For many companies, investing in attention to the work environment and the interiors in which people spend their time represents a factor of added value and recognisability.

The setting is completed by corporate culture, vision, values and policies, helping to create attractive, high-performance offices in which employees can feel that they are at the focus of attention.

These are some of the elements at the heart of the quest conducted by Great Place to Work, a leading company for the analysis of corporate climate and employer branding that every year compiles the ranking of the world’s best companies in which to work (World’s Best Workplaces).

The latest ranking was published in October 2021, and it saw Italy in second place in Europe, behind just the United Kingdom, for the number of award-winning companies, totalling as many as twelve.

This achievement shows that Italian companies are amongst the institutions who have best succeeded in attaining so-called organisational wellness, in part based on the redesign of their offices with innovative, dynamic and flexible concepts.

Source: Great Place to Work® Italia

View the complete rankings

View the Italian rankings

100 countries involved, 7,500 inspections performed, over 3 million responses obtained and 20 million staff members represented

WELLNESS AT THE CENTRE OF THE STUDY 

One of the most significant parameters examined in the research specifically reveals the capability of combining the visual and structural aspects of company interiors with the needs of employees, in a “human-centric” design outlook.

This is a consolidated theory. Office environment, interiors, design and furnishings have an impact on people’s wellness and performance.

According to an article published by the Harvard Business Review, in 2022 wellness will be the reference metric to be analysed in the quest for adequate employee satisfaction.

As regards investments, many companies are already moving in this direction.

Data from a survey conducted in 2020 by Gartner on 52 HR directors in the USA showed that 94% of American companies have made important investments into their wellness programmes.

HOW TO DESIGN A “GREAT PLACE TO WORK”

There is a deep-rooted link between the office, with all its component parts, and people.

Companies capable of refining this link can aspire to becoming “great places to work”.

It is not just a question of design. Building a space in which it is a pleasure to work is also the result of design focusing on individuals, innovation and sustainability, in a dimension of credibility, respect, equity and TRUST.

In fact, every design component in the office can have a positive or negative impact on individuals.

A scientific study published in ScienceDirect offers a schematic illustration of this theory, highlighting seven categories involved in the office’s physical environment, in correlation with ten indicators of mental health.

Design components:

• office design;
• artificial and natural light;
• noise, acoustics and privacy;
• indoor air quality and ventilation;
• thermal comfort and temperature;
• biophilia, view, greenery and plants;
• visual appearance, atmosphere, sensations and colours.

Mental health indicators:

• wellness;
• productivity;
• stress;
• depression;
• engagement;
• concentration;
• fatigue and mood;
• quality of sleep;
• mood;
• burnout.

Source: ScienceDirect (The physical office workplace as a resource for mental health – A systematic scoping review)

In this way, design takes on a more extensive dimension, putting individuals into relation with all the components of the workplace, both tangible and intangible.

The challenge for the companies of the future will therefore be to construct “people-oriented” workplaces that have a positive impact on individuals, and also, thinking beyond traditional limits, on communities and society.