THE IMPACT OF WORK ENVIRONMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE

OF ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Working environment plays key role in the performance of employees in an

organization.

The strategic intention of organizations today is to achieve innovation and also

encourage workers to work better, smarter and faster. Realizing the current
challenges of the business environment and to make survival possible,
organizations have begun paying emphasis on managing the performance of their
employees, fulfilling their comfort needs by providing an effective workplace
environment that also helps them to attract and retain talent. The responsibility
lies with managers and supervisors at all levels of the organization. Businesses
must step outside their time-honoured roles and comfort zones to look at new
ways of working. According to Sandstorm, (1994) (as cited in Hameed and
Amjed 2009), majority of people spend 50% of their lives within indoor
environments, which greatly influence their mental status, actions, abilities and
performance. Today’s work environment is different, diverse and constantly
changing. The term work environment can be associated with the physical
condition of the building. Healthy work environments will be free from problems
associated with sick building syndrome, which is often due to poor ventilation.
The work environment can also include the social interactions at the workplace,
including interaction with peers, subordinates, and managers. Generally,
employees are entitled to a work in an environment that is free from harassment.
A hostile work environment exists when unwelcome sexual conduct interferes
with an employee’s job performance, or creates hostile, intimidating, or offensive

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work environment. The recognition of the significant role of psycho-social
environment led to the emergence of organizational psychology, and furthers the
concept of quality of work life. The typical employer/employee relationship of
old has been turned upside down. In an effort to motivate workers, firms have put
into practice a number of activities such as performance based pay, employee
involvement, recruiting agreements, practices to help balance work and family
life as well as various forms of information sharing. In addition to motivation,
workers need the skills and the ability to do their job effectively. It is the quality
of the employee’s work environment that most impacts on the level of employee’s
motivation and subsequent performance. How well employees engage with the
organization, especially with their immediate environment, influences to a great
extent their error rate, level of uniqueness and collaboration with other
employees, absenteeism and ultimately how long they stay in the job.
Comfortable office design motivates the employees and increases their
performance to a large extent.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The current challenge of management today is to establish an environment that

effect, affect, retain and motivate its employees for maximization of productivity.
As it was done few years ago to keep employees satisfied, it takes an entirely
different approach than it did. The present working environment is different,
unique and constantly changing from time to time and context. In growing
economy, workers have ample opportunities and unlimited job privileges. This
condition created an environment where employers need its employees rather
than the employees need it employer. Less attention has been paid to workplace
environment and moreover, employers and employees are not aware of the
influence and hidden dynamics of the workplace environment. According to
Hammed and Amjed (2009), the workplace environment, its significant and its

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related issues are mostly ignored. Many workplace factors influence employee’s
productivity. It is not just a twist of that new programs addressing lifestyle
changes, work life balance, health and fitness previously that were not considered
key benefits are now primary considerations of potential employees, and common
practices among the most admired organisations. Research has shown that
workplace environment is having a greater impact on the performance and
attitude of employees. It therefore important for employers to know how its
workplace environment impacts greatly on the performance level, motivation
level and engagement of the employees both positively and negative and it may
affect largely on both the physical and psychological well-being. Therefore,
specifically, this study investigates the effect of working environment and
performance level of employees in the organisation. This study examines how
working environment affect worker’s performance and evaluate the extent to
which workplace environment will contribute to encouraging or discouraging
employees to perform well.

1.3 Research Objectives

The objectivities the study seek to research into is grouped into two that is, the
general objective of the research and the specific objectives.

1.3.1 General Objective

The main objective of the research study is to ascertain how the working
environment of the organisation affect performance of employees.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

Specifically, the research sought to achieve the following objectives:

1. To ascertain the relationship between the components of workplace

environment and employee’s performance.

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 2. To determine the components of workplace environment that affect the
performance of employees.

1.4 Research Question

What is the effect of working environment on employee’s performance level in

an organisation?

Specifically, the research aims to answer the following research questions.

