At the start of the COVID-19 shutdown in the US, our company announced that we would be working from home for two weeks. Two weeks! I had no idea how I would make it that long. I could not imagine working remotely for an extended period and obviously had no sense of what was yet to come.
Now, five years later, most workers have continued to exist in at least some version of a hybrid/remote workplace. We continue to experience a lack of universal alignment around the purpose behind investment in physical workplace environments.
The collaborative in-person work week in many companies has become a Tuesday through Thursday existence as the remote days enjoy an obviously preferred connection to the weekends. The time spent in the office is based on comfort and convenience, not defined business functional needs. So why then, do we continue to invest in physical work environments?
While it’s true that workers don’t need to move to any specific physical place to complete many of their work tasks, we continue to hear that numerous businesses have seen a reduction in the overall effectiveness of their organizations. Conversations with many of our workplace clients indicate that most employees would likely be more willing to participate in their employers’ workplace engagement policies if the thoughts behind them were more clearly communicated and not left up to individual interpretation.
For many, a stipulated in-office schedule without supporting reasons “why” is not sufficient, nor is a blanket expression of a desire for employees to come into a building to “collaborate.” So many of the tasks we need to do in an office are based on a need for individual focus time. More importantly, in-person connections provide irreplaceable intuitive learning that can’t happen on task specific Teams calls.
Many organizations – including Gensler – wholeheartedly embrace flexibility for employees, but we also recognize the intrinsic value of bringing people together to build community and brand loyalty, to mentor and grow future leaders of the firm, and to maintain a culture of continuous learning and growth. This shifts the role of the physical workplace from a place you do your work, to a destination where you connect with your colleagues to collaborate, learn and socialize.
“If your goal is to bring people together in real life at work — sometimes, all the time, or anytime — you need to design a day employees won’t want to miss. At the very least, it’s critical to be intentional about how you plan your company’s days in the office, not only to add incentive, but also to make it worth your employees’ and your company’s time”. Harvard Business Review – January 2022
Many organizations recognize that the need to equalize the value of some amount of remote work and some level of hybrid work is never going to disappear. This necessitates not only a rethinking of the physical footprint, but also a consideration of which elements of physical space to retain to achieve a more effective and equitable hybrid work model.
What activities are best suited for in-person and on-site contexts? What behaviors underpin them to support an effective organizational structure? What spaces, technologies, policies and culture enable those behaviors?
It is crucial for space, technology, communications and operations to work together seamlessly, not only to support but to also enhance the employee experience both inside and outside the office. The physical environment should be a destination that offers a curated blend of traditional assigned workspaces along with a diverse mix of on-demand focus areas, collaboration zones, and hospitality environments. These recommendations build on shared values and culture to look holistically at the employee experience and consider design of the workplace, technology, communications, employee resources and organizational culture.
Some Key Considerations:
LEAVING CULTURE TO CHANCE IS A LIABILITY
What are the tenets of your culture? How is your culture differentiated? Are there behaviors that need to shift to support a stronger culture? How does your culture show up in communications, branding, tools, gatherings and space?
MENTORSHIP MATTERS MORE THAN EVER
How are you approaching onboarding and mentorship for junior and/or new hires? What tools or spaces do you need to support remote management and mentorship? How are you supporting managers to ensure they are well positioned to coach and mentor both hybrid and remote employees?
ON-SITE IS THE NEW OFF-SITE
When is it appropriate to invest in face-to-face gatherings vs. hybrid or remote gatherings? How are culture and connection propagated through remote events? How does your company culture show up in these important gatherings? Are there ceremonies or traditions to amplify connection or culture at these events?
THERE’S NO SILVER BULLET FOR HYBRID COLLABORATION
How are you evolving your meeting spaces to drive equity for remote participants? Where do you see current gaps in technology that need to be filled? Are there pain points tech could address? What apps, tools, and platforms are you using to help employees stay connected?
