Office productivity: contributions of the workstation

Abstract

To determine if there was an economic justification for purchasing new, task-oriented and ergonomically-suitable workstations for an office in which automation was being introduced, a study was designed which examined the effect of a more comfortable and functional office setting on employee satisfaction and productivity. This study was conducted at a United States Government installation. Through task analysis questionnaires and interviews, workstation and layout requirements were defined for an organization of procurement agents and support staff. These personnel were to receive computers at their workstations-one terminal for every two people. Designs for typical workstations were created as well as a layout for two typical workgroups of 17 employees. The workstations and layout were implemented using two different types of furniture: one work group received Systems Furniture, while the other received additional pieces of their existing Conventional Furniture (Improved-Conventional). Four work groups within the same division served as the Control (received no environmental manipulation). Archival performance data consisting of workhours and the number of line items produced was formulated into a productivity ratio. Productivity of each group, as well as satisfaction ratings, were gathered before and after the application of the improved workstations. The results of the study supported the hypothesis that improvements to the workstations would significantly, and positively, impact both productivity and satisfaction. The Systems Furniture group demonstrated a significant increase in both productivity (206%) and satisfaction after moving into the new workstations, while the Improved-Conventional group showed a non-significant increase (4%) in productivity but a significant increase in workstation satisfaction. The control group did not significantly change on either measure. It can be concluded from this and other studies that satisfying office requirements can improve both productivity and employee satisfaction. This result can be translated into economic terms. The cost of providing the Systems workstations was amortized, due to space savings and increases in productivity, in only 10.8 months.