According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), global labor productivity per employee has failed to markedly rise since the global downturn, despite the media storm that often hails the workplace experience as being the missing piece of the “productivity puzzle.” A typical measure of productivity can be calculated by the output over a specific period, divided by the total costs or resources expended over that same period. But this calculation, within the modern office environment, rarely offers an accurate picture of actual output. In the knowledge work sector, for instance, people essentially get paid to think — and although we can all agree that productivity is a result of where effort meets value, it’s difficult to measure when there’s no production line. And it’s impossible to gauge how each thought impacts an organization’s bottom-line in the long run.
The closest measure we have, then, is “perceived productivity.” There are numerous factors that influence an individual’s ability to be productive, of course, but Leesman data reveals that the physical workplace itself plays a key part in an employee’s sense of productivity, pride, and overall enjoyment of their work life. Our recent report, “The Next 250K” published in September 2017, offers a crucial lesson for facility managers responsible for designing and managing workplaces. The publication highlights the importance of understanding where to focus the facility management budget and provides a map for navigating design rationales with an aim to achieving higher productivity and better employee experience.