Absenteeism dipped and presenteeism increased, as did employee retention.Īlthough ASID didn’t release copious amounts of mental health information, other studies have shown that limiting occupational sitting can combat depression and anxiety. At the same time and when surveyed, workers noted that they felt like they were working at 90 percent of their capacity, an increase of 16 percent compared with when they were situated in a cubicle-like environment. What they found solidifies the role that design plays in promoting a thriving workforce.įor instance, by adding health and wellness elements into the workspace - including sit-stand workstations, filtered water, and fitness center access for their people over the course of a year - ASID’s personnel files showed a 2 percent uptick in workers’ physical health scores. The Washington, D.C.-based company used its own internal design improvements to evaluate how bringing an active workspace to fruition could measurably shape social and environmental outcomes. In fact, a study by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) revealed just how wide-reaching spatial design can be on every aspect of workplace life.
Even with consistent exercise, in fact, remaining stationary throughout the day has been linked to digestive problems, mental health issues, and cardiovascular effects, creating a clear message that the very essence of the cubicle (sitting all day in one spot) is bad for us. Like all animals, we do better when we live an active lifestyle. Movement isn’t just a buzzword - it’s an essential component of our humanity. This type of forward-leaning workspace with its emphasis on dynamic furnishings and activity will have positive ramifications on everything from workers’ wellness and productivity to the health of corporate coffers.īreaking Down the Barriers to Activity in the Workplace The modern office should be an active workspace where culture drives functionality and employee health is as central to the tenets of work as is job performance. Simply substituting one static design for another (some employees are already calling for a return to the cubicle in 2018) ignores the larger and more underlying problem affecting today’s offices: a lack of activity. Make no mistake, though: Taking the place of cubicles shouldn’t just be open floor plans dotted with Scandinavian-style furniture, nor should it be a return to large personal or shared “Mad Men”-esque offices. And, with 70 percent of workers as of 2016 working outside of cubicles in open floor plans, evidently businesses are starting to realize the need for change. Millennials especially find life in a 6-by-6 square uninviting, hence their desire to telecommute rather than be trapped in a landscape of fabric-covered walls for eight hours a day. Worried that the cubicle is getting a bad rap after 50 years? Science has finally confirmed what many suspected: One Oxford Economics research investigation showed how frustrating it was for people to be crammed into tight cubicles, greatly reducing workplace morale. And while Dilbert creator Scott Adams gave us all a good laugh at the cubicle farms in the 1980s and 1990s and 60 percent of office workers worked in cubicles as late as 2014, it’s time now more than ever to retire this tired and ill-suited office setup for good. What really happened, though, was that workers began to think of cubicles more as cages rather than cozy dens. Unveiled in 1964 and first utilized by organizations three years later, cubicles offered a way for businesses to maximize real estate while ostensibly giving employees their own spaces. the workplace standard for at least four generations of diligent employees. There’s simply no place for the cubicle in today’s modern activity-driven culture.
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