Increase Productivity

According to Hewlett Packard office workers are more productive, more relaxed and smarter when offered a flexible, ‘free-range' working environment. HP, which makes hardware for mobile working, among its other products, came to its conclusions after running an experiment among office workers;

The results of HP’s experiment support an independent study, by The Mind Lab, of 800 workers from small businesses across various industries in Britain which showed that over half of workers believe the key to greater happiness, motivation and productivity in their office is having the freedom to work with more flexibility.

The HP study proved that volunteer workers could suffer from increased stress, diminished IQ and the reduced ability to retain and process information, if they spent long periods of time at their desks. The same workers were then given HP mobility technology to work in a more free-range style, and experienced a significant improvement in their wellbeing, in addition to seeing their productivity rise by up by 400 per cent. 

In the study:
  - stress levels fell by more than 50 per cent when the volunteer workers were given the appropriate HP mobile technology, and greater freedom and flexibility to make choices about how and where they work. 
  - IQ scores increased by an average of 28 per cent when the participants worked in the so-called ‘free-range office\\\'. 
   - Blood pressure increased significantly when participants worked with cumbersome IT in a cramped, cluttered environment. 
  - Short-term memory was also affected, with volunteers retaining 33 per cent more information in the free-range office while the speed and efficiency with which new information was processed also improved dramatically.

The experiment, lead by cognitive neuropsychologist, Dr David Lewis, was designed to reflect two very diverse office environments that workers might experience, and to find out what impact increased freedom really has on businesses. The ‘battery office\\\' was created to simulate an office where employees use older IT equipment, including slow PCs and bulky CRT monitors, in sometimes small, cluttered spaces. In contrast, the free-range office was designed to give workers the space and technology to have far greater freedom about how and when they worked.

The Mind Lab study of 800 workers found that 46 per cent of employees would be happier if they could work from home when they really needed to, and four out of 10 workers would be happier if they could dictate their own working hours. A similar number of workers (46 per cent) said that having greater flexibility would make them more productive, whereas 45 per cent said that they would feel more motivated. Almost a third of workers (29 per cent) cite stress as one of the main factors preventing happiness within their office.

Other key findings from the Mind Lab study reveal that almost half of respondents (45 per cent) would be happier if they could avoid having to fill out forms or do unnecessary paper work, whereas a third of workers would like to avoid the stressful daily commute.

Martin Cullen, head of HP's personal systems group in Ireland, commented: ‘We know, through talking to our customers, that mobile technology can have a big impact in terms of employee wellbeing and business productivity. This study and experiment really do back up what some businesses, both large and small, are already experiencing. By introducing more flexible working practices, businesses could well create a happier workforce, which will ultimately lead to greater employee retention as well as improving business productivity.’

Mind Lab research director and neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis commented: ‘On every measure, from memory to IQ, to the speed with which new information was processed, the battery office produced a marked decrease in intellectual performance combined with a sharp increase in stress levels. The study clearly shows that restrictive working conditions are not just bad for employees, they are also very bad for business.’

This article first appeared in the November 2007 edition of Smart Company magazine. www.techcentral.ie