Impact of Real Estate Environment on Knowledge Worker Performance in IT Companies: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Knowledge worker performance is becoming an increasingly important requirement in information technology (IT) firms for its competitiveness. Although employee performance is an extensively researched area, the impact of the real estate environment of office on the performance of employees is still unexploited. The impact of the physical and social workplace on cognition and knowledge sharing by the knowledge worker and its impact on the knowledge worker's performance are hardly discussed in the literature. In this context, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the physical and social workspace setting on the knowledge worker performances in the Information Technology (IT) industry in Sri Lanka. The outcome of the study provides insight to top management of IT companies to confirm how attributes of office real estate environment contributes to knowledge worker performance. The study applied a quantitative approach to explore the impact of the physical and social workspace on the performance of knowledge workers. The study employed a convenience sampling method for collecting data from 185 respondents who worked in IT industry using a self-administered questionnaire. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS –SEM) was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study confirmed that physical workspace support cognitive work and knowledge sharing of a knowledge worker. Physical workspace characteristics have the strongest impact on knowledge sharing than the cognitive work of the knowledge employee. In addition, the analysis confirmed that cognitive work also supports knowledge worker performance. Thus, findings suggest that a review of the physical workspace of the IT organization is an important strategic decision to ensure higher order performance of the IT employees. In summary, the study argued that the physical workspace of the organization seems to play a pivotal role in ensuring the higher performance of the employee via cognition. Thus, this paper contributes to IT company management to think out of the box to ensure an improved physical workspace for better employee performance.