Philip Harrison, managing director of Birmingham-based international architectural and design consultancy Harrison Design Company, believes good workplace design can make a big difference to staff satisfaction
A well-designed, employee-friendly office can boost productivity by as much as a quarter. So says a recent and rather weighty piece of research by two national architecture and design bodies.

However, I am sure many of you reading this won't need an expensive survey to tell you that good workplace design can make a big difference in staff satisfaction, attraction, motivation and retention.

Yet, it is surprising how many company decision makers overlook this fact, preferring instead to focus on traditional yardsticks such as cost rather than revenue per square foot.

The starting point for any effective design plan is to understand the company's culture and business philosophy. Corporate vision and values need to be reconciled with those of the employees and then translated into a strategy which has the culture of the company at its heart.

It is also important to understand how people feel in different spaces. We spend most of our lives in work so getting the environment right is key.

Comprehending the nature and the process of the workflow in the company, as well as its use of technology and its formal and informal communication processes, is also essential.

If it is going to reap rewards, the design plan must also emphasise flexibility. The speed at which technology and markets change has created the need for companies to expand, shrink or change focus altogether.

While many business owners are aware of the way the working environment is changing, they are uncertain how to move forward and embrace it. As a result, they do nothing and risk losing out on an opportunity to boost employee morale as well as corporate productivity.

The workplace that will emerge during the next decade will be a flexible vessel which can allow for continuous churn, flow, learning, innovation, social interactions and technology.

At the same time, it will recognise, for example, that some employees may want to come in mid-morning, work in the company café, take breaks on their Nintendo Wii and work until 10pm.

Such flexibility may seem a long way off and a little difficult to countenance, but a business which is open-minded is far more likely to increase staff productivity than one which ignores such trends.


www.harrisondesign.co.uk