1. How does the working environment affect the employee’s productivity in

the organisation?
2. What is the relationship between the components of workplace
environment and employee’s productivity?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study at its completion will benefit the manager, employees and the
organisation as a whole. The primary concern of the study is to understand that
work environment which is thought to be very important influence on employees’
performance in the organisation. It is also anticipated that the findings of the study
will pave way for the authorities of the organisation to accept the variables that
affect the employee’s work environment and their performance in the
organisation. The relevance of the study on the part of managers of the
organisation is hoped to help them to work on their relationship with subordinates
and also address issues affecting the employee’s and their immediate
environment. Likewise, the research at the end will also help employee’s air out
their grievances to the organisation and managers. The study will serve as a
background information for promoting and advocating good environment for

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improved performance of the employees of the organisation. It will also serve as
a background information for future research of the same topic and as a blueprint
for determining the actual work environment on employee’s performance in an
organisation.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

1.6.1 Scope of the study

The study will be focused on managers and employees in the organization. It will
examine how the working environment affect their productivity, either positively
or negatively. The organization selected employs more 50 employees both at the
office and on the field. The methodology adopted will rely on the information
gathered from the employees and their employers in the organisation.

1.6.2 Limitation of the Study

One of the limitation of the study will be the unwillingness of the employees to
disclose the main reason why they fail to carry out their proactive and reactive
maintenance policies. Also time constraint will be another problem. Moreover,
the fear of victimization will be another problem and cause the respondents to be
reluctant in delving into vital issues concerning their work environment.
Furthermore, some of the respondents may be busy to answer the questionnaires
since it will be administered during their working hours.

1.7 Operational Definitions

For the purpose of this study:

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1. Performance is considered as the Composite of the four elements namely
availability, productivity, competences and responsiveness of employees.
Improvement of these four elements indicate improved performance.

2. Availability refers to as presence of workers measured by presence of their

provider in his place of work as well as availability of working tools.

3. Productivity is defined as the relationship between outcomes and human

resource input measured by the employees work load.

4. Competence is defined as ability, knowledge and traits of employees to

perform given work measured by adherence to standard operating procedures and
communication with clients.

5. Responsiveness is considered as how well the system meets the legitimate

expectation of both clients, measured by health workers‟ satisfaction and clients‟
satisfaction.

6. Working environment is considered as the composite of the two components;

physical and behavioural. The physical environment consists of elements that
relate to the office occupiers‟ ability to physically connect with their office
environment. The behavioural environment consists of components that relate to
how well the office occupiers connect with each other.

7. Comfort level is defined as the degree to which employees are comfortable in

his work measured by availability of Office building space, Infrastructure (water
and electricity), availability of working tools and medical supplies.

8. Office layout is considered as the way office is arranged measured by presence

of privacy.

9. Level of interaction is considered as the way worker interacts with fellow

worker and his/her employer.

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1.8 Organisation of the Study

The study is organised into five chapters.

Chapter one will deal with the introduction, background of the study, statement
of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope and
limitation of the study, and the organization of the study.

Chapter two will mainly consist of the literature review of the study.

Chapter three will contain the research methodology which will consist of the
research design, population of the study, sample size, sampling technique, source
of data, data collection, analysis and presentation.

Chapter four will handle the time frame of the study

Chapter five presents the summary of the study and conclusions.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Employee Performance

Employee performance is defined as whether a person executes their job duties

and responsibilities well. Many companies asses their employee's performance
on an annual or quarterly basis in order to define certain areas that need
improvement. Performance is a critical factor in organizational success. Job
performance relates to the act of doing a job. Job performance is a means to reach
a goal or set of goals within a job, role, or organization (Campbell, 1990), but not
the actual consequences of the acts performed within a job. Campbell (1990)
affirms that job performance is not a single action but rather a “complex activity”
(p. 704). Performance in a job is strictly a behaviour and a separate entity from
the outcomes of a particular job which relate to success and productivity. It is
related to the willingness and openness to try and achieve new aspects of the job
which in turn will bring about an increase in the productivity of the individual
(Sinha, 2004). However, Howell and Hall-Merenda (1999) has a different point
of view regarding this employees’ performance. Howell stated that employees’
performance is all about social standing which also related to the point of view
that being stated by Greenberg and Baron (2000).Greenberg and Baron had stated
that it gives a positive impact on the relationship in between of the job
performance and also the vocation. In the organization, especially for profit
orientation organization, employee’s performance is considered as the most
important aspect in generating continuous profit. Employee’s performance is
determined during job performance reviews with the consideration factors of time
management, leadership skills and productivity to assess each employee on an
individual basis. According to Rabey (2007), she stated that a supervisor could
be a trainer to the employees as the trainer will assist the employees in getting

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their job done by guiding the employees on the operational process especially
when it comes to a new operational procedure.

