The main findings of the Paris Workplace 2014 survey: How do companies and their employees view their office buildings? Executives in the Paris region are satisfied with their offices overall, but there are significant differences depending on the region.
More than three quarters of the executives surveyed said they were satisfied with their offices, with 15% even saying they were 'very satisfied'. The areas with the highest levels of satisfaction (over 80 %) are Paris Centre Ouest (arrondissements 8, 9, 16 and 17), Paris-Centre (arrondissements 3, 4, 10 and 11), Paris Est (arrondissements 12 and 13) and the inner suburbs to the north. The areas with the lowest levels of satisfaction (below 70%) are La Défense, Neuilly-Levallois and the southern suburbs of Paris.
The centre of Paris is seen as the optimal location for the company's performance
Executiveswhen asked about the optimum location for their business performance, prefer the centre of Paris (Etoile-Opéra, 33%), ahead of the other districts of Paris (20%). The La Défense district and Hauts-de-Seine (excluding La Défense) are tied for third place with 17% of preference. Seine-Saint-Denis (7%) and Val de Marne (6%) come last.
Executives working in Paris' Central Business District (CBD, i.e. arrondissements 8-9-16 and 17) are attached to their office and its location; 64% of them feel a sense of 'pride' and a majority say they would only consider leaving Paris in exchange for a pay rise of more than 20%.
Similarly, three quarters of managers based in the CBD prefer "smaller premises in Paris" to "larger premises outside Paris".
Among managers, more under-35s than their elders believe that their company would perform better in the CBD (38% vs. 29%). They favour the district's centrality, perhaps because they are more sensitive to the proximity of their personal network (74% consider it important vs. 66% for the over-50s).
Managers, much more than executives, believe that their offices have an impact (positive or negative) on their company's performance.
For managers, offices "countIn other words, the vast majority feel that their workplace has an impact on their well-being (90%) and motivation at work (83%), on their teamwork (84%), on the company's image (81%) and its attractiveness to potential candidates (73%).
Conversely, managers attribute far fewer 'powers' to the offices. In particular, only 59% of managers consider that their offices have an impact (positive or negative) on their company's performance, compared with 76% of executives. The same applies to the contribution of offices to business development (49 % for managers vs. 70 % for executives), employee loyalty (50% vs. 78%) and team creativity (48 % vs. 72%).
The influence of offices on talent management is also highlighted by executives: 78% of executives believe that their offices have an impact on retaining employees and attracting new talent.
Mixed neighbourhoods are in demand
85% of managers and 72% of executives would prefer to be located in a mixed neighbourhood. A mix of housing, shops and offices, rather than a district consisting mainly of offices.
The area surrounding the office is a key component of satisfaction: managers and executives alike say they are particularly sensitive to the liveliness of the area, the presence of restaurants and leisure facilities, amenities and shops, and this has an influence on overall satisfaction with their offices. For example, 41% of executives working in the CBD say they are very satisfied with the presence of amenities and shops compared with 22% for managers working at La Défense.
The paradox of Seine-Saint-Denis: while the area still suffers from a poor external image, the professional and managerial staff who work there report a fairly high level of satisfaction.
The region has a repulsive effect on managers who do not work there: only 1 % of them see the département as an optimum location for their company's performance.
The situation was completely reversed when the same question was put to managers working in Seine-Saint-Denis: 46% felt that this was the area where their company would perform best, proving that there is a significant distortion between external perception - often negative - and perception based on actual experience. Furthermore, 77% of managers in Seine-Saint-Denis say they are satisfied with their offices, a higher average than in the other departments bordering Paris (Hauts-de-Seine 73%, Val de Marne 72%).
Women are even more sensitive to the location of their workplace
Women are more sensitive than men to the location of their offices 78% of women consider commuting time to be very important, compared with 65% of men.
This is why they are more people prefer "smaller offices in Paris" than "larger offices outside Paris". (61% vs 46% for men).
Women prefer mixed neighbourhoods and, at 43%, consider the presence of amenities and shops to be very important, compared with 31% for men.
They are also more sensitive to safety in and around the workplace: safety in the workplace is very important for 59 % of women compared with 47 % of men.
They also pay more attention than their male counterparts to the comfort of their workstation, a criterion considered very important by 68% of them compared with 54% of men.
Beyond a two-hour commute, dissatisfaction with the office increases sharply
Unsurprisingly, commuting time has a major impact on the overall level of satisfaction among P&MS: 36% of those with a daily commute of more than two hours say they are dissatisfied with their offices, 12 points more than the average for P&MS.
