Office temperature is fuelling workplace tension

The summer months are popular for employee discomfort in the workplace.

Fluctuating or improper temperature in the office is affecting employee comfort and workplace productivity, new research has revealed.

Alliance Climate Control (ACC) surveyed 1,000 Australian office workers, and over 50 per cent agreed that warm office temperatures during summer increase feelings of stress, anxiety, and irritation.

Over 45 per cent feel they are slower at decision making, over 43 per cent reported needing more frequent or longer breaks, and almost 30 per cent were more likely to work from home.

According to ACC, this is affecting how coworkers interact with each other – what can start as disagreeing over the temperature can quickly descend into avoiding meetings, collaborative work, and socialising opportunities.

In addition, offices have seen higher rates of employees moving seats, avoiding certain areas, or leaving their desks, all behaviours that, while necessary for comfort, take time out of the day.

This causes obvious flow-on effects such as disrupted or less streamlined work, only strengthening the link between poor or particular air conditioning and workplace disruption.

However, heating isn’t off the hook either – while productivity has been shown to drop by 78.2 per cent when offices are too warm, it also drops to 82 per cent when it’s too cold. And interestingly, it’s here where a gender disparity emerges – women are affected about 18 per cent of the time as opposed to seven per cent for men.

While a cooler office is arguably more easily rectified by the individual – over 12 per cent of workers report either wearing an extra layer or bringing a blanket to work to stay comfortable – the issue and its impact remain.

The ramifications of office temperature are substantial; over 70 per cent of workers claimed that office temperature has caused at least one reported illness.

With employee harmony, health, and productivity all affected by office temperature, it would make sense for employers to step in.

According to the ACC, employees in the office full-time in the summer experience, on average, almost one full day a week being too hot, and over half a day feeling too cold.

And with only one quarter of participating office workers reporting their workplace is always comfortable in summer, the need is greater than ever.

According to Goran Surbevski from ACC, a consistent and comfortable office environment is the way to support employees to perform their best, stay healthy, and feel comfortable.

He said: “Managers can implement simple strategies such as regulating heating and cooling systems, allowing flexibility in how employees manage their environment, monitoring the temperature, and communicating temperature policies.”

Overall, workplaces are seeing less effective communication and more time spent on completing tasks. Not to mention a reported $5.64 billion lost in productivity each summer.

So for a relatively easy fix, what is holding employers back? Surbevski says it’s a combination of factors, highlighting: “Some managers worry that any change will create complaints or conflict, so they take a cautious approach.”

He stated that “cost is also a consideration. Upgrading HVAC systems, installing zoning controls, or adjusting energy usage can be expensive", adding: "in some cases, employers are simply following formal regulations, which often focus on safety rather than climate, leaving less guidance around office climate.”

He concluded that “there can be a lack of awareness about just how much office temperature affect mood, decision-making, and collaboration.”

Despite these challenges, employee comfort, health and productivity would see an upswing if this is addressed.