2.2 Working environment

The work environment refers to the relationship between a worker and his
environment that can be broken down into different dimensions like the social,
technical and economic in which the work is normally viewed and designed. An
attractive and supportive work environment can be described as an environment
that attracts individuals into the professions, encourages them to remain in the
workforce and enables them to perform effectively. The purpose of providing
attractive work environments is to create incentives for entering the professions
(recruitment) and for remaining in the workforce (retention). In addition,
supportive work environments provide conditions that enable workers to perform
effectively, making best use of their knowledge, skills and competences and the
available resources in order to provide high-quality services. Many organizations
have been trying new designs and techniques to construct office buildings, which
can increase productivity, and attract more employees. Many authors have noted
that, the physical layout of the workspace, along with efficient management
processes, is playing a major role in boosting employees ‘productivity and
improving organizational performance

In this literature, it is posited that the industrial revolution and the movement
away from agrarian society was the pivotal point in history that instigated the
concern with workers output (Kartzell and Yanalorich, 2000). The major schools
of thought, namely, Fredrick W. Taylor and the Human Relations Movement
have impinged on productivity since the mid-nineteenth century. Stephen P.
Robbins (2001) advocates that working conditions will influence employee’s
performance, as employees are concerned with a comfortable physical work

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environment. In turn this will render a more positive level of performance. Miller,
Erickson & Yust (2001) forwarded their view that employees get benefited by
work environment that provide sense of belonging [cited in Shoaib Madiha et al.,
2009]. Kabir (2011) also established in his research at Pharmaceutical industry,
Bangladesh that working environment played an important role in the employee’s
job satisfaction. A positive work environment is not only important for our
physical, mental and emotional health, but is also important for the product or
service we produce for the company. The better we feel at work, the more likely
we will take pride in our work functions and be loyal toward our place of
employment.

Working environment can be divided into two components namely physical and
behavioral components. The physical environment consists of elements that relate
to the office occupiers‟ ability to physically connect with their office
environment. The behavioral environment consists of components that relate to
how well the office occupiers connect with each other, and the impact the office
environment can have on the behavior of the individual. According to Haynes
(2008), the physical environment with the productivity of its occupants falls into
two main categories office layout (open-plan verses cellular offices) and office
comfort (matching the office environment to the work processes), and the
behavioral environment represents the two main components namely interaction
and distraction. Among a number of factors that were since that time believed to
have some influence on performance are (a) the growth of organized labour
unions, (b) technological advancement and (c) the changing role of government.
Work environment includes some factors, which either contributes positively or
negatively to achieving maximum employee productivity (Elywood, 1999).
Moreover, there are two types of work environment according to Kyko (2005),
which are conducive and toxic work environments. Conducive work environment
gives pleasurable experience to employees and enable them to actualize their

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abilities and behavior. This type of environment also reinforces self-actualizing
behaviors’. For instance, an irresponsible employee can change into a responsible
employee in conducive work environment. Toxic work environment gives
unpleasant experiences and at the same time, deactualize employees’ behavior.
This environment reinforces low self-actualizing behaviors and it leads to the
development of negative traits of the employees’ behavior. In toxic work
environment, responsible and sensible employee can change into irrational and
irresponsible employee as a survival strategy.

2.3 Effect of Work Environment on Job Satisfaction

The main aim of this study is to identify the effect of work environment on
employee’s performance. However the physical work environment creates the
physical condition that can affect the health of employees. Yet, the way in which
the mental environment creates vicious condition (e.g. fatigue boredom, attitude
and behavior of supervisor and colleagues) for employees and social environment
can affect the confidence level or performance of employees. So, ultimately the
work environment can influence the performance level of employees or else these
factors can consequence the performance of overall.

