Shared workspaces are more likely to harbour an excess of “employee social liabilities”, a new study shows
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a monumental shift from age-old cubicles to shiny new shared office spaces – but have hasty employers, keen to encourage collaboration, made a grave mistake?
A recent study – Distractions and workplace angst: Are shared workspaces all they're cracked up to be? – is going against the status quo, insisting there’s a dark-side to ditching tradition.
While previous studies suggest shared spaces facilitate social support, communication, collaboration and cooperation, the study found that co-worker friendships are actually of the lowest quality in hot-desking and open-plan arrangements.
According to the research, shared workspaces are actually more likely to harbour an excess of “employee social liabilities” – such as distractions, uncooperativeness, distrust and negative relationships.
Interestingly, perceptions of supervisor support were also more pessimistic in shared workplaces with the study’s authors suggesting open-plan employees may receive too much monitoring or only informal supervision, whereas other arrangements require dedicated supervision meetings.
“It could also be that, as employees become more irritated, suspicious and withdrawn in a shared workplace, their relationships with their supervisors and colleagues deteriorate,” they noted.
This article is from HRM NZ by Nicola Middlemiss.
A recent study – Distractions and workplace angst: Are shared workspaces all they're cracked up to be? – is going against the status quo, insisting there’s a dark-side to ditching tradition.
While previous studies suggest shared spaces facilitate social support, communication, collaboration and cooperation, the study found that co-worker friendships are actually of the lowest quality in hot-desking and open-plan arrangements.
According to the research, shared workspaces are actually more likely to harbour an excess of “employee social liabilities” – such as distractions, uncooperativeness, distrust and negative relationships.
Interestingly, perceptions of supervisor support were also more pessimistic in shared workplaces with the study’s authors suggesting open-plan employees may receive too much monitoring or only informal supervision, whereas other arrangements require dedicated supervision meetings.
“It could also be that, as employees become more irritated, suspicious and withdrawn in a shared workplace, their relationships with their supervisors and colleagues deteriorate,” they noted.
This article is from HRM NZ by Nicola Middlemiss.
