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Measuring and managing the workplace for knowledge worker productivity
Corporate Real Estate Journal,
6
(4),
336-348
(2017)
Abstract
In 2013 and 2014, a research team formed by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) and the Center for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) set out to determine what is known about effectively measuring knowledge worker productivity. AWA, a London-based workplace strategy consultancy, partnered with CEBMa, an Amsterdam-based organisation that ‘researches’ research, to undertake a critical appraisal of the best available academically rigorous evidence about how the productivity of knowledge workers can be measured — reliably and with validity. This research project was sponsored by eight organisations in knowledge sectors such as banking, energy and telecommunications: Allied Bakeries, the British Council, BDO, BP, RBS, Telereal Trillium and Old Mutual Wealth in the UK; and Allsteel in the US. CEBMa advocates what it calls an evidence-based management approach. The starting point for evidence-based management is that management decisions should be based on a combination of critical thinking and the best available evidence. By ‘evidence’ we mean information that comes from scientific research, internal business information, and even personal experience. In principle, then, all management decisions need to be based on real ‘evidence’ derived through a scientific process. This process not only involves knowledge of the research field and methodology, but also — and particularly — teaching students and managers how to think scientifically in order to counterbalance the subjectivity of their own judgment.
Keywords: knowledge worker; productivity; social cohesion; workplace
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Karen Plum is a workplace cultural change specialist, and facilitates the implementation of change strategies associated with the introduction of flexible and agile ways of working. Karen also led the first two research programmes on Productivity and Virtual Workforces and directed additional research projects during 2015/2016. She is an HR professional by background and has worked with AWA for 19 years leading change programmes with some of the UK’s leading organisations.
Andrew Mawson is a leading thinker on the evolution of work and the workplace. Passionate about the unanswered questions on work and place that trouble organisations, Andrew pioneered the formation of these research initiatives with CEBMa to fuse academic research with practical application. He is closely involved in the research and guides the development and application of new processes and tools that are derived from the research results. He has led many large scale workplace change programmes for some of the world’s leading organisations.
Jan Johnson is the Vice President of Design and Workplace Resources at Allsteel, a US-based office furniture provider. Allsteel works to demystify the office planning process by helping customers align their workplace strategy with their business strategy. With an extraordinarily accessible team of partners and a highly adaptable portfolio of furniture and architectural walls, Allsteel addresses customers’ needs across the entire workplace — today and tomorrow. Jan has spent her career strengthening the correlations between business strategies and the planning, design and management of workplaces. She is a highly respected workplace strategist, leads Allsteel’s Workplace Advisory team and frequently writes, speaks and teaches.
