Plantronics reveals how the results of the Leesman Index Survey is shaping workspace strategy
Today Plantronics (NYSE:PLT) leader in personal audio communications for
professionals and consumers, has outlined how it will now base its drive
to improve employee satisfaction across Europe on the findings of a new
workplace satisfaction benchmark, the Leesman Index. As Governments
across Europe tussle with suggestions that our emotional prosperity is
falling in line with our economic manoeuvrings, employers will need to
look in considerably greater detail at what they are doing to maintain
the psychological health, happiness and satisfaction of their staff.
“We wanted to make absolutely sure our employees are happy in the spaces
we give them. Property and people are our two biggest costs so it is
imperative they work to act collectively as our biggest asset and engage
productively in their workspace environment we give them,” said Philip
Vanhoutte, EMEA Managing Director for Plantronics. “The Leesman Index
survey has given us a detailed X-ray inside our entire organisation.
This is the first time we have had this kind of insight and perspective
and we are now embracing the new design challenges it has highlighted.”
Taking three years to conceptually cultivate and six months to build,
the Leesman Index represents a direct response to business leaders
growing desire to provide an immediate snapshot of their employees
satisfaction and engagement with the work settings provided for them.
The analysis provides detailed satisfaction data across multiple areas,
including concentration, contemplation and interactive collaboration, as
well as the physical aspects such as seating, desk facilities, meeting
rooms, computer equipment and informal work areas. The analysis looks at
the combined effectiveness of all attributes provided to support
employee’s sense of satisfaction and productivity.
Plantronics is one of the first companies to undertake the Leesman Index
survey. The findings confirm that Plantronics has already put its
smarter working philosophy into good practice. A pioneer in flexible
working, Plantronics’ employees benefit from this work style choosing to
work in a location and at a time in which they are most productive. Over
85% of employees agreed that “the design of my workplace is important to
me” and 62% agreed that it enabled them to work productively. But just
51% said their office was a place they were proud to bring visitors to.
“Dispersing teams with remote or flexible working strategies brings new
challenges in terms of infrastructure and workspace design,” says Tim
Oldman, Managing Director at Leesman “Whilst most employees embrace
mobile working, they expect a range of other spaces to compensate, that
they can seek out to support their varying work. By listening to its
employees and implementing more effective workspace environments based
on this feedback, Plantronics will improve employee satisfaction.”
A flexible workplace model means the physical workspace becomes even
more important. It can often mean a fluctuating workforce presence and
challenging acoustic levels. The audit highlighted an employee need for
quiet areas for creative thinking, as well as informal areas for
collaborative work. From these results, Plantronics is now proactively
redesigning its offices to create a new and unique working environment.
In a forward-thinking initiative all teams and personnel will be
integrated into the same open area, irrespective of rank, department or
responsibility, with dedicated private areas for individual needs.
“Plantronics product portfolio is anchored around devices that help our
customers work with more agility and more productively, so we simply
have to work with our design teams internationally to make our physical
settings perform intelligently and effectively at the same level,” said
Philip Vanhoutte.
The results will be presented and discussed at the WorkTech10 Amsterdam
conference on Wednesday 24th November. For more information, please go
to www.plantronics.com
and www.leesman.co.uk.
