We can observe more and more that companies, especially after the pandemic, have an urgent question about the office - how to use it? How to upgrade it? And in the end - can we return to the pre-pandemic situation, when we all mostly went to work in person?
In recent years, people's working habits have changed significantly and it is clear that the new working reality requires a different view of the office. I have had the opportunity to focus on workplace wellbeing, so I will share my thoughts.
Businesses have different reasons for choosing to review their existing premises. Most often, it is the need to make the area more efficient (if it is not fully used) or the need for a modern, presentable office that would be pleasant for employees and guests.
There are also companies whose goal is to modernize the premises to meet the standards of office well-being, as well as the needs of the office in the new working reality. And there are companies that choose to modernize, transform the premises in order to bring employees back to work in person. Of course, a company can have several or even all of the listed goals together.
However, I want to focus on the last one - to return employees to work in offices. You can hear this from company managers - "make a beautiful, modern office so that everyone can return to working in person like before the pandemic." Of course, there will be employees who would prefer to work in person, but will they all? Will a modern office really automatically make all employees return to working in person?
In my opinion, this is one of the most erroneous assumptions. First of all, because it will never be like before the pandemic - remote work is today's reality. This is indicated by all research, HR specialists and world work trends. Yes, you can and should think about how employees can meet, build and maintain relationships, and it is understandable that face-to-face meetings make this a lot easier. That is why offices must change - they must be adapted to the new working reality. The sooner we accept that things will never be the same again, the sooner we can adapt and make the best of it.
Secondly, it must be understood that there can be many reasons why employees choose or do not choose to go to work in the office - the time spent on the road, the opportunity to work from another city, country, the opportunity to focus more easily on work, as well as the employee's feelings about the work environment and microclimate in team and company (and a number of other reasons).
In my opinion, every company that starts thinking about office changes should start with this analysis - go to the employees and understand the real reasons why the employees want or don't want to go to the office. And according to that, it will be possible to create much more precise and appropriate solutions specifically for your company - both in terms of office premises and the working environment in general. When thinking about your company's new office, it's important to remember that it's not just about the space - it's about the feelings in the space, the people in it, and how people interact with each other.
Of course, it often takes a lot of courage to listen to employees and hear the situation in the company, but this is the only way to a successful result and to avoid the disappointment that after creating a modern office, all employees still do not want to return to work in person.