A report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS), Drivers Jonas and Woods Begot reveals that 84% of employees feel their surroundings have an impact on happiness and motivation.
The report draws together research on workplace design to show that if employers improve lighting, staff productivity could rise by 13%; if they refurbish their offices, productivity could increase by 12.9%; and if they introduce better-designed workstations, productivity could rise by 10%.
Louis Armstrong, chief executive of the RCIS, said: "For most businesses people are the biggest cost, often followed by premises. This reflects the critical importance of both to the success or failure of any operation."
He added: "While HR has, rightly, developed into a relatively sophisticated discipline in many businesses, too often scant attention is paid to the efficient use of property and to the relationships between people, place and productivity."
Workplace design has a big impact on productivity
Ineffective workplaces cost employers more than 135 billion each year.
