Abstract

Introduction: Different kinds of shared and activity-based offices are common today and employees' experiences, perceived health, well-being, satisfaction, and productivity have been studied in different types and sizes of environments.Objectives: In this study we aimed to determine employee satisfaction with a multi-space office. We also aimed to find associations between satisfaction with working space and both individual and social well-being.Methods: A total of 91 employees from a multi-space office shared by six municipality-owned companies answered a self-administered questionnaire. Frequencies, percentages, averages, and minimum and maximum values are used to describe the results. We used cross-tabulation and Pearson's Chi-Square test to study the associations and linear regression analysis to create a model describing the variability of workspace satisfaction.Results: The employees were most satisfied with the workspace furniture (82% of respondents) and most dissatisfied with workspace acoustics (44%). Workspace satisfaction was associated with self-satisfaction, good self-perceived future work ability, and good recovery. As regards social factors, workspace satisfaction was associated with good atmosphere among colleagues and good social capital. Satisfaction with acoustics was also associated with good self-perceived future work ability, recovery, and good social capital. Social capital best explained the general variation in workplace satisfaction.Conclusions: Many individual- and social-related well-being outcomes, and especially social capital, were associated with workspace satisfaction. To maintain workplace satisfaction and well-being, attention should be paid to the design, functionality, and management of the used workspaces.

Highlights

  • Different kinds of shared and activity-based offices are common today and employees’ experiences, perceived health, well-being, satisfaction, and productivity have been studied in different types and sizes of environments

  • In line with the results of Kim and Dear (7) concerning the same kind of office environment, the respondents in this study were most dissatisfied with the acoustics of the workspace, especially with the lack of audible privacy

  • We found a strong association between workspace satisfaction and a good atmosphere in the workplace community, not just between colleagues in their own organization

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Summary

Introduction

Different kinds of shared and activity-based offices are common today and employees’ experiences, perceived health, well-being, satisfaction, and productivity have been studied in different types and sizes of environments. Different kinds of activity-based working environments are common in work life today (1). Employees’ experiences, perceived health, well-being, job satisfaction, and productivity in environments of different type, and size have been studied previously (2–7). Studies have focused on interaction, communality, and comfort. It seems that employees are more satisfied working in single-rooms and next to multi-space offices. Employees in medium or large open space offices are the most dissatisfied. Those working in large open-space offices have more sick leaves than those working in smaller offices (3)

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