Positive psychology meets real estate : The positive built workplace environment

This paper explores the complex relationship between the workplace environment and the organisation’s and individual’s experience through the lens of positive psychology. Drawing on positive psychology concepts and research conducted at International Towers in Sydney, the paper introduces the concept of the positive built workplace environment (PBWE). This is defined as a built environment that is designed and operated in a way that provides the optimal physical and psychological conditions and resources to enable employees to consistently deliver high performance and maintain personal and organisational well-being. A PBWE is one that promotes sustainable high performance and thus promotes both high performance and employee well-being. The current authors believe that the PBWE can provide the solutions to many of the problems facing those in the commercial real estate industry. Such problems include those associated with increased pace of change and complexity in the world of work, and the fact that organisations and employees are demanding more from their workplace environments. In addition, the increased use of activity-based flexible offices and coworking spaces demands a new style of relationship between corporate property managers and their individual and corporate tenants. Drawing on Maslow’s Hierarchy and Self-Determination Theory, the paper presents several models and measurement tools that can be freely used to help commercial real estate agents, property managers and developers utilise the principles of the PBWE and help create better developed positive workplace environments — environments that will support future organisational and individual growth and development in a humanistic, sustainable fashion.