Enabling flexible working

Efficiently using your space

The modern workspace is efficient and flexible – but only when employees buy in. Condeco gives people freedom and choice in the workplace, helps them find space to work in, each other, and connect better via remote working.

In the CBRE Global Occupier Survey 2017,

58 percent of business leaders cite space efficiency as the key to cost management.

There has been a shift away from a narrative that purely focuses on space reduction, to one that focuses on the effectiveness of the space provided; this according to The Modern Workplace Report 2020 citing that 68% percent of business leaders stating that changes in workspace design has significantly improved productivity.

Although slightly over half of customers asked in our recent survey see real estate reduction as important, only a quarter sees it as extremely important. So, space efficiency is important, but it’s no longer the most foremost topic; however, employee experience is.

Using workspace data to make better design decisions is a key driver. In our survey, 62% of our customers stated that enabling data-driven design is an important or extremely important goal when working with us. Data-driven design focuses on workspace data such as usage, utilization, and satisfaction to make better planning decisions; to improve workspace quality, employee productivity, overall satisfaction, and employee wellbeing.

By taking the friction out of flexible workspace, so it’s smooth, intuitive and adopted. As a result, you get more effective and efficient use of space, as well as smart analytics to help you plan better.

Securing employee adoption

By looking at the overall workplace experience and putting the employee at the center of your plan will lead to creating a workplace which not only fit for purpose but also supports employees to meet their goals.

No longer are employees trapped to the confines of their allocated desk, heads down and limited interaction with their nearby colleagues. The way we want to work today means the workplace has to shift in its form to support a more fluid, collaborative way of working. Office design has changed to support a more flexible working methodology with spaces to suit different needs such as co-working, collaboration spaces, and breakout spaces.

But it’s not just how efficiently people can find a space for their meeting or a workstation that meets their needs of the day. There is a larger trend towards looking at the entire employee experience. We often hear words such as “curated experiences”. A workplace experience that puts the employee at the center.

The reason for this however, is not just talent attraction and retention in a competitive employment market, but also simply productivity—helping staff work more efficiently and get easy access to what they need, rather than spending their day navigating a landscape of disparate systems and services.

An overwhelming 94 percent of respondents in The Modern Workplace Report 2020 agreed that technology is important to the employee experience.

By taking the friction out of flexible workspace, Condeco workspace reservation technology aids employees to easily find and book space to meet their workday needs. As a result, there is a reduced admin burden on roles in the business like Facilities Managers (FM), so that the focus can be more on service and enablement. The outcome is satisfied employees and a more strategic role for FM.

The strategic advantage

Agility is an increasingly important strategic advantage, but it’s hard to achieve. That’s because working practices are outdated, employees do too much admin, and lack the work, space or the time to be more productive. This is the workplace of the past: stagnant.

The workplace will change its role but will continue to be important as a place where people can meet and collaborate, belong to a team and, critically, feel part of a culture.

Statistics from The Modern Workplace Report 2020 state that 62% of employees have access to collaboration and internal communication applications. This is aiding in the trend to get people back to the office, and as such, more and more employers will make the office a destination, spaces that bring together workspace, food services, leisure and community facilities under one roof – and a rise in this application statistic in the next year.

Therefore, enabling the next generation of flexible, activity-based workspaces is an important focus area for businesses with effortless management of activity-based workspace; data-driven workspace design; connected workplace integrations; and simple, mobile and calendar-centric reservation tools that enable a first-class employee experience.

By making the day-to day-work easier, improving employee experience, and facilitate a shift in culture to be more collaborative, so that businesses can move faster and achieve more.

Creating a liberated workspace

People are increasingly working flexible hours and in remote locations, but this change sometimes faces resistance from employees. The workspace is not set up for flexibility. For these reasons, flexible working can be hard to implement and manage. Condeco is one platform to manage the workspace and give people freedom and choice over their workspace, so they adopt flexible working and the organization benefits from efficient use of space.