After a large-scale shift to teleworking imposed by the pandemic, more and more enterprises and organizations now seek to bring their employees back to the office. But to get workers who’ve gotten used to working at home to come back to the office, it will take a little more than just the old décor!
A number of organizations simply asked or even forced their personnel to come back to the office. However, in a number of places, this approach stirred widespread discontent and even led to the departure of qualified workers whose replacement is made harder by a highly competitive recruiting context.
Other organizations chose a less coercive approach, and sought instead to encourage their employees to spend more time at the office, either on a voluntary basis or by implementing hybrid working arrangements.
Why bring people back to the office?
Lots of people have denounced the desire to bring workers back to the office as a sign that employers simply do not trust their employees’ capacity to manage their schedule or that they want to exert better control over the latter’s work.
In reality, the stakes are quite different. Many organizations have come to realize that it is very difficult to build interpersonal bonds and a sense of belonging among their employees when everyone works from their home. This represents a much more serious issue than one might think, as these are essential conditions to the team’s cohesion, collective efficiency, and capacity to solve problems and innovate, as well as to staff retention.
Making workers want to return
The challenge facing organizations that wish to attract their employees back to the office is to give them good reasons to want to do so and, above all, to make them enjoy being there, whether they are there voluntarily or not.
Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the growing trends with regards to stimulating and enjoyable work spaces:
Hot-desking, or the end of assigned offices
One of the fastest growing trends is the depersonalization of offices. Nowadays, in many workplaces, employees no longer have their own, assigned offices (except for a few necessary exceptions). Combined with hybrid work organizations resulting in part of the staff working from their home at any given time, this means that fewer individual offices are required and allows for the creation of spacier, open office spaces. In some places, workers must even reserve a workstation for when they come to the office.
Flexibility and versatility
Gone are the enclosed offices with fixed furniture! Mobile, modular furniture and task-configurable workstations are the new thing. And while the focus is on open office spaces, flexible solutions are available for small teams who need to work together on specific projects without being disturbed. One way to achieve this is to use mobile partitions and furniture that can be arranged to create temporary enclosed spaces.
Collaborative spaces and quiet zones
Got a meeting or a brainstorming session planned? In many places, employees can book collaborative rooms specially set up to facilitate social interactions, creativity and the sharing of ideas. Instead of the traditional table with chairs, such rooms often feature bar-style high tables with stools, lounging chairs, sofas or even bean bags! Conversely, cozy, sound-proof intimacy zones are made available for those who need some peace and quiet, be it to concentrate on a task, make an important call or attend a virtual meeting.
Connecting with nature
Remember our recent article about biophilia? Devising biophilia-inspired work spaces means integrating natural elements or elements that evoke nature to favour employees’ well-being. So out go the bland fluorescent tubes! Re-imagined work spaces make the best possible use of natural light or use often variable lighting systems that emulate natural light. In addition to harbouring lots of natural plants, more and more workplaces feature natural materials like wood, stone and even water. In some places, you will even find grass patches or vegetal walls, which act as sound barriers in addition to helping purify the air.
Smart and helpful technology
In a context of flexibility and mobility, employees must have easy access to all the connectivity and technological resources they need wherever they find themselves. This means installing complete docking stations to connect any device anywhere and outfitting all collaborative rooms with videoconferencing and screen-sharing equipment. Additionally, the use of smart technologies (automatic lighting, intelligent thermostats, etc.) denotes an eco-responsible approach that fits in with some of the primary concerns of today’s workers.
When the office becomes a village
A new trend that is rapidly gaining ground consists in instilling in employees a genuine sense of community, notably by creating conditions and occasions for informal, social interactions and by offering a variety of experiences in the workplace. This can go from setting up cafés, game pubs, collective gardens and lounges with musical instruments where employees can jam together, to the organization of events like lunchtime concerts, DIY or cooking workshops, or even gameshow-type team quizzes.