Office Furniture Resources

Increased Retention/Reduced Turnover

21st-Century Work Habitats
Technology gives people mobility so they can work anywhere. Collaboration and the innovation it can spur call for places where people can come together. Attracting skilled, talented people is critically important, but so is creating spaces that keep them engaged. Multiple generations--each with its own ideas about how to work--share the same workplace. As these and other realities shape 21st-century work habitats, the industry that designs them faces new challenges. For some perspective on how these challenges are being met, Herman Miller spoke with four Chicago-based designers from the architecture and design firm Gensler. In this wide-ranging discussion, they speak about what they're experiencing and what they foresee.

Set Them Free: How Alternative Work Styles Can Be A Good Fit
Increasingly, people are working everywhere--in group spaces near cubicles, while waiting in airports, at "campsite" workstations, from the comfort of home. There are plenty of reasons why, from the need to keep good people--in large part by helping them balance work and life--to the requirement that real estate be put to better use. The question becomes, When and how to incorporate alternative work styles in an organization? Among other things, the answer must determine whether these work styles align with the organization's goals. This is the first reality check. The next, and perhaps more important one, involves culture. Even cultures that are friendly to alternative work styles must build support for them. What matters most is that people have options to work in the way--and the place--that works best for them.

It's All About Me: The Benefits of Personal Control at Work
As the ways we work change and the work itself changes, we look for ways to cope. For most of us, that means "tuning" where we work to the way we work and who we are. Having some control over our workspace can improve our comfort and ability to get work done and reduce stress. This, in turn, can lead to greater productivity and better health. Having some control also allows us to "own" a workspace, which gives other people a sense of who we are. Workers want control over light, temperature, noise, privacy, how they organize work, how they personalize their workspaces, how they arrange their files, the adjustments of their furniture, even how work flows to them, and from them. Organizations are learning how to give more control and seeing the benefits that result.

World-Class Environments

A Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing Fixed and Modular Structures
In this assessment, researchers studied the environmental impact of built-in millwork and modular casework. They also compared steel-stud-and-gypsum-board walls to movable walls. The assessment gauged the impact of producing, installing, and replacing these elements. It considered the impact from many aspects, from raw materials to manufacturing processes. And, it considered the waste generated from manufacturing, construction, and demolition. The model for the calculations was Bluewater Health, a hospital system in Ontario, Canada. Results showed that modular casework and movable walls have less impact on the environment than fixed casework and architectural walls. These positive results occur regardless of a hospital's rate of change.

Churn Reconsidered
Since the beginning of white-collar work, organizations have moved their people and furnishings around within facilities and from one location to another. Companies track these changes as "churn." Churn is the number of office moves during a given year, expressed as a percentage of the total number of offices occupied. Primary drivers for churn are reorganization, routine change, expansion, and consolidation. Strategic planning provides an effective way to deal with churn. Other tactics include universal planning, movable walls, flexible furnishings, wireless technology, and alternative workplace strategies. Churn will always be with us. But in the future, the need for it will decrease as technology makes interiors more dynamic.

Beyond Four Walls and a Door: Understanding Privacy in the Office
When people need privacy to do their work and don't get it, they report significantly lower productivity and job satisfaction compared to those who say they have the privacy they need. Conventional wisdom suggests enclosed offices would address the issue, but this ignores research that indicates floor-to-ceiling walls and a closable door don't necessarily translate into privacy. In one study, people defined privacy primarily by the ability to own a "territory." According to an office consultant, "High-quality work settings allow people to control contacts and to have a choice about when and how much interaction they have with others."

Imagine That! How visioning spurs performance
Most of us know individuals who find it helpful to envision themselves winning a tennis match or delivering an important speech. Less understood is the way organizations and teams can use the same principle to project a future collective self that's successful. Visioning can sustain an organization through difficult times, help employees find meaning in their work, bring various parts of the organization into alignment, and, according to research, boost the bottom line. This research summary answers the questions: What is visioning? How does it relate to mission statements and business objectives? How does the visioning process work? And, more importantly, why do it at all?

Embracing Boomers: How Workplace Design for Maturing Knowledge Workers Benefits Everyone
The baby boomer generation is staying healthier and more active--and working longer--than any generation before it. This trend is occurring just as many companies are realizing the value of employing maturing workers. For these workers to contribute their fullest, they will likely require workplace modifications and schedule adjustments that address the changes aging brings--a decline in vision, hearing, or muscle strength and dexterity; an increase in cognition time required to process and recall information. A concept called universal design holds promise for meeting the needs of older workers. It proposes that as many people as possible be able to use a product or environment. To do this, universal design takes the full range of human limitations and disabilities into account. The lesson from these efforts is clear--creating environments for aging eyes, tools that require less strength to operate, and workspaces positioned at heights appropriate for an aging body also benefits younger workers.

It’s a Matter of Balance – Acoustics in the Open Plan
Acoustically comfortable spaces must account for human reactions to sound as well as the physics of acoustics. That's because a person's perception and interpretation of sound in the work environment, not its decibel level, determines its distracting and annoying effects. One way to help people focus on doing their jobs is to control the spreading sound waves generated by other people doing their jobs. This requires controlling sounds at their place of origin, as they travel, or when they arrive at a listener's workstation. Three specific techniques can be applied during facility planning and in application to deal with sound waves as they travel between sources and receivers--sound absorption, sound blocking, and sound masking. Selecting appropriate components, ceiling and carpeting treatments, and sound-masking systems supplemented with voice-privacy components can achieve a favorable balance for the office soundscape.

Measure of Success: The Facility's Role in Effectiveness
Is it possible to measure the degree to which a physical place supports people's concentration, use of technology, and ability to work collaboratively? Researchers at Herman Miller demonstrate that it is. And they add that it's essential for organizations to regularly gauge the contribution "place" can make toward realizing an organization's strategic objectives. This research summary looks at the results of several studies that measure the effect of the workplace on business outcomes. The findings provide an empirical rationale for taking a strategic approach to selecting and using facilities and office furniture.

Technology/Infastructure

The Siren Song of Multitasking
Rapidly evolving technologies deliver more information and provide more opportunity for connection than ever before. Worried they might miss something important, workers are multitasking, even though cognitive research shows that it takes significantly longer to do two tasks at the same time than it does to do them one at a time. In reality, multitasking decreases productivity, increases stress and workplace tension, and affects quality of thought. Researchers are exploring how workers stay focused on one task, as well as the techniques they use to recover quickly from interruptions. While environments that provide quiet spaces for thinking can help, workers themselves have to be willing to shut off technology.

Health & Safety

Healthier Planet, Healthier People: Hospitals Go Green to "First, Do No Harm"
Societal discontent at healthcare's contribution to dioxin and mercury contamination became the impetus for the greening of the industry, a movement that's been picking up speed since the mid 1990s. Mindful of their mandate to "first, do no harm," hospitals are taking a hard look at their operations and construction practices, determined to align both with their fundamental mission. From improving indoor air quality to seeking green suppliers to designing sustainable buildings, healthcare has come to the collective conclusion that it's time to clean house. After all, there's something incongruous about healing people only to return them to a sick planet.

Cultural Change

Three-Dimensional Branding: Using Space as a Medium for the Message
With a distinct brand image, companies can break free from the me-too morass that bogs down so many product and service categories, staking their claim to a firm market position competitors can't approach. While many companies look at brand building as a marketing challenge alone, others realize they have to live their brand, not just promote it. And the surest way to do that is by weaving brand building throughout the entire organization--even the office environment. Think of it as three-dimensional branding, the idea that physical space can be a critical medium for communicating the message.