From WorkSpaces to WorkPlaces: A Multilevel Model of Place Crafting

Past studies of the impact of work space on work outcomes have generated mixed results in the organizational space literature. We apply a new perspective grounded in theorizing on place rather than space, and explore the notion that organizations are best positioned to influence employees when they transform their workspaces into workplaces. Through an ethnographic case study, we uncover a process of place crafting—a multi-level collaboration to transform the office space into place, initiated by the organization, taken up by employees, and sustained by a partnership between the organization and employees—that engenders employee place attachment. The model we develop shows that space and place are involved in a symbiotic relationship – space provides structure and social fabric for place to emerge, and place breathes life, humanity, and meaning into space. We discuss potential challenges, and practical applications, of the place crafting process.