Giving Compass' Take:

• In a study earlier this year, researchers found that more open workplace environments contribute to more employee engagement, increased collaboration and less chronic absenteeism.

• The research also notes that more employees are placing value on the socio-economic impacts of their buildings. How does the emerging importance of CSR play a role in office space and dynamics?

• Read about why it's time to communicate a new direction for workplace ethics.

Winston Churchill once wisely noted: “We shape our workplaces and thereafter, they shape us.”  Some 50 years after his death, his insight has enormous implications for the sustainability field as well as a broader impact on Wall Street itself.  As one of the largest global commercial real estate companies, JLL has a vested interest in backing up that kind of bold statement.  It comes as no surprise to the sophisticated sustainability professional or her colleague in the investor relations department that a successful sustainability strategy rests on a large part of the “built environment.”

However, a “best in class” approach suggests there is a lot more to be gained when you leverage the workplace as an ally. The way we design, develop and operate the workplace has profound impacts on our handprint: the people side of the sustainability equation.

In a recent research study conducted by JLL, 64% of respondents say that workplace surrounds clearly influence the ethical environment and 81 percent believe that open office plans, which cause staff to be more visible to one another, generally promote improved behaviors when compared to individual office plans.

“When we first really understood the data, we were surprised by the strong correlation between the open floor plan and positive employee conduct,” explained JLL’s Global General Counsel, Mark Ohringer.

Data culled from JLL’s workplace productivity research reveals additional benefits to the triple bottom line attributed to emerging types of office space, including less absenteeism; increased collaboration; lower turnover and higher levels of employee engagement.

JLL is seeing a growing interest by clients in evaluating the socio-economic impact of their buildings and leveraging their workplaces as their ally to deliver bottom-line impact.  Leading companies in the real estate sector are increasingly able to quantify their positive contributions to social value.

Read the full article about workplace productivity and ethics by Cynthia Curtis at CSR Wire.