Employee productivity is a big — and hotly contested — issue. We’ve covered it more than a few times in Building Operating Management and in a blog. The general consensus is that creating a comfortable workspace for employees will usually increase productivity, but in what ways and how much is highly debatable. A recent survey of 2,103 U.S. office workers by Gensler, an architecture firm, attempts to shed more light on the topic.

The survey found that 90 percent of office workers believe that better office design would lead to better overall performance, but 46 percent don’t believe it’s a priority for their company. Similarly, 90 percent of all top executives surveyed thought the same thing. So where does the division come from?

A principal of Gensler chalks it up to variances in individual perceptions and experiences and the fact that employers’ perceptions of how employees work is different from how they actually work.  

I chalk it up to employees just not really knowing what they want — or perhaps what a “better workspace” really is. For example, 65 percent of respondents wanted private offices, but 62 percent also said they respect management and leaders who work in an open-plan environment more than those who work in private offices. It seems that mixed messages from employees may be what’s creating a perceived lack of action on management’s part.