NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
WORKPLACE TRENDS
THE RIGHT FIT
The world has gone through
the most disruptive year in
living memory. From a workplace
perspective there have been
many predictions, most more
headline grabbing than useful,
on how the world of work may
look when the pandemic ebbs.
The annual Workplace Trends
Research Summit, which took
place in April, selects the best
presentations from submitted
abstracts of recent applied
research projects, to provide some
timely updates on current and
future thinking on work and the
workplace.
The online event, which benefited
from its virtual platform in being
able to feature speakers from around
the world, was chaired as ever by
Environmental Psychologist and
Workplace Strategist Nigel Oseland,
direct from his Sustainable Habitat
with Enhanced Design (SHED).
How we work in the future is
currently in the spotlight more than
ever before, so it was appropriate
to begin the day with research from
Andrew Barnes, Founder of New
Zealand based estate planning
services firm Perpetual Guardian,
who has successfully implemented a
four-day week for all sta„ . The five-day
week is a construct from
the 1930s and 1940s manufacturing
base where people were doing
repetitive tasks he explained. It
doesn’t apply to modern knowledge
workers. However, despite being
able to reference the success of his
project he warned anyone considering
implementing this mode of working
to do some careful planning and
monitoring. The greatest risk from
working at home is slipping into
overwork, he advised, that is, not
working from home, but sleeping in
the o„ ice.
10 MAY 2021
NO PLACE LIKE HOME?
Delving into the results from a global
Herman Miller survey on the changing
sentiments towards home and o„ ice
work Bertie van Wyk dispelled the
illusion that the home is a quiet oasis
of calm and productivity. It shows
that 20 per cent of respondents play
loud music to distract them from
background noise, almost 10 per cent
work from surfaces such as their lap,
table or bed, just 25 per cent have
an ergonomic chair and 65 per cent
find productivity and focus is their
biggest challenge. The belief that
the o„ ice is dead is far from the truth
he argued, as research suggests that
close work friendships boast employee
satisfaction rates by 50 per cent.
Kate Lister of Global Workplace
Analytics, who has long advocated
that remote work benefits employers,
employees, the environment, and
society was understandably in favour
of encouraging remote working post-
pandemic. But, as she explained,
whereas before the pandemic
planning for home or remote working
would be months in the making, our
society moved into wholescale home
working in a matter of days in March/
April 2020. Organisations she said that
contemplate a permanent hybrid or
home working model must ensure
they’ve senior executive support. “If
the leadership wants their people
to work remotely they have to do it
themselves. I’m fearful that companies
aren’t going to do the change
management to make this remote
working model work.”
BACK TO THE WORKPLACE
We’ve all been surprised at how
e„ ectively people have been at
working from home, said Researcher
Daniel Davis of architect Hassell, in the
opening to his presentation on how to
structure the workplace aœ er COVID.
This leaves us in a strange place as we
exit the pandemic with the place of
work presenting a variety of choices:
As it was – back to the o ice
Turbocharged – activity-based
working with a more e icient
sharing ratio
Clubhouse – maximise
collaboration, connection and
socialisation
Hub and spoke – live and work in
the same area
No o ice – permanent remote
working
Drawing from a survey into how
the Australian o„ ice sector which
has already reopened its o„ ices is
faring, he reflected that one of the
most interesting results is that most
have assumed a single dominant
model from the list above. None of
these categories are new. What is
di„ erent is the breath of options being
considered. Each involves trade-o„ s
he warned, which is why leaders must
assess the demographic di„ erences
within their organisations and avoid
making huge decisions on their post-
pandemic workplace without engaging
with their employees. “And remember”
he said, “one size doesn’t fit all, and it
never has”.
Davis’s warning was echoed by the
views of Sinead O'Toole of She„ ield
Hallam University, who as an introvert,
dreads the creation of super cool
‘super-collaborative’ environments
which do not allow for diverse needs.
Our world of work isn’t set up for
quieter people, but through lockdown
the world has been turned upside
down, and introverts have enjoyed
working from home, (the lack of
interruptions and quiet time) while
many extroverts struggled.
“It says something about our pre
COVID workplace, that it wasn’t
working for introverts”, she said.
“Diverse workplaces are going to
require really thoughtful engagement
and design. The most important thing
to remember is that people are a really
diverse bunch and to recognise that
we need to engage with all of them
and really start to listen.”
Listening to occupants’ needs is
what the Leeman Group is all about,
so it was fitting that its Chief Insights
and Research O„ icer, Dr Peggie Rothe
was on hand to share some data on
what an o„ ice needs to deliver in 2021
and beyond. Drawing on the mass of
data their research has unearthed, she
concluded that there are three things
that will be crucial in 2021. These are
people, place and time.
PUT PEOPLE FIRST
By putting people first employers
can determine the purpose of the
workplace, and the best way to
do that is by asking what do they
need? Focus then on the places you
provide to ensure you’re providing
an outstanding experience. Leesman
research during lockdown shows that
the overall experience for the average
o„ ice worker has been lower than
working from home. Only 64 per cent
said the o„ ice enabled them to work
productively compared to 83 per cent
at home. This means, she said that the
average home which is designed for
living is better than the average o„ ice
designed for work.
Finally, there is the time aspect. As
workplaces prepare to open up, now is
the time for employers to act. We’ve all
been testing home working for quite
a while now and we need to be ready
for the post-COVID landscape she
concluded.
Each organisation needs to make
their own decision on how they want
to operate in the future. As Lister
pointed out, there is an opportunity
here to not hit the reset button and
avoid recreating processes that
were wrong in the first place. There
is a fundamental opportunity for
individual organisations to rethink the
who, what, when, where, why and how
of work and they can begin by asking
the right questions.
https://workplacetrends.co/
Organisations pondering the post pandemic workplace need to determine
exactly what is the right fi t for them. This begins by asking the right
questions, fi nds the 2021 Workplace Trends 5esearch Summit
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