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WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY
Measuring Productivity
Productivity is the measure of how effective or efficient an individual performs a given task, under a
different set of circumstances. Atkin and Brooks (2015) cited the following factors that affect productivity:
• The nature of work. This involves the link between personal satisfaction of an employee to his/her
workplace and the effectiveness of the individual and organization. It states that task performance
and work satisfaction are optimized when job demands are high enough for the work to be
challenging and interesting, but not so high as to be overwhelming. It also refers to the external
working conditions or environment of the employees. The following are the different types of work
setup:
o Telecommuting. This involves the use of information and communication technology (ICT)
and virtual private networks in accomplishing work.
o Flexible working hours. This supports a better work-life balance, especially for those with
typical family arrangements.
o Out-of-office working. This involves the use of satellite centers and the concept of the virtual
office.
• The organization. This involves focusing on the personnel as a resource. Organizations must see the
potential that can be realized through training and personnel development. Managers must
constantly support human resources strategy adopted by the organization to cultivate the
commitment of employees to the organization. This is particularly evident in the case of flexibility,
where the facility must be able to support the demands of individual and organizational flexibility
in order to respond to changes in the marketplace.
• Communication. This involves providing periods of quiet concentration for employees to allow
creative or complex thought. It also involves maintaining an open communication within the
organization to enhance individual capabilities through communication and collaboration.
Moreover, people can learn from each other in informal situations by working alongside those with
whom they do not normally share space. Organizations must plan office adjacencies to take
advantage of unanticipated opportunities created by social interaction.
• The work environment. This involves the internal working conditions of the employees. The
following are the different factors that affect the productivity of employees in terms of their work
environment:
o Air quality. This includes stale air, which is a common complaint that arises from inefficient
ventilation. It may also pertain to indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles that
pollute the air.
o Noise and vibration. These can be both physiologically and psychologically harmful. They can
obstruct communication and mentally disturb the individual, resulting in impairment of job
performance and/or accidents. When noise distraction is a problem, people rate it as a
serious hindrance to productivity, although they do not claim the absence of noise to be an
important benefit.
o Lighting. This is significant not only on visual task performance, but also in controlling the
physiological and psychological functions of the human body. As with many other factors,
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the ultimate effect of light and lighting on human well-being is determined in part by
individual perception and satisfaction.
o Heating. This involves thermal comfort, which tends to receive the highest number of
complaints from employees. Overly cool conditions make people restless, impairing
concentration, and increasing error rates, particularly for demanding mental tasks. Being too
warm can cause weariness, sleepiness, a reduction in performance, and a tendency to make
mistakes.
Sick Building Syndrome
Sick Building Syndrome refers to the illnesses and symptoms that afflict multiple occupants of a particular
building. According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), environmental characteristics that influence work on the
individual level include architectural properties such as office size, number of walls, heating, and light.
Sick Building Syndrome suggests that the very design of workplaces might be creating ill health for the
employees. Health and stress problems are greater in high-demand and low-control environments than
in high-demand and high-control environments (Atkin & Brooks, 2015).
The issue of control is continually referred to in a variety of contexts. It surfaces in connection with the
work itself and within the organization and is a major factor concerning productivity in the context of the
working environment. Control of one’s work environment includes temperature, lighting and ventilation,
as well as choice and configuration of furniture.
Atkin and Brooks (2015) stated that minimizing the constraints placed on personnel at their workstations
will increase social and economic productivity. The more choices people have, the happier and more
productive they are likely to become. The reason why many people underperform is that their behavior
and degrees of freedom are systematically reduced by decisions over which they have no control (Atkin
& Brooks, 2015).
Design Issues
According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), the design of the workspace must address not only an individual’s
lower-order needs, such as safety, security, and physical comfort, but also higher-order needs such as self-
esteem. Once environmental needs are satisfied, the individual becomes dominated by the unsatisfied
needs. These unsatisfied needs may pertain to environmental conditions, which are perceived by the
employees in the context of status and self-fulfillment (Atkin & Brooks, 2015). Examples of these include
issues with amenity, view, decoration, space provision, and furniture standards.
