For many, the inside of the office has felt like a distant memory, haven’t not stepped foot inside in nearly two years…
Given how our habits have changed, and how comfortable most people have become with working remotely, the question is: Why would anyone ever voluntarily go back to the office again? Haven’t we all proven that we can be just as productive working from our living rooms as our desks?
The answer, of course, is: Because the office still has value as a place of collaboration, learning, and building company culture.
In fact, for these purposes the company office is critical.
But if it is going to serve these functions, it’s going to have to evolve. With COVID-19 still with us, our present opportunity is to reinvent the workplace as something friendly, even attractive, to our employees. Not a place we need to go every day, but a place that makes our work lives better when we do.
Interesting fact: the word “office”, in Latin, “officium” means “the performance of the task”. And in what we have all experienced in the last two years, the ironic thing is that we have all proven that some critical tasks may not necessarily be best performed in said office, but from a myriad of environments outside of it.
So, ask yourself: What are the kinds of tasks at my company that can best be done in a collaborative environment?
Getting this answer right is critical. The companies that embrace this new ethos – which so far have been largely but by no means exclusively tech companies – will be the strongest candidates to win and retain talent in the 21st century.
There is no doubt about it though, employee satisfaction and expectations levels have shifted in this period, with one study by EY stating that 50% of employees will look for another role if they are not offered flexible work
The benefits of this new arrangement – better work-life balance, less commuting, greater productivity, and improved mental health – are by now obvious, and some forward-thinking companies have embraced it.
On the flip side however, some executives are expecting that once the effects of COVID-19 subside, that we will “get back to normal”, and that employee numbers in and out the office will be reminiscent of pre-pandemic times. Case in point, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs as written about in CNBC; two top firms insisting that the remote work scenario is an “aberration” specific to the pandemic, with employees expected to return to the office again on a full-time basis once it is safe to do so.
This is a missed opportunity, and companies that return to the old arrangement will inevitably notice their rivals jumping forward with improved culture, smarter collaboration and more forward-thinking innovation.
From a place of toil to a place of creativity and collaboration
In short, ‘free addressing’ – where employees simply turn up at your office and find themselves somewhere to work from – will for some time be impractical, inappropriate and quite possibly expressly forbidden. A clear, transparent framework where employees can see before they even arrive at the office exactly where they’re going to be working from, and who they’ll be working with, will be a necessity for health, trust and practicality reasons.
The only realistic way to achieve this is to manage all of your corporate real estate and workforce is by improved technology integration software.
1. Short-term considerations
- Infrastructure: Reshape your office space into a socially distant format and assess your new office capacity; this may be reduced by as much as 60 percent as 15-20m2 will be required per workspace to maintain social distancing.
- Sanitization and personal protective equipment (PPE): As workstations will be used by different employees at different times, ensure the right equipment and policies are in place to keep desks and meeting rooms are fully cleaned after each use, and that PPE is provided to all employees as appropriate.
- Sickness policy: Develop a fast-acting, robust policy that eliminates the risk of the virus spreading if any employee begins to show symptoms.
- Employee trust: Work to inspire confidence in your employees that you have delivered a clean, safe environment in which they can return to work.
2. Medium-term considerations
- Employee information : As each worker will initially only be able to attend the office some of the time, they must be provided with clear information when their presence is expected.
- Entry, exit and movement: Employees come in and out of the building, and how they move around it while maintaining social distancing will need thorough organization, as well as clear communication to the workforce.
- Common digital touchpoints : Monitor hotspot areas where items may be touched by many different people over the course of a day (like a check-in kiosk, for example). Either minimize the use of these touchpoints or ensure they are cleaned at very regular intervals.
3. Long-term considerations
- Enabling flexible working: Employees choosing where to work will become the new standard, so desk reservation and appropriate spacing will be required for when they do want to spend time in the office.
- Open access to location info: To enable the smooth running of the business, everyone needs to know who is in the office and who is at home at any particular time. Providing universal access to this information is therefore essential.
- Ongoing reconfiguration: Constantly monitor the success and practicality of the reconfigured working environment, including whether office use is needed for anything other than collaboration and client meetings. Social distancing requirements and the needs of your workforce are both valid reasons for making changes, but only do so if the adjustment suits both of these elements.
Final thoughts:
As more and more employees feel able and comfortable to return to office work – whether fully or partially – they need reliable access to workspaces whenever they travel in. To work out exactly what a flexible workplace should look like, the C-suite, HR, IT and Facilities all need to come together and facilitate that implementation this model.
Businesses that embrace this way of thinking on flexibility will be the businesses that thrive. They will attract and retain the best talent while others are left behind. By empowering your workforce with flexible work and providing spaces they want to work in you will steer your business to growth.
