Expert collaboration - Leesman

How the work environment has an impact on people

"As development director at Leesman, I provide organizations with the data and insights they need to structurally improve work environments – the Leesman Index. What fascinates me is how the work environment has an impact on people. And how you can use the physical environment to give employees a better and more effective work experience. This can be done with very simple tweaks. The most important thing is that you understand what employees need. And supports them optimally in this. Our data shows that there is no one-size-fits-all. You really need to map and understand your demographics. Our 'Value of Variety' study shows that even in exceptional work environments, more than 25% of employees have a substandard work experience. Only a quarter of them think that the environment contributes to their productivity."

Lmi score

"Our methodology consists of a standardized survey and analysis tool. In it, we ask four topics. You can't design an effective work environment if you don't know what employees do in their role. We look at what is important and the degree of support for the activities.

In addition, we also look at the impact that the environment has on organisationally important elements, such as the feeling of productivity, togetherness, pride and knowledge sharing.

These two elements are then factored into an effectiveness score (Lmi). The buttons you can turn to improve this effectiveness score are the physical characteristics and the facilities that you can find in the office. We measure 56 of these characteristics and facilities and look at the importance and support.

The result of this survey is presented in the Leesman Lmi: an effectiveness score on a scale of 0 to 100 that organizations can use to assess the performance of their workplace. They can also compare their scores with other organizations. With 1.4 million respondents worldwide, we offer organizations the largest benchmark in the field of workplace experience."  

Hybrid working: only since corona

"Based on all the data we collect for the Leesman Index, we also do additional research. From this, we extract trends that we report on worldwide. For example, we see that the physical working environment does not evolve quickly with the way of working. Take hybrid working, for example. In the Netherlands, you already had The New Way of Working – NWW – and activity-based working.  

But since the corona pandemic, hybrid working has only really taken shape. Before corona, the standard way of working was 5 days fixed at the office. During corona, organizations were searching. And after corona, in 2022, hybrid working was given structure. You also saw that the subject of workplace experience became boardroom material. It was no longer an operational cost item, but an HR theme."

Catalyst for flexible working environment

"Worldwide, 60% of employees spend less than half of their working week in the office. A good reason for organizations to rethink the design of the working environment. If most employees are only in the office a few days a week, does an assigned workplace still make sense? I see hybrid working as a catalyst for flexible working environments. Spaces with more variety of working environments and settings that are tailored to what employees need. An additional advantage is that if you make the workplaces flexible, you can offer more work variety with the square meters that become available."

1,600 work environments measured

"After the corona pandemic, we collected more than 400,000 respondents from more than 1,600 work environments with the Leesman Index. Of these, 46% have a fixed workplace strategy and 54% have a flexible workplace strategy. The average effectiveness score for the fixed workplace is slightly higher than for the flexible workplace. Namely Lmi 69.6 versus Lmi 68.2. Based on that data, you tend to opt for a fixed workplace strategy. But it is important to realize that the flexible working environment comes in two flavors: with a lot of variety and with little variety of working environments and settings. Flexible work environments with sufficient variety do significantly better with an Lmi of 72.8. It is important that the variety fits well with the activities and needs of the employees."

Hybrid working is here to stay

"With 88% hybrid workers, hybrid working is here to stay. We are not going back to the old way of working. It is important for organizations to realize that it is not the occupancy in the office that is the only measure of success, but that workplace experience is at least as important. The percentage of employees who are in the office is often still considered. It doesn't matter how often someone comes to the office, as long as they have an effective working day."

What makes the workplace experience exceptional?

"Organizations with an Lmi score higher than 70 can get a Leesman+ certification. We only award this certification to buildings that meet our strict criteria. What characterizes such a working environment? Firstly, such a working environment contributes to pride and the image of the employer. It's a feeling you take home with you when you're working from home and talk about it with friends and colleagues. Today, the office has to work harder to evoke this feeling in a shorter period of time.  

Secondly, an exceptional working environment has an eye for privacy and concentration. A majority of employees come to the office for meetings and collaboration. But don't do that 8 hours a day. Therefore, in addition to places for collaboration, the work environment must offer enough spaces for focus work, so that employees do not have to go home to work in a concentrated way. A third characteristic of an exceptional working environment is that it promotes togetherness and cooperation. Wherever you work – at home, in the office or elsewhere – . And finally: a working environment becomes exceptional if people prefer to be there rather than at their home office. If they consciously choose to travel to the office because they can work there more pleasantly and productively – then you are doing well as an employer!"