An experience sampling approach to the workplace environment survey

The purpose of this study was to pilot test the effectiveness of the experience sampling approach for measuring employee satisfaction with the workplace environment. Additionally, we also aimed to explore which aspects of environmental comfort have the strongest impact on momentary wellbeing and productivity. Fifteen knowledge workers in an open-plan office environment were sent a brief survey (measuring environmental comfort, momentary wellbeing, and perceived productivity) each day over an 11-day study period, and provided 78 individual survey responses in total. All but one of the measures on the survey had low test-retest reliability, indicating that employees’ experiences of environmental comfort varied significantly each time they completed the survey. Additionally, higher environmental comfort was associated with improved wellbeing and productivity. The results suggest that an experience sampling approach to the workplace occupant survey is justified to better capture the temporal variability in experiences of environmental comfort. The results also suggest that improving environmental comfort, particularly by reducing the level of distractions, will enable employees to work more productively. To our knowledge, this is the first field study which has attempted to directly address limitations in traditional occupant surveys by using an experience sampling approach rather than a one-time-only questionnaire.