The workplace is playing a bigger role than ever in attracting and retaining the best staff, with today’s multigenerational workers expecting the flexibility that modern technology offers. In addition, businesses are looking to technology to provide solutions to a distributed workforce, allowing them to tap the best talent from around the region, save on costs and become more competitive.
This had led to some major changes in the look and feel of the traditional office space. So what is the future of the workplace? And how will businesses accommodate the mobile, flexible, multigenerational employees of the coming years?
Entirely new workplaces are now being designed as forward-thinking organisations recognise the possibilities created by mobile technology and remote access. Evodia Alaterou, senior workplace designer at HASSELL, says it comes down to making sure employees are offered choice and variety.
“In the same way we can choose to have dinner in the kitchen, at the dining table or in front of the TV at home, we can choose the right space for each work task,” Alaterou says. “Each person will find the spaces, whether within the office or outside, that work best for them individually and for their team. Mobile technology allows them to move between spaces and remain connected throughout the day and week.”
Many of today’s less-than-traditional office spaces allow staff to choose where they want to work, offering a variety of areas for different purposes. The model is often referred to as activity-based working, or ABW.
“In many of the best contemporary workplaces, people can choose where they want to work. Spaces are designed for the different activities we typically do in a workday, and include areas for quiet or high-focus work, spaces to co-create or meet with others and places for larger get-togethers or social events. You will probably still find traditional desks, but these are shared and people choose to work at a desk in the same way they choose to work in any other space.”
The changing face of the office
ABW is nothing new. Locally, major blue chips such as KMPG, Macquarie Bank, Commonwealth Bank and GPT Group have all embraced it. Commonwealth Bank’s CommBank Unplugged project has seen staff equipped with laptops and non-designated desks, and Bluetooth VoIP "softphones" to enable activity-based working.
GPT Group’s activity-based redesign has seen five floors consolidated into three, with quiet spaces for reading and reflection, technology-enabled rooms for videoconferencing, collaboration spaces and ergonomically designed open-plan work areas.
The cost savings to be gained from activity-based working are real. Macquarie Bank estimates it will save up to $10 million a year on property leases, as well as get a 15 per cent productivity boost from its ABW design.
Design considerations
If you want to adopt an activity-based workplace strategy in your business, what are the key considerations? Alaterou says the most critical factor is determining what, and who, the workplace is for. What is the business focused on? What is the nature of the work and interaction that will realise the business strategy? How is it likely to change in the future? You must first understand the direction the business is going in before you can deliver the type of space that is needed.
“Destination spaces, like large kitchen hubs, will draw people to them and help encourage new connections and conversations. This is great, but should be balanced with having more readily accessible tools and spaces in the areas we spend most of our time.”
Another important consideration is the time and effort people will need to adjust to a new workspace, particularly if it means having to work in a different way.
“Once we understand the value of doing things differently, change is easy. But each person has their own process for adapting to change and it is important that everyone is given the information, training and assistance they need to make the transition.”
Is the office dead?
With all this mobility, advanced videoconferencing and increased workforce distribution, is the office becoming obsolete? Alaterou believes the reverse: in an increasingly virtual world, people have more need to spend time physically together and forge deeper and richer connections.
“People are social creatures. We need physical connection with the people in our lives, including our work lives. We connect with places and with the people in those places by being physically present. That doesn't mean being in the office all day, every day, but it means having the choice to go to a place where we will see our colleagues and talk about the weekend footy games or what we saw on TV the night before.”
Younger employees in particular now expect workplaces to offer flexibility and mobility, and attracting and retaining talent will increasingly depend on the facilities offered.
