Managers are unanimous (88%) in their view that their offices have an impact on their personal well-being and motivation at work (80%).

A quality office,
it's not just a 'bonus' that makes everyday life more enjoyable,
it's also a factor that impacts their effectiveness at work.

On the other hand, the office can be a source of demotivation: 20 % of executives think that their premises have a negative influence on their pride and their feeling of being valued. Even more edifying, a non-negligible number of them (19 %) believe that their office is a handicap for their company in terms of recruitment and retention.

Judgement about offices is therefore a formidable social barometer. A manager who is dissatisfied with his or her office is most often a manager who is unhappy at work. Those who say they are very dissatisfied with their offices give a score of 4/10 to their well-being at work, a far cry from the general average of 6.8/10. "
- Frédéric Dabi, Deputy Director General of Ifop

Managers and executives at odds

The managers questioned in the study tend to see their offices through the eyes of love, at the risk of underestimating the expectations (and sometimes the frustration) of their managers. 90 % say they are satisfied, and even 36 % say they are 'very satisfied' with their offices. That's four times more than managers! A third of managers, for example, would like their company to move: that's three times more than executives!

"The office, long seen as a cost centre that needs to be reduced as much as possible, is beginning to be reconsidered by senior management as an investment, in the sense of a 'useful' expense whose return is certain and measurable. Executives who are moving in this direction will find in this study food for thought".
- Dimitri Boulte.

A weapon to attract young talent

For companies recruiting young talent, it is becoming impossible to ignore the issue of the workplace: the under-30s are the age group most sensitive to the quality of offices. Generation Y", often described as demanding of their professional environment, are also the ones who say they are the happiest at work. The under-30s give their well-being at work a score of 7.1 out of 10 (compared with an average score of 6.8 for managers as a whole).

Did you say "flexibility"? It's easy to imagine that the younger generation is keen on flexibility. In reality, only 49 % of executives under thirty consider that having working hours that can be arranged to suit them is essential, compared with 64 % of 30-39 year olds. One explanation for this is that more people in their thirties have families.

For young managers, who find it easier to mix their private and professional lives, flexibility is seen more in terms of the day: 61% say they sometimes or often leave their workplace to make a personal phone call (compared with 45% for the over-40s); two-thirds sometimes leave earlier to make a personal purchase (compared with 50% for the over-55s).

A positive consequence for the employer: as soon as this flexibility is offered to them, young people are ready to invest themselves and spend time at work. Only 42 % of the under-30s see the office as a place where they want to spend as little time as possible (compared with an average of 50 % for other age groups!).