NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
WORKPLACE TRENDS
NEW WORLD ORDER
Workplace Trends: A New World of Work which took place on 13 October 2021, discussed the once in a
generation opportunity to reinvent work and the workplace
Moving from the traditional
concepts of the workplace to a
re-evaluation of knowledge workers’
needs, Environmental Psychologist
and Workplace Consultant Nigel
Oseland set the scene for the day by
introducing us to his book, Beyond
the Workplace Zoo: Humanising
the O ice. This looks at the design
mistakes associated with the
traditional o ice and key areas for
improvement. He explained that
the problem is that the sector is still
obsessed with cost, e iciency and
driving down space, which in turn
has created the ‘workplace zoo’.
The solution? A move away from an
emphasis on cost to value.
Architect Key Portilla Kawamura
of Studio Banana who presented
remotely from Switzerland on the topic
‘Workplace to Networkplace,’ went
on to question the prevailing notion
that the culture of any organisation
should be predicated by the idea of a
headquarters. He advised we should not
be so dependent on the physical glue of
‘place’ and instead embrace new ways
of working.
POST PANDEMIC OPPORTUNITIES
Paul-Jervis Heath, a Founding Partner
of Modern Human, and previously
10 NOVEMBER 2021
Head of Innovation and Chief Designer
at the Cambridge University had some
stirring words on opportunities to make
some real changes to the way we work
following the pandemic.
“Our mission is to empower and
liberate people through design,” he
said. “We have a once in a generation
opportunity to reinvent work and change
all the assumptions we had in the past
and how the future of work looks like.
Future historians and generations will
see how we changed the course of
humanity for the better or we failed to
act.”
He said that clients want destination
workplace spaces with enough flexibility
for users to customise their own
environment. Design shouldn’t be a
thing that is ‘done’ to people, instead,
allow people to manipulate their space
for what they want to do.
Michael Fern of Edge Design
Agency took this theme further with a
presentation about how if the workplace
is no longer the only place where work
‘gets done’, what can it oŒ er?
He noted that most of the thinking
at the moment is about what kind of
workplace people are returning too
when it should be more of a question
of why people are returning at all. If the
oŒ ice is no longer ‘the place’ what is
the pull? He suggested it’s much more
about the human aspects of work, how a
workplace should stimulate the senses,
by providing an enriched space.
HYBRID OR OVERHYPED?
The a’ ernoon session opened with a
wide-ranging discussion between James
Lawrence of Gensler, Mirna Gelleni
from Vodafone Group, and Sudhir
Saseedharan of Tetra Pak on hybrid
working - whether it’s overhyped or is it
here to stay.
The consensus was the latter. As Sudhir
Saseedharan revealed, organisations are
already reaping the benefits of utilising
the diverse talents of people based all
over the world. However, the proviso is
that organisations must provide the right
technology to support remote working.
Focusing on the experiences of those
working from home, was a valuable
discussion between Ergonomist Lillian
Antonio and Mark Catchlove of Herman
Miller Insight Group on the challenges
and opportunities for home workers. No
matter how limited your home working
choices, according to Antonio, the
minimum requirement is to use a work
surface, not sit with a laptop on your
knee. She also stressed that a laptop
kit and separate mouse and keyboard,
ideally lightweight, are extremely
important to ensure safer working. She
also, and many FMs who opted for this
approach during the first lockdown
maybe alarmed to hear – warned of the
dangers in allowing staΠto buy their
own oΠice furniture. Referring to the
mantra SIT STAND MOVE REPEAT she
recommended that people strive to
move around during the day, as research
has shown home workers are only
moving away from their desk to go to the
bathroom.
JOBS PICTURE
Moving onto recruitment and retention,
was Psychologist and Researcher,
Dhanishtha Patel of CBRE who said
that for the first time in history, there
are five generations represented in
the workplace. Over two thirds (67 per
cent) of job seekers consider workplace
diversity an important factor when
considering employment she said, with
the newcomers into the workforce,
Gen Z, very involved with social justice.
These joiners want to be privy to what’s
happening at the C-Suite level, and
ideally a seat at a boardtable, not to talk
but be kept informed. This maybe an
anathema to most CEOs, but this level
of transparency will only grow as its
estimated that Gen Z already makes up
26 per cent of the global population.
James Saunders of The Talent Locker
who specialises in recruiting for the
workplace consulting and workplace
change management sector had
some useful insights on the current
jobs picture for both applicants and
recruiters. Perhaps most relevant to FMs
is the range of terms now being used
to describe the role, from Workplace
Experience Manager, to Head of Remote.
A key area employees are looking for is
the quality of the workplace experience,
he reiterated, whether based at home,
on the beach or in the workplace.
This brought us full circle back to the
key theme of the day, no matter where
staŒ are based are you ensuring workers’
needs are being met?