Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the activity-based workspace (ABW) on employee belonging. Place attachment theory (PAT) is used as a proxy to understand and measure the belongingness of employees to their physical workplaces.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study of a bank’s newly retrofitted ABW office is conducted, providing fresh perspectives on the effect of ABW on employee belonging. A questionnaire survey was used to understand employee belongingness. Surveys are conducted with employees of the bank (n = 100) who experienced the transition from the conventional open-plan office with designated seats to an ABW, to understand and compare the change in employee belonging after the transition, by studying the level of belonging achieved in the space before and after.

Findings

The results showed that there was a positive sense of belongingness amongst employees working in the ABW space, as per the PAT framework and an increased sense of belongingness compared with the previous conventional open-plan office. However, ABWs were found to also have a negative effect on employees’ sense of control and security.

Originality/value

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs indicates that a feeling of belonging is fundamental to humans. The need for belonging is also applicable in the workplaces of today’s progressive corporate organisations, where there is increased pressure and incentive to appeal to and retain talent. This research was conducted in response to the huge growth in interest in activity-based working across the corporate real estate community. As there has been no prior research done in the area of the emotional need for belongingness in ABW.

中文翻译：

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基于活动的工作空间对员工归属感的影响

目的

本研究的目的是调查基于活动的工作空间 (ABW) 对员工归属感的影响。地方依恋理论 (PAT) 被用作理解和衡量员工对其物理工作场所的归属感的代理。

设计/方法/方法

对一家银行新装修的 ABW 办公室进行了案例研究，为 ABW 对员工归属感的影响提供了新的视角。通过问卷调查了解员工归属感。 对经历了从传统开放式办公室到ABW过渡的银行员工（n =100）进行调查，通过研究员工归属感来了解和比较转变后员工归属感的变化在之前和之后的空间中实现。

发现

结果表明，根据 PAT 框架，在 ABW 空间工作的员工具有积极的归属感，并且与之前的传统开放式办公室相比，归属感有所增强。然而，ABWs 也被发现对员工的控制感和安全感有负面影响。

原创性/价值

马斯洛的需求层次表明归属感是人类的基础。归属感的需要也适用于当今进步的企业组织的工作场所，在那里吸引和留住人才的压力和动力越来越大。这项研究是为了响应整个企业房地产社区对基于活动的工作的兴趣的巨大增长而进行的。由于在 ABW 中对归属感的情感需求方面没有进行过先前的研究。