Professionalism in the workplace continues to evolve in
American workplaces evolve heading into 2020. Gone are the days of suits and
cubicles with many modern offices embracing more of a casual feel to the office
environment to try and lure and retain top talent. Even cubicles, which were
once the most popular form of workspaces, are slowly being phased out for more
open layout offices that are more collaborative and inviting for the modern
worker.
With this change to a more relaxed modern office environment,
many offices are now being designed with the employee in mind first and
foremost. To learn more about how many modern businesses are embracing this
change, Olivet Nazarene University recently surveyed
over 2,000 American workers to learn more about the modern office. The surveyed
asked about topics such as office design, office productivity, the rise of
digital distractions in the workplace as well at the often-controversial topic
of working from home. Let’s take a look
at exactly what they found from their survey of American workers.
What type of office
do you work in?
Olivet Nazarene University first asked American workers
about the type of office they work in currently. Interestingly enough, only 28%
of American workers said they currently work in a cubicle. They found that most
American workers now work in some sort of open floor space (51%).
See below for the full breakdown of the most popular type of
office layouts:
- Mix of open floor and private offices (34%)
- Cubicles (28%)
- Private offices (21%)
- Open floor, assigned space (13%)
- Open floor, no assigned space (5%)
Are you happy with
the way your current office is setup?
The survey found that over ¾ of Americans are currently happy
with their office setup. People who have their own office said they were most
happy.
See below for the full breakdown of happiness levels:
See below for the full breakdown of happiness levels:
- Private offices (90% happiness)
- Open floor with private offices (79%)
- Open floor, assigned space (74%)
- Open floor, no assigned space (73%)
- Cubicles (67%)
Business owners should take note that they least happy
workers are the one’s that currently work in cubicles. Maybe the movie office
space was on to something!
Employee productivity
The next part of the survey asked about how productive
American workers are in their current office environment as well as the things
they need to be the most productive and the things that they like and dislike
the most about their current office setup.
The survey found that almost 70% of workers say they are
currently operating at an optimize level of productivity in their current
office. They survey found that workers in private office are the most
productive and that workers in cubicles are the least productive. Business
owners should again take note that workers in cubicles report being the least
happy at work and the least productive! American workers say a quiet location,
a dedicated office space and a comfortable desk and chair and the things they
need to be the most productive while at work.
The survey then asked about the things at work that make
employees the most happy and unhappy while at work. Listed below is a breakdown
of both:
What makes you the
happiest in your office?
- Natural light
- Free drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks)
- Comfortable meeting spaces
- Free snacks
- A pet-friendly policy at work
- Onsite amenities
- Walkable area near the office
- Cool modern décor
- Ease of access to outdoor space
- Standing desks
What do you dislike
most about your office?
- Too much noise
- Lack of privacy
- Too many distractions while at work
- There’s no energy in the office
- Feeling like you are on display
- Isolation
- The office is too quiet
One way that American workers are dealing with noise in the
office is buy wearing headphones while working. Most workers either listen to
music or podcasts while at work and are wearing headphones over half of the
time they spend at work each week.
Working remotely
The last part of the survey from Olivet Nazarene University
addressed the controversial topic of working from home or remotely. One
surprising data point from this section of the survey found that almost half of
American workers said they have difficulty working with remote colleagues.
The
top reasons why people have difficulty working with remote workers includes availability
(42%), collaboration issues (25%), working in different time zones and troubles
with communication (13%).
To see the full survey results, check out the graphic below
from Olivet Nazarene University.
infographic by: online.olivet.edu
