The Effect of Work Place Design on Employee Job Engagement: Evidence from Public Commercial Banks in Colombo

Abstract

The organizational success is depending on the employee engagement to their work to achieve organizational goals effectively. Physical environment and the design of the working place are the crucial factors which determine the positive work engagement. However, in the present context, designing a workplace has become a somewhat difficult task due to owners, architects, and developers are constructing improper workplaces for any type of job due to lack of information about appropriate office layout. Therefore, the convenient physical environment with appropriate layout is one of the most important factors that affect employee job engagement. Consequently, the study attempts to identify effects of workplace designs on employee job engagement in selected public commercial banks in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Sample selection of the study based on convenient sampling including 101 employees from Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank in Colombo. Structured questionnaire survey was conducted on a sample of employees to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics using regression analysis. According to the study's findings, the use of various office layouts varies depending on the designation level of employees in those selected public commercial bank. Also, office layout, noise, quality of air, colors and privacy have positive significant impact to the job engagement of employees in public commercial banks. The study will assist property managers and human resource managers in determining employee perceptions and attitudes regarding their workplace, which can be considered as a important aspect in developing strategies. Finally, the convenient and attractive work place designing in future planning context which help to increase employees' job engagement and to achieve organizational goals effectively in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Employee Job Engagement, Physical Environment, Work Place Design