Can you measure the Quality of the Work Environment (QWE)?
The Quality of the Working Environment is « the capacity of a space to deliver positive results in terms of the well-being of its users, the environment, and the performance of the activity it hosts. », says Aïda Berrada, COO of GreenMe.
It is therefore essential to be able to measure the quality delivered by the work environment, in all its aspects: environmental, psychosocial, physical and health, organizational and financial.
Why you should assess your work environment
The purpose of the assessment is to come up with an action plan to improve the QWE, the benefits of which will go to :
- Businesses
By exhaustively measuring the quality of their work environment, companies are able to detect the levers for improvement that will lead to :
- a reduction in the absenteeism rate
- a decrease in turnover
- a decrease in employee complaints and labor disputes
- compliance with legal requirements and reduction in the number of lawsuits
- an improvement of the company’s image
- an improved performance
- a valuation of their property
- Employees
Undeniably, if the company measures the quality of the work environment by questioning the well-being of its teams, then they will benefit in many ways:
- Better physical working conditions (health)
- More well-being - in the broadest sense
- Better compensation from improved business performance
- The environnement
Finally, the quality of the working environment cannot be seriously measured without assessing the impact of the building on nature and climate. Only in this way will the company be able to implement the actions necessary to comply with the Paris Agreements and do its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions:
- Reducing the impact on ecosystems
- Improvement of the building's energy performance
- Increased environmental awareness
How can you use the results of the assessment of the quality of the work environment ?
Evaluating the quality of workspaces allows us to detect improvement levers that would not appear if we did not conduct this in-depth study.
Measuring and monitoring the well-being of employees enables us to identify problems requiring special attention and to anticipate hazards. With the epidemic crisis and the growing importance of homeworking, loss of motivation and engagement are major risks that must be monitored. According to a study conducted by Gallup, employee burnout, which was already a rising concern before the pandemic, reaches its highest level among the fully remote workers throughout COVID-19.
The findings of the study of the quality of the work environment can be used by real estate departments to design policies or processes to improve the energy balance of their buildings or to promote resilience to climate change.
The study can also be used as a tool for intra- or inter-company benchmarking, by creating common indicators to answer questions of tomorrow: “Do the current working conditions allow us to attract and retain talent? Do our workspaces promote collaboration and innovation? Does the design of the spaces reflect the uses to which they are put?”. According to Deloitte’s 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook, real estate is no longer about “location, location, location” but has evolved into a new mantra that Deloitte has termed, “location, experience, analytics”, prioritizing tenants’ and end users’ needs.
GreenMe, specialist in the quality of the working environment, helps companies and local authorities in improving their work and living spaces by measuring and qualifying key performance indicators. Contact us for a complete study of your work environment.
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