COMFORTABLE WORKPLACE IMPROVES JOB PERFORMANCE

Productivity goes up when employees are better able to control their workplace environment, according to a study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The study of 118 employees of West Bend Mutual Insurance Company in West Bend, Wis., found that the use of environmentally responsive workstations (ERWs) for 26 weeks led to a 2 percent increase in office productivity.

Each ERW allows employees to control workstation temperature, lighting, and background sound, and the direction and quantitiy of filtered fresh air.