Employee Happiness in an Activity-based Work Environment: An Explorative Study of Different Interventions to Understand the Interrelation between Acoustic Privacy and Personalisation and the Employees’ Level of Happiness

Purpose In order to strengthen the original goal of Activity-based working (ABW) - supporting the employees in fulfilling their tasks at their best - the employees need to be able to align their physical work environment to their dynamic needs. The report posed the question if employee happiness in ABW can be increased with interventions in the level of acoustic privacy and the amount of personalisation, to help the employees’ to achieve their desired level. MethodologyA living lab was set up and evaluated with a mixed-methods approach, including a literature study, observations, pre and post surveys, and a focus group interview, in order to identify the employees’ level of happiness before and after the interventions.ResultsThe acoustic desk partitions were found to be most impactful for the employees’ perceived level of happiness, while the Soundscaping system was not found as important. While a few employees showed a need to personalise their workplace and mark their territory, most employees did not have a need for a traditionally personalised workplace, which resulted in a low usage rate of the personalisation interventions.ConclusionsThe employees’ perceived level of happiness with the level of acoustic privacy could be increased in this ABW environment with the desk partitions, which showed the highest potential help the employees’ to achieve their desired level of acoustic privacy. The study revealed that the employees’ need for personalising the workplace seems to shift from the physical to a more digital and virtual personalisation of the work environment.Highlights• Desk partitions were more impactful than the Soundscaping system• Soundscaping system still relevant (linked to improved focus)• Desk partitions: correlation triangle with happiness, control, and achieved acoustic privacy• Low need for personalising in the traditional way – no added value• Low usage rate of both personalisation interventionsArchitecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Management in the Built Environmen