It always feels good when you’ve been talking about something for a long time and other people start to share the same messages.
I came across this article from the BBC, and it was great to see their take on the importance of engaging and productive workspaces for companies. They discuss how putting employees at the centre of office design developments brings huge benefits, and they identify an increasing demand for workplace consultants to ensure the right results. In fact, several points within the article directly reflected my post on Improving Employee Experience, which looked at how - with hybrid working - the needs of our physical workspaces have changed, with the focus now being on flexibility, community, and development opportunities.
The BBC article offers examples of developments designed to transform corporate spaces:
“One employer infuses the office with essential oils to reduce employees' stress levels. Another tweaks workplace acoustics, using insulation to find the perfect balance between quiet and community. Across town, another evaluates how office colour schemes might impact productivity, offering employees the chance to work in a "blackout" room with an entirely black colour scheme, or a corresponding "whiteout" room, to see which might spur innovation.”
The article quotes Georgina Fraser, head of human capital at global commercial real estate firm CBRE, as saying, “Two out of three organisations are either looking at redesigning the corporate real estate function or anticipating changes in the future.”
So, does your organisation have plans for office design? How will you ensure you provide human-centered workspaces to support your Employee Experience (EX)?
Human-Centered Workspaces: Office Design Centred On Employee Experience
As with everything we do here at IAmWork.Space, this BBC article suggested we take a human-centred approach to our workspaces. The first step, therefore, is to understand the needs of the people within your organisation. But why?
Our previous post, Employee Experience - Who Benefits From an Employee-Centred Environment?, explored how creating spaces focused on employee needs benefits your company. Yes, the employee-centred environment improves employee wellbeing and engagement, but it also encourages creativity and productivity. In the context of the CIPD’s Spring Labour Market Outlook, where 37% of employers have hard-to-fill vacancies, engaging your people and giving them a positive employee experience can play a significant role in keeping your best people within the organisation.
Getting feedback from your employees to research their needs for spaces and systems is essential when designing your spaces and infrastructure. In addition to talking to people, you can use your existing systems and data to understand how your spaces are currently used—we looked at this in the post Plan Your Space Effectively with the Right Data. Here, we looked at how to interrogate your data to understand current use, bring in sensors to manage the use of space, and then develop spaces better with the knowledge you’ve gained.
Creating Physical Spaces that Work
The BBC article, and others before it, have identified some of those areas we now need to consider when we’re developing physical workspaces:
Flexibility: Quiet and individual focus spaces as well as collaborative workspaces.
Effective technology: Maintaining positive environments with temperature, noise, and even odour control and secure and accessible communication and productivity systems.
Comfort: Welcoming designs and thoughtful spaces to encourage people away from home desks to collaborate and share in spaces designed for employee wellbeing.
This post I wrote about hybrid working explores these areas and shows how such solutions can be developed: Ask the right questions, Create modular solutions, Review and refine, and then Take it further. For those developing effective workspaces, it’s essential that—while putting employees first—we create flexible spaces and use data to inform our decisions.
Building Strong Digital Foundations
We’ve already mentioned some ways technology will support a better employee experience in your workspaces. There are other considerations, however:
Environmental: The monitoring and maintenance of facilities and utilities within buildings.
Productivity: Enhanced communication and collaboration solutions to improve hybrid working.
Security: Providing effective cybersecurity and data privacy solutions that support employees working remotely and within the office space.
We know that seamless technology integration is essential for hybrid working; however, it is also important to consistently review what our employees want from it. Technology solutions must be designed with the user in mind - which collaboration tools are effective? Are we really making life easier? Equally, while we want human-centred solutions, digital workplace strategy must be developed in line with the broader business goals.
Developing Your Learning Culture
While the BBC article doesn’t directly consider areas of learning and development within the workspace, the findings can easily be understood within that scope.
Design: Technology and AI continue to provide new employee-focused training and development opportunities, which support better employee engagement.
Environment: Welcoming spaces that support collaborative learning or focus areas for study will ensure your organisation has effective solutions for all learners.
Culture: Focusing on continuous learning and development across all levels will improve the employee experience.
Supporting employees with opportunities for learning and development is essential for employee engagement and retention. The environment is key for learners, whether that’s the flexibility of online learning or a creative workspace with peers, and learning initiatives can promote collaboration and knowledge sharing throughout your organisation.
Retaining People to Support and Strengthen Your Organisation
Within our current climate, ensuring your workplace attracts, engages, and retains top talent is key. Organisations can transform their physical and digital environments by combining thoughtful workspace design, cutting-edge technology, and a strong learning culture to create centres of excellence for innovation and productivity.
By understanding and responding to your employee needs, you can create a workplace that not only meets their functional requirements but also inspires and empowers them to reach their full potential.
When you're considering the next steps of your workspace transformation, we're here to help. Get in touch to talk about what’s possible for you and your people.
About the Author
I'm Terry Chana. I am an innovation strategist that connects customer, employee and brand experiences. My passion lies in building ecosystems to solve business problems by combining creativity and technology.
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