From stress to success with data-driven office design

JLL Work Science is a global research and development program with a mission to decode wellbeing, creativity, and cognitive performance at work.

By combining insights from world-leading research into knowledge work and pioneering data-informed design techniques, we are creating dynamic, adaptive workplaces that are energising destinations for personal and professional growth, not merely containers for in-person collaboration.

Through neuroscience, research, and academic partnerships, Work Science is advancing our understanding of how knowledge workers can be more creative, productive, and do the best work of their life.

In designing JLL’s new office in Tokyo, we aspired to establish new standards for workplace performance by considering the cognitive experience and mental wellbeing of our employees. JLL Work Science used the opportunity created by this move to conduct a study into the creation of high-performance workspaces, by comparing workplace satisfaction, stress, and performance between the old and new offices. 

As work continues to evolve, understanding what propels people to feel mentally well, creative, and innovative becomes increasingly important. Analysing new ways of working requires new methods, and our cutting-edge workplace neuroscience program is the first of its kind, leveraging electroencephalography (EEG) headsets to gain real-time insights into how people are feeling and thinking at any given moment. We conducted controlled EEG tests and surveys with 23 participants in the old and new offices to investigate the impact of the physical environment on wellbeing, mental health, and cognitive performance.

Perceptions of uncomfortable noise levels and lack of privacy in open plan offices can have measurable negative effects on employee stress and mood.¹ To quantify participants’ environmental satisfaction, we used the Satisfaction with Environmental Features (SEF) assessment.² The SEF uses 18 questions to judge how satisfied participants are with various aspects of their physical environment, delivering an overall satisfaction score as well as specific sub-measures of privacy, ventilation, and light quality, allowing us to evaluate the changes in stress and cognitive performance against environmental satisfaction.

Changes in Environmental Satisfaction between the Old and New Offices in Tokyo

After the move, all metrics of satisfaction among participants increased. Participants were 20% more satisfied with privacy, 26% more satisfied with ventilation, and 21% more satisfied with light in the new office, for an overall satisfaction increase of 24%. This improvement provides quantifiable evidence of success for the new Tokyo office design, evaluated against three of the most important environmental attributes.

Participants also completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) in both the old and new offices.³ PSS scores provide an empirical and standardised way to compare the cognitive experience of individuals with different levels of stress. PSS scores ranging from 0-13 correspond to low stress levels, while scores ranging from 14-26 and 27-40 correspond to moderate and high stress levels, respectively.

In the new office, participants reported lower stress levels overall. On average, stress levels were 17% lower in the new office compared to the old office.

Perceived Stress Levels in the Old vs New Office in Tokyo

Of the participants who completed the PSS survey in both offices, 65% had lower stress levels in the new office. The average reduction in stress among those participants was 29%. Only 4 participants had elevated stress levels in the new office.

In this study, we found that higher levels of stress negatively impacted cognitive engagement, a key performance metric that evaluates the level of immersion in a task. On average, those with low stress exhibited more engagement than those with moderate stress. The negative relationship persisted in both offices, indicating that addressing psychological stress should be a key concern for future workplace design efforts.

Cognitive Engagement vs Stress Level

Based on this relationship, someone moving from high stress (PSS= 40) to low stress (PSS= 13) could experience up to a 27% increase in cognitive engagement.

The importance of higher engagement cannot be overstated. Throughout the study, higher levels of engagement also correlated with increased focus (R=0.66) and excitement (R=0.70). As Gallup’s State of the Workplace 2024 report identifies, employees who are more engaged, focused, and excited are more likely to contribute to positive organisational outcomes.

In the era of modern work, the office is evolving from a cost centre to a value driver. According to JLL’s Future of Work survey, global leaders report that resilience, flexibility, and creativity are some of the most important skills required to optimise the value of real estate by 2030. Environments with low stress and high engagement are crucial for fostering creativity and innovation, and by positioning wellness and performance at the forefront of the design process, real estate leaders can create value both for their organisations and the people who drive them.

Our study in Japan highlights the value in investing in new spaces. Participants in the new Tokyo office were more satisfied with their surroundings, generating a domino effect that contributed to lower stress, improved mental health, increased engagement, and better performance. 

While there are multiple sources of stress in modern work-life, a meaningful amount of psychological stress can be generated by a poorly designed workplace.

JLL is investing in innovative, data-informed methodologies to design environments where human needs are the priority and engagement, wellness and performance is the result. For more insights on how JLL can help you implement data-informed design solutions, explore JLL Work Science.

^{1 Sander, E. J., Marques, C., Birt, J., Stead, M., & Baumann, O. (2021). Open-plan office noise is stressful: multimodal stress detection in a simulated work environment. Journal of Management and Organization, 27(6), 1021-1037. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.17
2 Veitch, J. A., Charles, K. E., Farley, K. M., & Newsham, G. R. (2007). A model of satisfaction with open-plan office conditions: COPE field findings. J of Env Psych, 27(3). 
3 Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1994). Perceived stress scale. Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists, 10(2), 1-2.}