A hybrid strategy that opens and rearranges office space while letting employees continue to work from home - an equal mix of time in and out of the office - will be key to bringing staff back, according to presenters at “Return to Work,” hosted this week by the St. Louis chapter of CCIM.
Jesse Sellers, managing director of CBRE Chicago; Justin Beadle, principal/architect, Blitz; and Anne Marie Forkan, executive facilities director, RGA, presented perspectives on the future of work in the wake of the pandemic.
“The challenges are in determining a hybrid strategy, aligning space and portfolio, preparing your workforce for the future, re-envisioning the workplace, aligning operating models and monitoring utilization of space and resources,” said Sellers.
All of this can be summarized in the latest initialism: NWOW (New Ways of Working).
“A lot of people are looking at ‘now’ as a blank slate,” Sellers said. “We have to think about the skills and tools that workers will need, and what to unlearn from the pandemic.”
Hallmarks of NWOW will include “magnetizing” the office and redesigning for collaborative spaces. Employees now expect “empathetic occupancy” that focuses on their health and wellness as a fundamental right and top priority, according to Sellers.
“Three strategies for the future of work are activity-, team- and event-based work, and the built environment should respond,” Sellers said.
Decisions to purchase, sell or restructure real estate will be made on demand as businesses evaluate how their needs for space have changed in the past two years, Sellers noted.
“You have to measure occupancy costs and become more people-centered. Important metrics are about being healthy and feeling effective.”
Beadle got the room’s full attention by declaring that “the office is dead.” But not really, of course. “Clients have taught us to be more agile,” he explained.
“Employees do still want to come to the office and people are the value proposition. Productivity goes up when we work in person together,” Beadle said.
The face of the new office and workplace will be what he called “phygital,” a combination of physical and digital, predicting that employees will have a greater voice in how work looks from now on.
“The future is a self-determined balance. We will see a move from the traditional office layout to a balanced workplace, making it possible for people to work at any seat. Thanks to every desk sized to hold a laptop and notepad within four feet of an electrical outlet should result in seeing the office function as “the great equalizer.”
However, Beadle warned that “a hybrid environment can set the stage for inequity because there can be a stigma to working at home as the office reopens.” Those who do not come into the office will miss out on the in-person aspects of collaborating, being seen and heard, and having the flexibility to respond immediately to questions or concerns.
“Working from home can be productive, but we still need the new office,” Forkan said. “Why are we going back? Current data supports that it’s safe, there are low positivity rates, and we no longer need strict environmental controls.”
Understanding the new era will be key to success not only in returning to the office but in all aspects of work, Forkan predicted.
“We are sticking with flexibility, patience, empathy and support.” All leadership characteristics that saw the company through the pandemic and have become core to its future. “Asking managers to do this is hard, but companies must do it, Forkan said.
RGA is implementing flex work where some employees can keep their desk and office while others use a “hoteling” approach of being placed wherever space is available.
“We will make furniture changes and institute a desk-reservation process,” Forkan said. “Small changes make people comfortable, such as HVAC enhancements and elevator updates — IT partnered with facilities to improve our processes and tools.”
RGA also enhanced its food service system so employees can get meals not only during the workday, but also prepared to be taken home.
In response to questions from the audience, speakers noted that there has been a rise in fitness/wellness concerns and adaptations, with safety standards and policies seen as added value in the workplace. Making employees feel safe about returning is essential.
Businesses that decide to take away designated offices may find it takes employees time to adjust to such a drastic new model and that such new approaches can result in a change in company culture.
The panel agreed that companies will still need office space —often the same amount of space as before the pandemic, but fitted out differently to be more collaborative and allow for a variety of onsite amenities to accommodate employees who have been used to having their families, especially children, and pets at hand.
Space that is empty because some employees continue to work from home or companies have cut back on personnel could easily become a much-needed daycare resource.
“Amenities are now top of mind,” Sellers said.
One benefit of the past two years is that businesses learned not only to adapt to difficult conditions, but to get things done more efficiently.
“Covid was a propulsion point where what would taken five years to do in the past got done in a month,” Beadle said.
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Feature image credit: UnSplash.