Workplace environment business strategist Tim Oldman along with strategy consultant and researcher Annie Leeson have joined forces to launch the first unified and truly independent workplace effectiveness employee survey. The Leesman Index will create significant value for all involved in the brief development, design, delivery and management of workspace environments by providing a systemized approach to the collection, analysis and benchmarking of “Workplace Satisfaction” data.
“This is the first time that facilities managers, designers, architects and others working in the workplace design and management industry will have access to quantifiable, solid statistical evidence on which they can base business proposals to create more effective workspace environments, thereby improving employee satisfaction and retention.” comments Annie Leeson
Taking three years to conceptually cultivate and six months to build, the Leesman Index represents a direct response to an industry’s growing desire to move towards “evidence based design” providing workplace managers with an immediate snapshot of their employees satisfaction and engagement with the work settings provided for them. The analysis will provide detailed satisfaction data across multiple areas, including physical aspects such as seating, desk facilities, meeting rooms, computer equipment, informal work areas and personal storage space and also more intangible factors such as noise levels, natural light and air quality. The analysis will look at the combined effectiveness of all attributes provided to support employee’s sense of productivity. Responses are kept completely anonymous and confidential.
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Once completed, the survey provides an index rating – the Lmi – on a scale ranging from 1 to 100. The Leesman Index launches with an opening index rating of 50 as the median point and then every project submitted from then on will move the index up or down. This rating, allows the Leesman Index to offer clients and their consultants a benchmark tool, which no other online survey, data capture and audit service provider offers. This tool lets subscribing clients compare and analyse the Indexes across different companies. Data can be viewed by company type, size, sector etc to give a powerful indication of current employee workspace satisfaction across the board on an industry-wide scale.
Tim Oldman comments, “The Leesman Index is a completely independent and unbiased tool. We simply collect and feed back the data without adding additional judgments, advice or consultancy to “fix” the problems or issues that the survey may expose. This is unique, there are no other authorities in this sector that can offer a similar independent yet comparable, unbiased mirror on the effectiveness of a business workplace.”
The three main domains of the Leesman venture:
– Index – The core product provides an overall analysis of employees’ satisfaction and engagement with the workplace provided for them. Streamlined for maximum efficiency, the survey typically takes 10 minutes for each employee to complete. Beginning in late August, users of the “standard” version of the survey will be able to review the responses to individual questions and make “slice’n’dice” comparisons across different parameters of their choosing.
– Audit – A free Space Utilization tool will be launched later this year as the first in a number of audit tools. This Leesman Utilization Audit tool will be designed to assist workplace managers and designers to accurately audit how their workspaces are being utilized over a 5 or 10-day research period. In addition, a Leesman Storage Audit tool is being developed to provide a 360-degree review of the physical materials being stored in a workplace.
– Review – The Leesman Review is a regular printed journal that reports on the latest findings and trends they are uncovering.
