Bringing the Great Outdoors Into the Workplace: The Energizing Effect of Biophilic Work Design

Organizations are increasingly designing workplaces that offer employees opportunities to incorporate nature into their professional lives. Despite the extensive study of work design, the scope and effects of employees’ contact with nature have rarely been considered as a meaningful element of the work context. This is an important oversight, given the significance of the biophilia hypothesis, which proposes that humans have an innate desire to connect with nature, and research showing that individuals benefit from contact with nature. Moreover, prior research has largely focused on the positive effects of nature on individuals, and it is unclear whether these effects will remain positive in organizational settings, or whether biophilia at work can sometimes have negative implications. In this paper, we draw on the biophilic design literature to identify contextual characteristics of work design that influence the extent to which employees have contact with nature while on the job. In addition, we describe how contact with nature affects employees’ cognitive, emotional, prosocial, and physical reserves of energy. Finally, we explain how the effects of biophilic work design on employees’ potential energy is enhanced, reduced, or even reversed by situational and individual factors.