FOCUS WORKPLACE
determined by the quality of the employee
experience – and perhaps more importantly
the homogeneity of experience across
locations. In practical terms this means
ensuring that employees always have
‘brilliant basics’ and use the same process
to sign in, log-in, access printers and use
collaboration tools wherever they are –
whether it’s the hub, a spoke or at
home. This need for remarkable
consistency should also
include the look and feel
of the design to the
quality of the co ee
and be supported
with employee
guides to ‘sell’ the
experience.
7he desire Ior Ɯ eibility Ɔ at
both a corporate and employee level
Ɔ is a maMor driver oI post pandemiF
workplace change. With rising real estate
costs and limited space in cities, it’s not
sXrprisinJ the averaJe lenJth oƝ Fe
Technology
Technology is
integral to the hub
and spoke model as
it enables employees
to move freely between
spaces without compromising
productivity or connectivity. As such
investment in technology needs to include
infrastructure as well as tools – this will help
FMs to manage the workplace as an asset
and demand for di erent resources, as well
as fulfil some duty of care responsibilities,
particularly in relation to where employees
are.
On a day-to-day level, this requires
‘plug and play’ capability in all locations,
with access to power, connectivity and
collaboration tools as well as single
platform workplace booking systems to
ensure parking, desks and meeting rooms
can be allocated with a swipe of a finger.
FMs o en have the best vision when it
comes to user experience – but IT will
know what the buildings’ and systems’
capabilities are. The success of the hub and
spoke model relies on these roles working
together.
lease is steadily falling and co
working spaces are proving
Act Now
The timing of lease breaks and the market
availability of space may limit formal
downsizing, o ice moves and sublets, but
changes to the workplace are necessary
now because our behaviours have already
changed. The intelligence from the
workplace and needs analysis will identify
where to prioritise e orts and investment.
38 APRIL 2021
the individual employee’s experience. For
example while working from home we’ve had
control over our environment. But moving
back into a shared o ice will mean much
of that is relinquished. Ensuring that the
workplace is rich in choice and availability of
resources is an important way to remedy this.
The pandemic has accelerated the pace of
change and the need to do things di erently.
It has put every aspect of how and where
we work under the microscope and pressed
the reset button. Choice, autonomy and
flexibility are now critical to the future
employee experience and importantly to
a business’s future real estate strategy too.
For FMs and business leaders it’s time to
reinvent the workplace – not as somewhere
employees have to go, but as somewhere
they actively choose to be. The hub and
spoke model opens up a new realm of
possibilities and puts the importance of a
flexible employee experience on the centre
stage.
LOOKING AHEAD
We see from our 2021 data that a work setting
ratio of 10:7 will suit peak requirements for
the organisations that we have engaged,
representing a 70 per cent occupancy
compared with pre-pandemic use.
A work setting ratio of 10:5 will help to
support an average utilisation across the
week for most organisations representing a
50 per cent occupancy compared with prepandemic
use.
During our initial lockdown surveys in 2020
we found that employees expected to be
in o ice 1-2 days a week upon their return.
2021 data suggests this has changed to an
expectation of 2-3 days a week in the o ice.
There is a reduction in the percentage of
overall space required for desks to 40 per
cent of the total area, the remaining space
being utilised for alternative work settings,
collaboration and supporting facilities.
Learning lounges, high
tech collaboration hubs
or cafes could be added
in place of unused
desking and boardrooms,
or perhaps un-used
spaces could be o ered up
to community projects or as
incubator spaces. Employees
expect the workplace to support
them – if it falls short, or doesn’t
o er the experience they’ve been
lacking, the search for flexibility and choice
may lead them elsewhere.
Flexibility
The desire for flexibility – at both a corporate
and employee level – is a major driver of post
pandemic workplace change. With rising
real estate costs and limited space in cities,
it’s not surprising the average length o ice
lease is steadily falling and coworking spaces
are proving popular. Part of the appeal of
the hub and spoke model is that it helps
businesses to break away from traditional
o ice arrangements in favour of more flexible
alternatives – smaller o ices on shorter
terms, partnered relationships with landlords
and spaces that can be reconfigured easily to
suit changing needs and occupancy levels.
Some of our clients are buying employees
membership at local coworking spaces to
achieve this and in recognition that not
everyone can work e ectively at home too.
The need for flexibility must also recognise
35 PER CENT WAS THE AVERAGE
MEETING ROOM UTILISATION
DURING 2019/20
84 PER CENT OF COLLABORATION
SPACES WERE EMPTY IN 2019/20
popular.”