Dutch workers are the most satisfied with their workplace in Europe according to Savills ‘What Workers Want – the Netherlands’ report. 69% of employees consider the workplace to be the most important factor when joining a company or staying with a current employer, ahead of salary, manager or nice colleagues. Therefore, investing in the workplace can make the difference in the war for talent. It also pays to give employees a say in office design; those who are, are consistently more satisfied with the workplace than those that aren’t involved.

Dutch office workers: a satisfied bunch

Dutch office workers give their workplace an average rating of 7 out of 10, ahead of Norway (6.8) and Poland (6.8). Employees in the United Kingdom (6.3) and France (6.2) are the least satisfied with the workplace. Only 4% of Dutch employees say they are dissatisfied with their workplace, whereas in the United Kingdom, for example, this figure exceeds 12%.

Room for improvement

While Dutch workers are overall satisfied with their workplace, there is still room for improvement. The ‘workplace’ can be divided into three subcategories: location (accounting for 13%), length of commute (18%) and the office itself (a towering 37%). Most notably, 11 of the top 15 key areas of improvement for Dutch workers relate to the office itself, as opposed to the length of commute or the office location.

Els van Bronckhorst, Head of Occupier Services at Savills in the Netherlands, says: “It goes without saying that improving the workplace, just like increasing salaries, costs money. However, experience has shown that the costs involved with the former are much lower, especially when compared to salary-related measures. Improving the workplace also has other advantages: it increases productivity and contributes to the mental and physical health of employees, reducing absenteeism. Moreover, the workplace is a significant expression of the identity that a company wants to project and can therefore make the difference in attracting talent.”

What do employees really care about?

Employees consider good fundamentals to be the most important factors in the office. For example, 84% of employees consider good air quality to be essential, followed by temperature (83%), cleanliness and the quality of Wi-Fi (80%). However, current offices often don’t meet workers’ expectations; for example, only 49% of office staff are satisfied with the temperature level and air quality at their place of work.

“Additional” services in an office are not the most important aspects for employees, but they do contribute to their levels of satisfaction. In particular, employee expectation versus dissatisfaction levels regarding free catering facilities and the presence of a gym fell short of expectations with 13.7% and 13.1%, respectively, happy with the current provision.

Erik Beekman, Head of Tenant Representation at Savills in the Netherlands, adds: “In recent years, companies have invested a great deal in ‘additional’ services in the workplace. Pool tables have become a feature of staff restaurants and we’ve even seen the installation of game consoles. While this has undoubtedly helped to persuade people to choose a company or to stick with their employer, the one thing employees value above all else is that the fundamentals in the office have to be right.”

Savills What Workers Want 2019 in brief

Savills conducted a survey among 11,000 office workers in 11 European countries. They were asked which aspects of the workplace they thought were important and whether they were currently satisfied with each aspect.