Office Design Can Give You The Edge
A well-designed, employee-friendly office can boost productivity by as much as a quarter. So says a recent and rather weighty piece of research by two national architecture and design bodies.
However, we are sure many of you reading this won’t need an expensive survey to tell you that good workplace design can make a big difference in staff satisfaction, attraction, motivation and retention.
Yet, it is surprising how many company decision makers overlook this fact, preferring instead to focus on traditional yardsticks such as cost rather than revenue per square foot. Good design can pay – but its value must first be recognized. And it must conform to a sound strategy.
The starting point for any effective design plan is to understand the client’s culture and business philosophy. Corporate vision and values need to be reconciled with those of the employees and then translated into a strategy which has the culture of the company at its heart.
It is also important to understand how people feel in different spaces – we spend most of our lives in work so getting the environment right is key. It is not just about having a space that is efficient in layout, it is also about getting the best out of people by stimulating productivity and the quality of output.
Comprehending the nature and the process of the workflow in the company as well as its use of technology and its formal and informal communication processes is also essential.
If it is going to reap rewards, the design plan must also emphasize flexibility. The speed at which technology and markets change has created the need for companies to expand, shrink or change focus altogether. ‘Hot desking’, flexi-time and job sharing are growing in importance and are wielding great influence on the structure of the workplace.
Whilst many business owners are aware of the way the working environment is changing, they are uncertain how to move forward and embrace it. As a result, they do nothing and risk losing out on an opportunity to boost employee morale as well as corporate productivity.
Smart companies do their homework and use design to reap business rewards. They won’t simply base their workplace design decisions on the most cost-effective solutions, they will observe how their employees work best and use design to support them.
Currently, new office designs tend towards shared spaces with several conference rooms and small private meeting rooms. The most prevalent design of the future, however, will be the most varied design – one which can incorporate all the needs of the workforce and one which gives serious attention to the physical environment.
The workplace that will emerge over the next decade will be a flexible vessel which can allow for continuous churn, flow, learning, innovation, social interactions and technology.
At the same time, it will recognise, for example, that some employees may want to come in mid-morning, work in the company café, take breaks on their Nintendo Wii and work until 10pm.
Such flexibility may seem a long way off and a little difficult to countenance, but a business which is open-minded is far more like to increase staff productivity than one which ignores such trends. Design is, and will remain, a key weapon in the battle to retain and motivate a company’s most expensive asset – and there is no better time than the present to put it to work for a profitable future.
