THEMATIC SESSION: WORK SATISFACTION EVALUATING OFFICE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: AN EXPANDED APPLICATION OF VISCHER'S BUILDING-IN-USE ASSESSMENT

Vischer's Suilding-in-Use Assessment (SUA) instrument, expanded by including satisfaction items, was used to assess the environmental quality of an office building in Washington, D. C. Descriptive statistics for Vischer's seven quality dimensions, for the satisfaction items, and for an index satisfaction are reported. These results suggest that an office environment can meet or exceed the norm derived from prior applications for the SUA instrument and still be largely unsatisfactory to its occupants. Findings are discussed in the context of the concepts of productivity and organizational effectiveness. ABSTRACT This paper focuses on Long Range Social Planning (Michael, 1978) as a process for improving the quality of work life for all users of a new office building before it is built. It proposes an overarching framework that interprets and explains a particular set of empirical phenomena that emerged from the reflective col­ laboration of planning practitioners in a municipal utility company and design-researchers in an interior design department. A post occupancy evaluation of a design test site was executed and partiCipatory techniques were used to actively involve employees in making design decisions for a regional municipal utility's future building. Findings suggest that this process oriented framework has the potential for improv­ ing the quality of work life in the office for both individual and groups. ABSTRACT A study recently relocated university administrative personnel, profeSSional/technical workers, and clerical support staff looked at satisfaction with workspace environments, and showed that higher organizational level employees were more likely to have had the opportunity for extensive consultation in the design layout of their new work settings. Employees' perception of the quality of their work areas was assessed through an anonymous self-administered questionnaire, which provided data for the refinement of a path analytic sequential model of office environment determinants of workspace and job satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, participation in the design process was only marginally related to workspace satisfaction, and not at all to job satisfaction. Organizational level was found to be inversely related to perceived bothersomeness of a variety of thermal- ,acoustic-, and lighting-related sources of distraction. The workspaces of higher organizational level personnel also afforded more visual privacy--fewer work sta­ tions of other employees were visible from the desks of these individuals. Low distraction and greater visual privacy were found to contribute directly to workspace satisfaction which in turn was the major predictor of job satisfaction.