Whether a better workplace improves individual performance or more productive individuals gravitate to
organizations with better work environments is not entirely clear. Yet, there are measurable productivity
benefits to be gained by improving the physical working environment. Organizations must realize that
their employees engage in different activities, and it is crucial that they match the space and facility
provisions of their workplaces to the different activities of their employees. There are reports of
improvements in productivity following a reorganization that took place with end-user involvement. The
organization can maximize the productivity of its personnel through such a choice of settings that allow
individuals and teams to select the most suited environment to their task-related needs at any given time.
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Unconventional Working Arrangements
According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), an approach in revising space utilization requires the abandonment
of designated spaces or workstations in favor of shared arrangements, within schemes such as “hot-
desking” and “hotelling.” “Hot-desking” is a practice of allocating desks to workers on a rotating system,
rather than giving each worker their own desk. This is a common practice in Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) offices wherein call center agents would pick any available work station that they desire during the
time of their shift. “Hotelling,” on the other hand, is a practice of office management in which employees
schedule their use of workspaces such as desks, cubicles, and offices only when they need it. These
practices are not always the best way to increase the productive use of office space, in spite of the obvious
cost savings. More can be achieved by zoning space, so that, for example, special touchdown places,
accessible to everyone, are set aside for concentrated, group, or specialist work. This can offset some of
the problems associated with open-plan offices. In order to maximize the productivity benefits of the non-
territorial office, the initiative has to be business-driven rather than cost-driven. The former will involve a
fundamental rethinking of organizational structure, performance measurement, and business processes
(Atkin & Brooks, 2015).
The productivity increases offered by telecommuting and other non-traditional work arrangements can
only be maximized if the right sort of space is provided in the office for the times when employees are
working there. If the office cannot offer appropriate support, then productivity gains might be negated.
Appropriate support involves turning the traditional concept of the office inside out. The primary function
of the central office space can serve as a support for communication and interaction. Areas for individual,
concentrated work would become the support space for team-oriented interactive spaces. A system of
loosely coupled settings linked physically by the movement of personnel and the electronic exchange of
information could maximize productivity in the organization. The need for an integrated workplace
strategy to accommodate and support new modes of work is essential. The following principles must guide
the total workplace concept:
1. Breaking down barriers to encourage functional diversity and mixing people who would not
normally mix. This will increase the beneficial exposure of employees to differences and diversity.
2. Access to the physical resources necessary for effective work, with environmental equity. This will
increase the productivity of the employees in terms of resources utilization.
3. Varying the optimal setting in accomplishing work according to variations in an individual’s work
over time. This will create a positive impact on personnel productivity in a sense that it provides
an optimistic work environment experience to the employees.
5S Workplace Organization
5S focuses on creating a clean, orderly environment where there is a place for everything. Beyond this,
many companies begin their lean transformation with 5S because it exposes some of the most visible
examples of waste. It also helps establish the framework and discipline required to pursue continuous
improvement initiatives successfully.
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Figure 1. 5s Methodology
• S1 – Sort. This is the practice of going through all the tools, materials, etc. in the work area and
keeping only essential items. Everything else is either stored offsite or discarded. This leads to
fewer hazards and less clutter.
• S2 – Shine. This includes three (3) primary activities, which involve getting the workplace clean,
maintaining its appearance, and using preventative measures to keep it clean.
• S3 – Set in order. This focuses on the need for arranging tools and equipment in an order that
promotes optimum workflow.
• S4 – Standardize. This involves creating best practices relevant to continuous improvement in the
workplace. It also requires each team member to apply the established best practices in their
work dealings.
• S5 – Sustain. This involves maintaining the momentum generated during the initial
implementation of 5S and creating sustainability programs to keep the discipline.
Reference
Atkin, B. & Brooks, A. (2015). Total facilities management (4th ed.). United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.
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