The Power of Place: The Impact of Real Estate on Work Success When Working From Home

Work success of knowledge workers is of utmost importance for organizational performance. Nowadays, knowledge work is widely performed from outside the corporate office and remote work practices are increasingly becoming a new standard among knowledge workers. Researchers and practitioners are interested in the factors that influence productivity in the workplace at home when working from there. This study applies the job demands-resources model to investigate the effect of real estate parameters on productivity when working from home. Furthermore, the study holistically analyzes the relative importance of physical, organizational, and socio-psychological parameters on employees’ work success. For that purpose, data from n = 502 knowledge workers from Germany and the United States are examined with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show a significant positive relationship between real estate parameters and knowledge workers’ satisfaction and between satisfaction and productivity when working at home. Specifically, the housing conditions, the workplace environment, and the indoor environmental quality factors play a significant role. Furthermore, the results show that organizational resources have hardly any effect on satisfaction apart from skill variety. In contrast, socio-psychological demands have a strong positive effect on burnout. Surprisingly, burnout itself has a significantly positive effect on productivity. In conclusion, this study empirically shows the decisive effect of real estate parameters on the work success of knowledge workers working from home.