Photo: ArchDaily
Until recent times, never has there been a moment in history that has truly and repeatedly turned our world upside down – on so many levels.
The global pandemic and the civil rights movement continues to put us through the ringer with what feels like weekly (and sometimes daily) shocks to the heart, head and body. It’s highly likely this topsy-turvy state will continue to be our ‘current normal’ for a while longer, as much heavy-lifting must be done to develop vital vaccines, dismantle racism and rebuild entire social systems.
As we aim to navigate these historically significant circumstances in the context of the workplace – one thing for certain is that we are entering a new and exciting era of transformation.
This new era will focus on the entire Human Experience (HX) as a whole versus being confined within the walls of a workplace environment.
Instead of placing attention on renovation budgets or move timelines, people will be the first consideration when it comes to selecting locations and designing offices with HX in mind.
It will also be a time where workplaces will evolve into choice destinations, and desirable landing spots where those who use the space are empowered to make and sustain change for the greater good of the world. Gathering folks together in person to learn, innovate, collaborate, socialize and make meaningful memories with one another, will sustain healthier cultures and will allow people to feel a sense of belonging because of their shared global views and sense of purpose.
As far as the future of workplace goes, there are two things we can count on:
#1 Flexibility
Employees whose roles, responsibilities and productivity levels allow, will expect work-from-home flexibility at least until an effective vaccine is widely available, and probably on a permanent basis thereafter; and,
#2 Equity
Employees will continue to demand their employers to take decisive action and stand up for equity and inclusivity of marginalized communities, such as Black, Brown or other non-white races, or persons with gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or neuro or physical diversity, etc – until the very systems that uphold racism and prejudices are eradicated. It’s high time then, for office interiors to be used and manipulated in a multitude of ways that amplify HX, allowing people to connect with one another and create positive energy and excitement over ideas, plus turn words and messages into actions in an effort to reshape and rebuild the core of our society into one that can stand - united - in the truest sense.
With that, there are three interdependent pillars that form the foundation for the destination workplace: People, Purpose, and Planet.
Let’s start with the most important one.
People.
You can’t work with ‘em, and you can’t work without ‘em! Or something like that. But seriously, it’s no use trying to please everyone all the time, and that’s where choice becomes the number one power play for organizations who put people first.
Give employees options for where, when, and how they do their work - which for a large number can be from anywhere, at anytime, in numerous ways - and they will perform to the best of their ability because it’s on their terms, under their control. This builds trust and loyalty on all sides, which in turn leads to the employees being an organization’s biggest fans and most avid proponents.
Recognizing, through offering choice, that individuals have different lives, with different needs, indicates that what a business values about the contributions of their staff is greater than having butts in seats and at desks day in and day out from 8-5p. What matters instead is that employees bring a diverse set of skills, experiences, knowledge and perspectives, that when combined with their colleagues’s talents and personalities, makes for a unique mish-mash of brilliance. These are the very ingredients that make up the secret sauce of success.
Naturally, this line of thinking should have company leaders scrambling to create a place of work that acts as a magnet, giving people the desire and cause to come to the physical space to engage with others. In other words, the very reason the work environment exists should be to facilitate the coming together of people to intentionally interact and collaborate in ways that are more effective than if they were facilitated through the use of technology, like video calls or messaging platforms.
This brings us to our next point as to why the future office should be a destination.
Purpose.
Without it, there is little reason or incentive to perform. Plus, if there ever were a time in the history of the office to banish presenteeism, it would be now. The thought of demanding – either overtly or covertly – people to show up to work injured, mentally distressed, or sick as a dog (forbid the thought!), is just simply bad ethics.
Rather, organizations should demand people to care for themselves and others by making it a point (maybe even a proclamation!) to only bring one’s best self to the office, in order to do one’s best work within those walls.
The office, then, should be reserved for people who are able to come to the destination to actively participate and promote these four specific reasons:
Reason One: Knowledge Sharing and Action
Regular curated programming, events, and activities that uphold what the organization stands for and acts upon when it comes to things like civic, social, cultural and environmental codes of conduct, should be an ongoing and consistent offering made by all businesses who wish to walk the talk. This could take several forms, such as DEI (diversity/equity/inclusivity) workshops, themed lightning talks, or fundraising events to support one of the non-profits the organization endorses.
Reason Two: Trust, Team Building and Socializing
Employees should often be given the opportunity to build relationships with and empathy for their coworkers. This can be done through myriad methods, from free-form social hours or gaming competitions to encourage community. Or perhaps there’s team building through guided exercises or activities, that build a sense of belonging through shared experiences and that explore how their work and actions affect others within and outside their organization.
