impact social environment and affect the well-being of individuals.

Thomas Duening, director of Entrepreneurial Programmes at Arizona State University (ASU) School of Engineering told the publication: "It does pay to retain employees and it certainly costs a hell of a lot less to put a little bit of money in retention than to go out and search for, select and hire a new person."

ASU's Biodesign Institute was recently awarded platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) status by the US Green Building Council.

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