Great Outdoors Invigorates Office Work : Jobs: Study funded in part by the Forest Service finds a view of nature, not parking lots or a blank wall, perks up both morale and concentration.

A study on office conditions corroborates what any working stiff could tell you in a nanosecond. The ultimate employment perk is a window with a view.

But a view of buildings and a parking lot won’t do the trick. It’s nature that makes the difference. All it takes is a few signs of vegetation--a couple of trees or bushes, says Rachel Kaplan, an environmental psychologist at the University of Michigan who surveyed 1,200 office workers for their views on views. The study was funded in part by the U.S. Forest Service.

It’s high time someone paid attention to office workers. Previous studies have focused on the physical and psychological benefits of nature for prisoners, hospital patients and homeowners but ignored the office crowd. A view of the great outdoors makes employees more productive, says Kaplan.

She reached this conclusion by analyzing questionnaires sent to employees of corporations and state agencies. The participants, who work in both closed and open offices, were asked about the difficulty of being able to see outside and the likelihood of their doing so. They were also asked how they felt about what could be seen from their windows.

Although the responses were strictly subjective, the workers with windows that look out on nature had more enthusiasm for their jobs, greater powers of concentration and fewer physical ailments than their windowless counterparts, Kaplan says. Participants volunteered complaints about the absence of windows but noted their presence with gratitude.

Even those poor souls who work in crowded cubicles have better dispositions if they can gaze out a window every now and then. “The sight of snow on the tree, the changing color of the leaves or a bird barely visible in the bush can enhance competence and cooperativeness,” says Kaplan, who has given such moments a scientific moniker. Just call them “microrestorative experiences.”

Companies that spend big bucks to ensure the well-being of employees with expensive benefits packages may be overlooking a cheap fix, Kaplan concludes. Compared to the cost of stress-management seminars, on-site gyms and smoking- and drinking-cessation classes, “making nature available” through a window may be exactly what the doctor ordered.