In a previous article we talked about making your office design people centric and understanding what staff actually need rather than making assumptions. In the report The New Era of Hybrid Work Steelcase looked at what people want at work, giving us further insights into how to make your office design work for your employees.
Steelcase have conducted over 12 global studies with more than 57,000 employees and business leaders since 2020 looking at the “mindset of office workers and investigat[ing] their experiences, needs and expectations for working at the office and at home”. Steelcase found that what people really want is “to feel valued and feel a sense of belonging to their organization.”
The report identified five “critical employee needs” when it comes to the workplace. These are: a sense of belonging (a sense of community within a company), control (having control over where, when and how work is done), productivity (providing support to workers within the office and remote workers equally to help to collaborate and build relationships), comfort (provide places for health and wellbeing and to take time out to refresh) and safety (to feel physically and psychologically safe).
Key Findings Of The Report
The report’s three key findings reaffirm that the office is still very important to staff despite much of the speculation that the pandemic would put an end to or dramatically decrease the need for office space. It also shows that where staff like their office they are significantly more likely to be “engaged and productive, connected to their company’s culture and less likely to leave.”
Key Finding #1 – How Much An Employee Likes Working From Their Office Has The Biggest Influence on Engagement and Productivity
Steelcase looked at a wide range of factors to find out what influenced employees the most when it comes to engagement, productivity and feeling part of their company including income, hybrid working options, travel to work and the size of a company. The factor that perhaps surprisingly caused the most impact was whether people like working from their office.
When UK staff like working from their office the report found they were more engaged (32%), more connected to the workplace culture (29%), more productive (8%) and less likely to leave (27%).
How much employees they like working from their office had the greatest impact on their engagement (58%), on their productively (57%), on their connection to their company (62%) and their office productivity (57%). Length of tenure had the biggest impact on retention (41%) with how much they liked their company coming second (28%). In all cases how much staff liked their company ranked significantly higher than factors like income or having the option of hybrid or remote working.
Key Finding #2 – Staff Want Flexibility But They Value Choice, Control and a Sense Of Belonging More
Putting in place hybrid working options became a priority for many companies following the pandemic, as people were forced to work from home, to try to prevent or curtail the spread of the virus.
While staff do want the flexibility of being able to choose hybrid working, they are also looking for choice, control and a sense of belonging with 40% of UK workers saying they still want to come into the office and have an assigned workspace. Interestingly however, the numbers of assigned desks within UK companies are decreasing by 34% in organisations with 10,000+ employees and 26% across all companies.
Key Finding #3 – Hybrid Working Options Come Out Top But Privacy Remains Important
When looking at what staff value the most in the office today UK workers said reservable workspaces (61%), hybrid collaboration spaces (60%), single-person enclaves for hybrid meetings (59%), privacy (53%), workspaces with full or partial enclosure (53%), flexible furniture (52%), informal spaces to connect with colleagues (49%), large number of collaborative spaces (45%) and sustainable office furniture (41%).
It’s clear from the report’s survey results that hybrid working options come out top at 61% for reservable workspaces and 60% for hybrid collaboration spaces, however being able to work in a private space is still extremely important to staff with single-person enclaves, privacy and workspaces with full or partial enclosure scoring 59%, 53% and 53% respectively. Breakout areas also score high with 49%.
Staff still want an office space where they can collaborate when required, a private space when they need to work without any distractions and informal spaces when they want to take breaks.
Workplace Change
As this research shows, people still want to spend time in the office, but many want the option to be able to work differently, with more flexibility, than they did before the pandemic. What’s important to employees has changed and will probably continue to change as more flexible working arrangements become available and as companies look to be adaptable so that they can change quickly when circumstances require it.
Hybrid, remote and office working all have their part to play moving forward. However, what’s important is to make sure that the diverse needs and expectations of employees are addressed by involving staff in decision making, to ensure that any actual changes meet their needs. Surveys and studies like those carried out by Steelcase can help to guide office occupancy and design decisions but it’s important for businesses to talk to and consult with their staff directly so they can be sure that any decisions being taken will meet their staff’s specific needs.
JBH Refurbishments, Experts In Office Design and Refurbishment
JBH Refurbishments have over 30+ years experience in office design, office refurbishments and fit outs and understand how to get the best out of any office space. No matter the size of the project you’ll want an office refurbishment team who understand how to deliver your project on time, on budget and with quality in mind and who will work with you and your staff to fully understand your needs. From your site visit to assess your needs, to establishing your priorities and putting together a project plan, to developing an office design and layout that meets your needs to delivering your project JBH Refurbishments will provide piece of mind.
You can contact us on 0333 207 0339 or via our contact page today for a free on-site consultation.
