It is widely assumed that people behave the way they like to behave, but in reality the physical environment plays a significant role in the behaviour of people. Every person is unique and in many instances human reaction are unpredictable. For business to be successful, the individual abilities, attitudes, motivations must be matched with the right job plus an encouraging environment such as financial opportunities, good administration and loyalty.
To begin with, it is important to be clear on these terms, the effect of physical environment on workers’ performance. As defined by Arora, (2006), environment can be seen as surroundings, when used with reference to the physical existence of man. Environment can also be described as growth of man when used with reference to non-physical things.
The Office, Shops and Railway Premises Act, (1963), covers all offices and office employees. The physical conditions covered by the act are cleanliness, ventilation, decoration, heating, noise reduction, health and safety, supply of drinking water, washing facilities etc.
Moreover, the relationship of physical environment and the behaviour of human being has long been of interest and it is also accepted that manipulation of physical environment can help in achieving the desired behavioral and physical results. Yet, many researchers who are trying to relieve work based stress appear not to incorporate the influence of the environment in their research, focusing on psychosocial influence.
Arora (2006), further stated that, physical working conditions are the life of an office. An office may be properly laid out and the best type of furniture and equipment is installed; but its efficiency may be very low if the physical working conditions are not good. Staff may be most unhappy if ventilation or lighting is poor or other physical conditions are not conducive to work. The emotional response of workers is better if the environments are good. Thus, we can say that physical conditions do affect the working in the office. Rightly (2003), remarks that “an individual performance is significantly conditioned by the environment in which the employee works; Environmental factors such as noise, air quality, light, toxic exposures, temperature, humidity and aesthetics. All these typically focuses on psychosocial factors that affect job performance, satisfaction, strain and employee health and does not address the growing body of work on the environmental psychology work place (Arora, 2006).
Terry, (2009), furthermore says that, authors and theorists have studied the influence of physical environment on the performance of employees. In these studies, he further stated that, the relationship between the physical environment that you work in and your performance is critical and can sometimes make difference in your organization success.
When employees feel empowered to complete task to the best of their abilities, they tend to achieve greater success. They may know that, they have no control over deadline imposed on them or quality of the product and service they provide, but when they don’t control the space they are working in, workers mental states suffer. The less control workers have over their work environment the less productive they tend to be (Terry, 2009).
Injuries: ergonomic factor in the workplace play a crucial role in productivity and can lead to long term absences due to injuries and illness. When employees cannot get computer aids such as ergonomic keyboards and mouse pad, they may develop carpal tunnel syndromes, making it difficult to do their job effectively. Glare on computer screens, tiny monitors and insufficient lighting can lead to eye strain and headaches, reducing productivity.
Healthcare designers in 2010, initiated the concept of a healthy environment that could facilitate the process by identifying factors that improve access to people and resources, increase employee comfort, expand patient privacy and provide flexibility and personalization in the delivery of care. Hence there is also strong evidence that physical environment of work spaces has a positive impact on the job performance of workers. Therefore, this research work is to ascertain how physical environment affects workers performance and productivity.
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