FOCUS RETURN TO WORK
ROUNDTABLE
been drowned out by everything else that’s been
going on. Employees do not view sustainability
as something which is ‘nice to have”. This is why
organisations are keenly aware that a robust
sustainability programme can help make an
organisation an employer of choice. For many
workers, if their o„ ice isn’t banning single-use
plastic or running a sustainability programme, that
could be an issue.
When it comes to sustainability, Dan Johnson
cited the growth in popularity of wider
sustainability and wellbeing accreditations such as
the Well Building Certificate, which concentrates
on how environmental factors a„ ect occupant
wellbeing.
“For Zip Water it’s specifically the provision of
reusable bottles and easy access to water. One of
our flexible o„ ice space clients provides occupants
with a utility bottle with all their kitchen and break
out areas fitted out with reusable bottle fillers that
dispense chilled and sparkling water. The thinking
is to remove people’s desire to buy water and
spend their own money on single-use plastic.”
The panel agreed that to hit specific targets such
as moving to a carbon neutral energy supply and
a zero-waste target, they need to ensure all their
sta„ are on board. Ingenuities range from designing
the workplace to make it much more convenient
to recycle than throw rubbish in the bin, to
introducing a range of strategies to encourage sta„
to hit green targets.
The use of green champions is a popular
approach, alongside a level of competition
amongst teams, for instance the one with the
highest level of recycling wins a prize. An FM told
us: “For this year’s Earth Day we’ve sent out a
biodiversity infographic, so people know we’ve got
a range of sustainability plans. We believe helping
people understand the purpose of sustainability
strategies helps change behaviours. It’s all about
education, information and making it fun.”
FUTURE PLANS
Johnson points out: “The WELL Building Standard
encompasses other areas such as the volume of
light into an area, and the provision of ergonomic
desks and standing desks. People do thrive when
in a workspace that supports their wellbeing and
with COVID showing that people can work from
home if the need to, we’ve got to make the o„ ice
environment appealing.” So how did the panel
feel the workplace will develop over the coming
months?
Our FMs agreed they were viewing the gradual
end of lockdown as the opportunity to reflect on
what their people want, with the proviso that many
might not actually know what they want until they
return to the workspace.
“What we do know is that they miss collaboration
and more junior members miss the mentoring
they can get from informal chats. We want to
bring people back together either formally or
informally but we do see a hybrid approach with an
42 MAY 2021
investment in tech, and a bit more of a ‘resimercial’
feel. If people choose to come into the o„ ice just
once or twice a week we want their return to make
them feel energised. Ultimately, we want to design
a space that grows with us in our journey back into
the workplace.”
According to Jason Lee: “Ours is a two-fold
process, as we’ve o„ ice based and field sta„ . The
sales guys on the road will be carrying out more
face-to-face meetings, and we will be encouraging
them to get back to normal and ignore some of
the more extreme predictions for the future of
the workplace, when none of us have never been
through something like this before.” He suggests,
that it’s important to note the circumstances will
be di„ erent for every organisation.
Amongst the rest of the panel, many were
intending that their o„ ice space wouldn’t be
changing back to anything like ‘normal’ for the
rest of the year. But despite the pandemic, they
did aim to “try and get rid of the black and yellow
tape while educating people on maintaining social
distance and making it welcoming as we
can”.
Some of the FMs in the
group did not expect
all their people to be
back in the o„ ice
until September
with some
rolling new
collaborative
spaces which
were installed
during the
pandemic.
“We want to
let people start
to use the space;
working from the
o„ ice and remotely and
check if we’ve the right mixes
of spaces. I predict it will be eight
months to a year until we’ve got the right data for
the next phase.”
Many of the group were aiming to take a so‰
landings approach, aiming to validate and study
how people were working before making any
wholescale changes. “We’re aiming for two days a
week commitment,” said a panellist, “and from that
glean the level of collaboration with colleagues and
clients as well as the social element.
“There are a lot of experts on LinkedIn who
will tell you exactly what to do, but we think
we’re better o„ taking our time and studying the
situation so as we get further down the track, we
see it as an evolution from where we are today in
our COVID-secure bubbles, into hybrid workings
and what can be done with our o„ ices to make
them more supportive.”
This focus on new behaviours was a recurring
theme, as most of the panel didn’t want to use
the o„ ice the way they did previously; for instance
recurring room bookings for a weekly catch up,
when their building has plenty
of spaces for informal
meetings, including sofas,
brainstorming rooms
and break out areas.
encompasses other areas such as the
volume of light into an area, and the provision
of ergonomic desks and standing desks. People
do thrive when in a workspace that supports
their wellbeing and with COVID showing that
people can work from home if the need
It was also mooted
that the hybrid working
pattern could ensure
that sta„ are much
more focused when
they are in the o„ ice,
“so there’s a purpose to
be being there compared
to working from home”. Some
were also introducing staggered
starting times to ease congestion
The WELL Building Standard
to, we’ve got to make the offi ce
environment appealing.”
and utilising hitherto neglected areas of
the building, for instance a roof garden for work
meetings.
For Dan Johnson at Zip Water: “In our o„ ices we
have additional people moving back in who have
been working from home and we’ve taken the time
to talk to them about their emotions and feelings
about being back in the workplace.
“While we are taking the steps to do this with our
own o„ ices, in terms of clients we are looking at
working patterns and how their sta„ can be kept
happy. It all comes down to a diversity of needs
within organisations to decide what to o„ er in their
buildings and deliver a solution that helps meet
plans for how they want to move forward. For FMs
it’s about encouraging sta„ who want to contribute
to the business, and for us we need to give our
customers options within an environment none of
us expected.
“This means putting in the time and resources
to listen to what people want, and supporting the
delivery of an optimal o„ ice space.”