Hoendervanger, Jan Gerard

Purpose – In many organizations, a major part of the daily activities is perceived as concentrated work (53% in this study). Hence, a lack of privacy at the workplace may be considered as a serious environmental stressor. Activity-based work environments usually provide non-assigned private rooms, to be used on an as-need basis. Is this an effective stress management solution?Design/Methodology – Repeated measurements were collected, using a mobile application. Respondents provided data about their activities, the workplaces they used, and the degree of job strain they experienced. They also filled out a questionnaire regarding psychological and job characteristics.Results – A total of 3480 measurements was provided by 114 respondents, working at a Dutch public service organisation. The availability of private rooms did not seem to provide an effective stress management solution. Only 17% of the concentrated work was indeed performed in these rooms. When other types of workplaces were used, this caused (strong) dissatisfaction in 40% of the occasions. This dissatisfaction correlated with individual differences regarding need for privacy (p = .026).Limitations – Because only one specific organization and work environment is studied, further research is needed to test the generalizability of our findings.Research/Practical Implications – When performing concentrated work, people often choose not to use a private room, despite their dissatisfaction. Further research should focus on explaining and possibly influencing this behaviour.Originality/Value – Repeatedly measuring activity type together with workplace type and workplace satisfaction, provides a solid basis to analyse behavioural patterns and environmental stressors within activity-based work environments

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43%	  35%	  17%	  5%	  Open	  oﬃce	  52%	  dissa4sfac4on	  Shared	  oﬃce	  20%	  dissa4sfac4on	  Private	  room	  1%	  dissa4sfac4on	  Lounge	  workplace	  90%	  dissa4sfac4on	  Workplace	  illustra4ons:	  ©	  Center	  for	  People	  and	  Buildings	  Non-­‐assigned	  private	  rooms	  for	  concentrated	  work:	  	  An	  eﬀec've	  stress	  management	  solu'on?	  	  PhD	  candidate:	  Jan	  Gerard	  Hoendervanger	  Supervisors:	  Nico	  W.	  Van	  Yperen,	  Mark	  P.	  Mobach	  	  University	  of	  Groningen	  /	  Hanze	  University	  of	  Applied	  Sciences	  In	  ac7vity-­‐based	  work	  environments	  diﬀerent	  types	  of	  workplaces	  can	  be	  used	  for	  diﬀerent	  types	  of	  work.	  For	  concentrated	  work,	  non-­‐assigned	  private	  rooms	  are	  provided,	  to	  be	  used	  on	  an	  as-­‐need	  basis.	  In	  this	  experience	  sampling	  study	  only	  17%	  of	  the	  concentrated	  work	  was	  carried	  out	  in	  these	  private	  rooms,	  despite	  the	  dissa7sfac7on	  that	  was	  reported	  when	  other	  types	  of	  workplaces	  were	  used.	  •  53%	  of	  all	  work	  was	  regarded	  as	  concentrated	  work	  (twice	  as	  much	  as	  previously	  assumed)	  •  Overall	  workplace	  dissa7sfac7on	  for	  concentrated	  work:	  34%	  (accoun4ng	  for	  81%	  of	  total	  workplace	  dissa4sfac4on)	  •  People	  high	  in	  need	  for	  privacy	  reported	  more	  dissa4sfac4on	  •  Switching	  to	  a	  diﬀerent	  type	  of	  workplace	  occurred	  in	  21%	  of	  the	  measurements.	  114	  par4cipants,	  provided	  3,480	  measurements	  (ac4vity	  type,	  workplace	  type	  and	  workplace	  sa4sfac4on),	  using	  a	  mobile	  app	  plus	  ques4onnaire	  data	  regarding	  psychological	  and	  job	  characteris4cs	  What	  keeps	  workers	  from	  using	  non-­‐assigned	  private	  rooms	  for	  concentrated	  work?	  ?	  

Non-assigned private rooms for concentrated work:an effective stress management solution?

https://research.hanze.nl/ws/files/5677063/48.HOENDERVANGER_JG_Poster_EAWOP_30_4_2015.pdf

Non-assigned private rooms for concentrated work:an effective stress management solution?

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