Making offices more attractive for staff
Increasingly the link between property and people decision making.
To tempt employees back into the office, businesses continue to realise they need to make them more attractive spaces to work in comparison to home.
To this end, over 46% of those surveyed said they were already incorporating workplace environment and design into their wider employment strategy to attract and retain staff. 35% said they would be considering this approach in the future.
Employers believe the main reasons more employees are now attending the office is due to social capital (such as the desire for increased collaboration with colleagues and team building) followed by better IT and working environments than at home.
Employers also felt their employees valued opportunities for client engagement and networking, and visibility for career progression.
What do you believe are the main reasons your employees are choosing to work from the office? (Select up to 3)
Over a fifth (23%) of employers said they believe offering incentives is a main reason why employees are coming back into the office. 97% said that they are already offering these. Flexible hours and choice of days in the office score highly in terms of incentives. Career progression also scored highly, indicating employees may feel employer pressure to be “seen” in the office if they want to improve their career prospects.
Offering better amenities and making alterations to office space to make it more attractive to staff are also seen as key incentives.
Companies are reported to be offering better communal areas, restaurants and meeting places but also quiet working spaces, individual pods, the best internet and IT facilities, and end of trip facilities such as showers and bicycle racks. According to recent press reports, other companies are going even further.
Employees have noted that working face to face can enhance team building and productivity compared to online alternatives. Being visible in the office may even help secure their jobs, especially during economic uncertainty.
How, if at all, are you are incentivising employees to work from your office? (Select all that apply).
Businesses often involve HR teams in decisions about creating functional workplaces. 95% of businesses said the HR team provided input towards or helped reach the final decision, whether by being part of a committee, with input from staff/management or one their own. Only 5% of businesses said HR had no impact into the final decision. This is a welcome move that shows businesses are recognising the value of joining up their people and property strategies, a trend that is likely to continue.
More than lip service to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)?
In terms of layout, we wanted to see to what extent businesses are supporting diversity and inclusion within their offices. Only 2% of businesses said they were not supporting the DEI agenda and half (50%) of businesses said they were offering quiet spaces as needed. However, most offices are only offering standard fit outs that tick the DEI box. Surprisingly, only a third (33%) said they had disability access and only 29% had single sex toilets - something that may need examining in light of the recent Supreme Court decision. In terms of DEI, businesses still have some way to go.
In response to perspectives from the US or differing economic priorities, many companies are now toning down their external messaging on DEI while maintaining internal efforts. 46%1 of businesses agreed that diversity and inclusion issues are now less important to them than they were previously. We might therefore conclude the DEI issue may well be less likely to influence the “stay vs go” debate going forward.
How, if at all, is your organisation supporting diversity and inclusion in your office layout and design? (Select all that apply)
