The Workplace Window View: A Determinant of Office Workers’ Work Ability and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Office workers’ job satisfaction and ability to work are two important factors for the viability and competitiveness of most companies, and existing studies in contexts other than workplaces show relationships between a view of natural elements and, for example, student performance and neighbourhood satisfaction. This study investigates whether relationships between window view, and work ability and job satisfaction also exist in the context of the workplace by focusing on office workers’ view satisfaction. The results showed that a view of natural elements was related to high view satisfaction, and that high view satisfaction was related to high work ability and high job satisfaction. Furthermore, the results indicated that job satisfaction mediated the effect of view satisfaction on work ability. These findings show that a view of a green outdoor environment at the workplace can be an important asset in workforce work ability and job satisfaction.

Key words:

• Green outdoor environment
• perception
• view characteristics
• view satisfaction

Acknowledgements

This paper was made possible by financial support from Arkitema Architects and The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, and by the kind participation of the six Danish companies.