Occupant Analytics
It is universally accepted that people play an overwhelmingly integral role in shaping and maintaining an organization’s success. Is your building supporting its people's well-being psychologically and physiologically? Does it enhance productivity, nurture social interaction, cultivate a sense of belonging and identity? Is it people sustainable? NDA Occupant Analytics answers these questions by visually articulating a deep understanding of a building's satisfaction of human need, which is crucial to business, tenants, operators, investors and developers alike.
Staff Investment and Return
There are numerous reports and publications on workplace well-being. Here are some statistics:
Staff absenteeism costs UK businesses an estimated £29bn each year - Health at work economic evidence report 2016 - ERS
In 2015 stress accounted for 43% of all working days lost due to ill health - Labour Force Survey data 2014/15
Estimated that an average London firm of 250 employees loses around £250,000 a year due to ill health - GLA Economics: London’s Business Case for employee health and well-being 2012
Research found 30% of employees were troubled by their physical working environment and more likely to have a negative perception of their own levels of positive psychological well-being, physical and psychological health, and engagement, compared to those who were not - Robertson Cooper Business Psychologists (2010-2013). ASSET database
The findings from a national study by Oxford Economics in 2014 found that, on average, each member of staff that leaves costs an employer £30,614 to replace.
And so on…
Addressing the Problem
Employers who invest in appropriate initiatives to support the health and well-being of their employees have the potential to see a significant return on investment that can range from £2 for every £1 spent (1:2) to £34 for every £1 spent (1:34) - Healthy Work - Evidence into Action 2010 page 46
Employers that invest in workplace well-being can expect to see improvements in productivity and employee performance; improved staff attraction and retention; employee engagement; reduced sickness and absenteeism . Supportive physical and social environments are a key factor in this - Building the Case for Wellness, 2008 - PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Partnerships for Prevention, Leading by Example - The Value of Worksite Health Promotion to Small and Medium Size Employers 2011
Design for Health - E. Tsekleves and R. Cooper - Routledge 2017 - suggests:
Keeping the workforce safe and healthy through provision of an ergonomic work setting is essential.
For well-being in the workplace to be optimised, organisations have to be geared towards meeting the functional and psychological needs of the individual as much as possible, and on an equal basis.
Individuals have a number of functional work requirements, which broadly relate to the environment, tools and settings, and psychological needs relating to factors such as belonging, trust and empowerment.
Employees want to feel valued, cared for and acknowledged, and feel that their contribution is worthwhile. Workplace factors such as flexibility, autonomy, choice, identity, territory and participation all come into play.
There is also the ‘physiological contract’ whereby in return for hard, commitment and loyalty, the individual worker expects the organisation to be responsible for the workplace well-being. This builds the softer psychological aspects of maintaining a positive culture, reputation and brand that are related to motivating the workforce and attracting and retaining talent.
Occupant Analytics
NDA Occupant Analytics are structured to deliver a unique assessment of the extent to which a building environment supports 'human need', the centric measure of well-being.
The approach adapts a proven psychological strategy into an interactive portal and offers a simply deployed mechanism to capture the experience and feelings of actual occupants and deliver easy to interpret results.
The assessment delivers a clear perspective on the extent to which a building and its environment is supporting well-being, and illustrates areas of high performance and areas where improvement would be beneficial.