How can we redefine the role of physical space in our organizations to develop a best-in-class workplace engagement strategy and design a physical workplace for the Future of Work?
In a recent Future of Work engagement, Gensler piloted a series of experiments to identify the purpose of our client’s workspace today, and its evolution into the future. This included measuring the appropriateness of functions, quality of collaboration experiences, impact on social interactions and effectiveness of digital capabilities and physical amenities at the workplace.
In collaboration with key representatives from HR, Technology, Marketing, Commercial Real Estate, the firm delivered a workplace evolution change management program and produced supporting toolkits, including an explanation of the overarching principals of evolving physical workplace to provide context, outline challenges, and offer guidelines for the organization to plan its future physical environments.
Recognizing that people perform distinct activities in their day-to-day work, we recommended a departure from the previous workplace model of fixed, assigned desk arrangements, to embracing a host of work settings that are tailored to the unique needs of employees and clients to streamline a transition into Activity-Based Working (ABW) spaces.
Looking Inward
Informed by research, Gensler’s own workplaces boast a gradient of activity zones to meet the need for spaces that support both collaborative and individual work. While the research highlighted the effectiveness of current workplaces in supporting in-person collaboration, it also pointed to a need for better support of individual work, with 36% of respondents’ time spent working alone — an activity rated by respondents as most critical for their job performance.
Our best practice recommendations incorporate a variety of activity zones, from quiet “library” areas for focused solo work to dynamic collaboration spaces. This workplace design approach creates a balanced ecosystem that supports both collaborative and solitary work modes.
This aligns with our survey findings that such informal meeting spaces rank highly among employee preferences, underscoring our goal to encourage more frequent office return rates, supported by the research data. For example, 73% of employees reported they would likely come into the office at least one more day per week if their ideal mix of experiences were accommodated.
Looking Ahead
How do we craft a workplace that goes beyond mere functionality to become a vibrant ecosystem that attracts and nurtures talent? In his dialogue BLOG, my colleague Greg Gallimore, Digital Experience Design leader and Principal, proposes four steps to creating a compelling, habit-forming workplace:
Trigger: Creating the Initial Draw Triggers prompt people to act. In the workplace, this could be environmental cues like inviting lounge areas or digital cues such as an app notification reminding employees of an upcoming brainstorming session, sparking interest and anticipation.
Action: Simplifying Participation Action is where we make it as easy as possible for employees to engage. This could involve designing workspaces that are easily accessible and enjoyable to use. For example, a ‘one-touch’ space booking system reduces friction and makes it easier for employees to collaborate outside of scheduled meetings.
Variable Reward: Offering Diverse and Unpredictable Incentives Rewards are crucial in keeping engagement high and could range from social rewards like face-to-face interactions to more tangible rewards like surprise lunch events or pop-up relaxation zones. The key is to offer a variety of rewards that are not entirely predictable to keep the office experience fresh and engaging.
Investment: Encouraging Personal Contribution The investment phase is about getting employees to contribute to the office environment, increasing their commitment and sense of ownership, ultimately making the daily act of coming to the office a more meaningful routine.
In their 2024 book, “Design for a Radically Changing World,” Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins, Global co-Chairs of Gensler, reflect on decades of design experience and state that “everything in life happens in a place, and the design of each place can make these experiences beautiful and positive or degrading and negative.”
Experience-driven, people-centric design should be ubiquitous to create new levels of inclusivity, engagement and diversity. By focusing on the human experience of every project, we can create a healthier, safer and connected future for all.
In today’s hybrid world we place greater value on in-person visceral interactions. How can design welcome and engage people who crave real, immersive and engaging experiences? How can workplace design intermix virtual, physical and hybrid experiences to create places that optimize human performance now, and in the future?
The workplace must be an “experience multiplier,” where people can have unique experiences not available anywhere else. It is the new town square, a center of activity where people come together to work, individually and collectively to forge relationships and build company culture.
Editor’s Note: Christopher Goggin is Co-Managing Director and Principal in Gensler’s Nashville office.