The Experiment to Induce Seat Switching Behavior in an Activity-Based Working Office
摘要
The purpose of this study is to conduct an experiment to induce seat switching and investigate working styles in an Activity-Based Working (ABW) office to explore ways to improve human capital. Recently, viewing employees as not only a labour force but also valuable management resources that constitute a company has been considered essential to improving work engagement and wellness. In an ABW office, the frequency of seat switching is positively correlated with satisfaction with the physical office environment and intellectual productivity. However, only a small number of workers generally switch seats depending on the nature of their work, and ABW offices may not operate as originally intended. Thus, we semi-forced 20 employees to switch seats for two weeks. The condition of the experiment was to switch seats at any time they liked for at least one hour per day. In addition, 20 employees were divided into location-free and specific-location-use groups, with 10 employees per group. The results show that the location-free group had higher work engagement than the specific-location-use group during the experimental period. Communication satisfaction also increased in the location-free group after the experiment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that different uses of office spaces have different effects on employees.