Through workshops, classes or through other means it’s important to illustrate how behaviors like reliability and accountability are important to their personal, and interpersonal success, as well as to the success of the organization. This is particularly important as we see multiple generations in the workplace, many of whom are in different life stages and therefore have various, and often disparate, motivators (like compensation or recognition) or personal ‘currency’ (such as time or reputation). These group activities ought to be offered consistently, throughout each year, and during both regular and after business hours for the best attendance and to be as inclusive and equitable as possible to all employees.
Reason Three: Learning and Development
It almost goes without saying that the most valued employees are those that continue to improve and grow as individuals. It’s therefore imperative for organizations to provide the chance for their people to learn new or advanced job skills, or support business continuity through cross-training, or perhaps a course to improve their knowledge of personal finances to help first time home-buyers, or to plan for retirement. Please don’t overlook providing ongoing management training and support through consistent means and methods, since the individuals with leadership responsibilities play one of the most critical roles in any given organization. When a firm supports a culture of lifelong learning, they are not only investing in their business, they are also investing in the people who make their company unique, and in turn win their employees’s gratitude and loyalty.
Reason Four: Collaboration and Innovation
There is little data to argue against the positive impact of in-person collaboration when it comes to sharing a diversity of ideas, and fostering innovation and problem solving. It’s therefore a no brainer that a destination workplace should be designed to be utilized in a multitude of ways, providing a variety of tools, meeting and huddle rooms, maker spaces and activity-based settings that support brainstorming, socialization, nerf wars, contemplation, spontaneity, whiteboarding, and so on. Days for heads-down, individual work should be saved for the home office or remote work space, when seeing or being seen at the office isn’t a necessity, but rather a distraction that lessens productivity.
Speaking of efficiency, that’s the perfect segue to the last point, and whose impact is massive when it comes to the future of work.
The Planet.
One of the most positive outcomes of the CV-19 pandemic, has got to be the improvements seen in air quality due to less planes in the sky, cars off the road, boats docked, and factories shut down.
Huge cities, like Los Angeles, Seoul and Delhi, are seeing clear skylines and brighter stars for the first time in decades. Even the animals are benefitting and coming out from hiding due to less people crowding into their territories. Wouldn’t it be great to see a trend like that continue, forever?! Mother Earth can only give so much, and it’s imperative now more than ever that we maintain a less is more mindset.
We’re also running out of room to build, let’s face it. Trees, green space, and even sand are becoming harder and harder to come by. So we need to build smarter, not bigger. We need to repurpose, reimagine and reinvent the built environment – without chewing up more land and natural resources. How many skyscrapers and office buildings do we really need? We should learn to work and live within our means, and use what we have instead of consuming more, and more, and more.
If travel to the office is limited on a permanent basis, with employees visiting solely for the distinct reasons outlined above several times a month instead of per week, not only will they save time and headaches without the frequent commute, but they’ll save money on gas and in turn do their part to keep the ozone layer intact and increase the quality of the air that humans, animals and plants need to breathe.
So the office – as a destination – makes complete sense, for the people, for the planet and for the purposeful organization.
A word of caution however – don’t let the pendulum swing too far.
We’ve seen throughout workplace history that when businesses go to the extreme, it usually backfires. Think ‘open office’ and you’ll catch my drift. It never was intended to be a one-size-fits-all approach, but was meant to be combined with some private offices and quiet, distraction free spaces. Unfortunately, the concept was erroneously implemented by so many companies that the mere mention of it now causes near mutinies to take place.
Be mindful of how the destination office is set up, maintained and most of all experienced to ensure inclusivity and equity among all visitors and employees alike.
The same goes with those who are thinking of taking drastic measures, like closing all of their offices and going 100% remote. Sure, remote work should be a mainstay, as the new daily ‘norm’ if you will. But the home base plays an important role by keeping everyone connected to one another, the brand, the mission, and the why.
As such, work environments will be much more heavily relied upon as destinations that are set up more like coworking, higher-ed, maker or innovation spaces. They will be primarily used as tools that are already becoming a standard, for things like marketing and sales, plus attracting and retaining talent. Destination workplaces will also be utilized in ways that are early on in their development, or are yet to be fully conceived and implemented, such as with augmented, mixed, and virtual realities. What a work from home policy doesn’t mean, is that we toss out the office and in-person connection altogether in lieu of video calls and chat rooms. We’d have a serious revolt on our hands if that were the case!
So, all together now – let’s do our part to speak up and take action to ensure offices of the future become destinations of choice! The work environment should be one that we’re not pressured to go every day out of guilt or obligation, but rather be exciting and action-packed locations that boost the HX component and become places we really look forward to visiting – once in a while.
