by David Arminas — It’s a loaded question. Based on their gender, do men and women expect different things from their workplace? All commentators on this subject are likely to sound stereotypical at best, and politically incorrect at worst. But the fact is there are apparent differences and not just concerning the use of toilets — although that is an inescapable part of any such discussion. The differences, however, are getting smaller, according to Simon Forrester, chief executive of the Association of Interior Specialists. Interior designers and fit-out firms have had to adapt from a much more gender-specific period 20 years ago. Macho decor is out, to be replaced by gender-neutral physical settings.
Work and play
“There are fewer heavy decor, rich dark wood panelling and mahogany desk-type fit-outs now,” he explains. “The organisation must anticipate that the next most senior manager may be female, and so the trend has moved away from masculine power decoration.
The organisation must have more flexible physical office structures that can accommodate each gender’s current wishes for an office environment.” In many ways workplace expectations have more to do with demographics than gender, explains FM consultant Anne Lennox Martin. There is a general acceptance that the workplace is about relationships, both in work and outside of it. Many people in the workforce are young and single, and they expect to spend more time at work and play after work together too.
Organisations strive for a work environment that encourages communication. The trend is towards cafes, breakout areas, quiet spots for privacy and smaller meeting rooms. Even outside of the building, areas have been turned into gardens with benches and walkways. “In that respect a work environment can almost be a dating place — and people expect that,” says Lennox Martin. In many ways any discussion of gender expectations is passe, believes Marc Bird, head of marketing for office furniture supplier and space planner Kinnarps. Demographically, by 2020 more than half of the workforce will be over 50, a much more pressing issue, notes Bird.
“A more interesting issue for us is the increasingly different requirements for younger versus older workers, something we’re studying now with RCA Innovation at the RCA London.”
Function over style
Workplace expectations for both sexes are now driven more by how functional the office is. “Practical needs for completing the task efficiently are key,” says Bird. This is the so-called ‘kitchen design principal’, where everything is to hand: “And I don’t mean for either sex in particular.”
For example, men do not necessarily expect less from a workplace environment. “They are not by nature happier than women with bare office walls and less creative or inviting desks and chairs. “But they do sometimes believe design can go too far and perhaps are more practical, so enjoy the engineering aspect of a workplace more. But we should not lose sight of the greater emphasis design plays in everyday modern life and how functionality is as important now for both sexes as form.”
Martin agrees, but believes gender differences still play a part. “Women have a greater response to greenery and plants in the workplace,” she says. “And also to the colour pale green, whereas men are happy to have their walls painted a cream white. Women also want to personalise their space more than men and will put up more family photos.”
The big issues
But it is the lowly office chair, hardly thought about until it is uncomfortable for the user, that is a key differential between the sexes, according to many studies. Men will more often recline or stretch while working, and are not that concerned with the chair itself.
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Women, though, will complain of poor back support or of chairs that feel too big. Research has found women “perch” in their seats, working close to their desk and computer screens. Women find it particularly annoying when the arms of their chairs make contact with the work surface or prevent them from moving the chair closer to their desk (see box).
Thermal comfort — heating — remains a big issue between men and women, says Ziona Strelitz, director of ZZA and a workplace strategist with a degree in anthropology and a diploma in interior design from Parsons The New School for Design in New York.
“I once did a post-occupancy evaluation and a woman I was interviewing was wearing a summer dress in the middle of winter. She had the cheek to complain that the building was cold. Furthermore, she said she expected it to be warmer even for the way she was dressed.”
But the real issue remains the male/female hierarchy at work, where males still tend to have the top jobs and women work under them. This, by its very nature, gives expectations a gender-specific slant.
Senior management is usually better taken care of according to their personal wishes, and so will have less reason to complain about their office space. For example, first-class employees — the senior mangers who are still mostly male — will have a window in their office.
Second-class employees — the mostly female administration — will have open-plan seating within the inside, central areas of the floor. This amounts to ‘spacial employment hierarchy’.
At your convenience
The reality, then, is that the office is still mostly a woman’s world, says Strelitz. As such, it can become some women’s whole world, where they also expect to socialise in pleasant canteens that encourage interaction and act as a break-out space and meeting area.
Strelitz has met some male senior managers in an organisation with good facilities who readily acknowledge they have never set foot in these areas. Of course, one area of difference is unlikely to change, and that is the toilets, says Martin. Planners must put in more separate facilities for women than men. Indeed, women expect better and more of them than do men. Why all the fuss? Because men never put the seats up and women take longer in the loo. “And that’s a simple fact of life.”
David Arminas is a freelance journalist specialising in FM and supply chain issues