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 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter explains the methodology that will be used to achieve the research
objectives. It describes how data collection process will be carried out taking into
account the research objectives and questions. The population size, data
collection method and tools that will be employed will also be discussed.

3.1 Methodology

It is a systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study.

It comprises the theoretical analysis of the body of methods and principles
associated with a branch of knowledge (Wikipedia, June 2010). Nachamias et al

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(1996) noted that, methodology is considered as consisting logically defined
guidelines, systems of explicit rules required to deliver a result upon which
research is based and against which claims for knowledge are assessed and
evaluated. This chapter of research is related to the appropriate methodology that
will be used to execute the agenda for the study. It indicates the population,
sample size and data collection instruments.

3.2 Research Design

The research design is used to structure the research to show all the major parts
of the research project. Research design is also a framework for the research plan
of action. According to Doku (2011), research design is the structure within
which the study is based and implemented. It helps in a way to achieve the aim
of the research. For the purpose of this project, the descriptive technique will be
used. It identifies and obtain information on the characteristics of a particular
problem. It also describes a phenomenon as it exists.

3.3 Population

The term population refers to the entire group of individuals, objects or event
having common observable characteristics in which the research is interested in
studying. According to Doku (2011), population of a study constitutes all
individual items or organization whose contribution is primarily providing
relevant information to the research.

3.4 Sample Size

According to Cherry (2016), a sample is a subset of a population that is used to

represent the entire group as a whole. When doing research, it is often impractical

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to survey every member of a particular population because the sheer number of
people is simply too large therefore the need to sample.

3.5 Sampling Technique

In sampling, the main objective is to select a portion of the universe that the result
may or could be extended to the whole population. Random sampling technique
will be adopted to get the respondents in answering the questionnaires. Because
probability sampling involves random selection, it assures that different subsets
of the population have an equal chance of being represented in the sample. This
makes probability samples more representative, and researchers are better able to
generalize their results to the group as a whole.

3.6 Sources of Data

There are two types of data, that is the secondary data and the primary data. The
primary data is data that is collected in an original form from the respondents.
The secondary data is a data that already exist within an organization or outside
the organization. The secondary data can be obtained from annual reports,
memos, articles and many others. For the purpose of this study, the source of data
collection will be purely primary data collection and specifically the
administering of questionnaires.

3.7 Data Collection

In the collection of data, we will be very systematic. The technique that will be
used in the data collection will be questionnaires.

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Copies of the questionnaires which will be open and close ended will be delivered
to respondents. Prior to the administering of the questionnaires, an introductory
letter will be sent to the Director of the organization for permission. The purpose
for the letter is to clear doubt and suspicions and also to be able to provide
independents answers to the question given to them. The questions will be
explained to the respondents.

3.8 Data Analysis and Presentation

Data analysis is comparatively the systematic process of selecting, sorting,

comparing and interpreting data to provide explanations of the phenomenon fact
of interest. The data collected will be checked for consistency and then
frequencies and percentages will be used to show responses of the distribution.
The results will be presented in tables and charts. Statistical Packing for Social
Science (SPSS) will be used to transform the responses into quantifiable data.

References

Campbell, J. (1990). Modelling the performance prediction problem in industrial

and organizational psychology. In M. Dunnette & L. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of
industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 686–707). Palo Alto, CA:
Consulting Psychologists Press.

Sinha El-Saaba (2004). The Skills and Career Path of an Effective Project
Manager. International Journal of Project Management, 19, 1-7.

Greenberg, J., & Baron (2000), Behavior in organization, New York: Prentice
Hall.

Howell, J. M., & Hall-Merenda, K. E. (1999). The ties that bind: The impact of
leader-member exchange, transformational and transactional leadership, and

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distance on predicting follower performance. Journal of Applied Psychology,
84(5), 680-694.

Rabey, G. (2007). Diagnose–then act: Some thoughts on training today. Industrial

and Commercial Training, 39(3), 164-169

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