To support employee engagement, Architects and Designers are fashioning visually identifiable collision points to share ideas, collaborate and meet, mirroring the behaviours of their home neighbourhood.
Recent research from Steelcase further examines the correlation between employee engagement and workplace satisfaction noting workers who are highly satisfied with various aspects of their workplace also demonstrate higher levels of engagement. And the correlation between engaged and productive employee’s is significant with a 2016 Gallup Poll noting teams with high employee engagement rates are 21 per cent more productive.
One company to adopt the neighbourhood design approach is Airbnb, the global online marketplace for short-term lodging. Stepping into an Airbnb workplace whether in Tokyo or Dublin, you can see a clear set of design principles at play. Workstations are collective spaces with no individual desks, a central multi-use staircase links the space and visual connections throughout help employees and guests navigate their way around. With ‘in home’ inspired design touches in each space, Airbnb is pushing the neighbourhood approach to connect its team to their customers and the overall brand proposition.