Gensler Survey Measures Connection Between Workplace Design and Business Performance

Workplace design plays a pivotal role in overall business performance by supporting the new work modes of a knowledge economy, according to a nationwide study of office workers released today by Gensler, a leading global design and consulting firm.

The Gensler 2008 U.S. Workplace Survey reveals that top-performing companies are embracing a fundamental restructuring of work through workplace design that places as much emphasis on collaboration, learning and socialization as on individual "heads-down" work.

Companies providing workplaces that are more effective for knowledge work are seeing higher levels of employee engagement, brand equity, and profit, with profit growth up to 14 percentage points greater than those with less effective work environments.

"As cost control becomes an even greater business priority over the next several years, office space reductions will be a common cost-cutting strategy," says Diane Hoskins, Executive Director at Gensler.

"However, companies risk creating inefficiencies if they simply shrink space and continue with the same workplace paradigm.

Our research indicates that if organizations provide work settings that support today's dynamic ways of working, they can reduce real estate and improve their company's performance at the same time - they can do more with less."