Companies around the world are contemplating how, when, and even if they want their staff to resume regular in-office work. And they are doing so at a time when the views and priorities of their employees have also shifted.

The latest readings from JLL’s global office worker barometer indicate forced adoption of remote working has created opportunities, but is also exposing new social risks.

Workers say they are experiencing more virtual fatigue, or burn-out, and are increasingly wanting to get back to the office most of the time.

JLL says this suggests offices will be more important as the centre of the work ecosystem and outstanding office environments even in small landlord-owned buildings will remain a critical way to engage employees.

In New Zealand, some vaccination mandates are gone, businesses do not need to ask for vaccine passes, and for many employees working from home is a project nearing completion.

Microsoft’s annual Work Trend report finds one in three New Zealand employers will need teams to go back into the office full-time in the next year.

Migration has already begun with corporates such as Spark, Fonterra and Vodafone opening all their offices, with 50 per cent of staff now back in the office and in other cases teams have been split to work alternate days in the office.

For now, smaller businesses are sticking to hybrid working for employees as they look at plans to entice them back to a nicer working environment through fitouts and other changes.

A recent McKinsey study shows well-being, flexibility, and work-life balance are top of mind for employees.

A Microsoft survey indicates 41 per cent of the global workforce will consider switching jobs in the next year, with 55 per cent noting the work environment will play a role in their decisions.

A Harvard Business Review article says landlords of smaller buildings and employers should be having conversations about how to improve the office environment in a way that boosts employee engagement and well-being, which will encourage attendance, increase retention, and attract new talent.

Valuable Lessons

It says landlords need to listen to what a tenant’s staff want and need, experiment within their own buildings, and bring in partners to add value.

A Seattle firm hired during the pandemic to design the headquarters of a Korean fintech company has some valuable lessons for landlords.

It might sound simple, but nomenclature matters.

For staff, the office shouldn’t be a place to tackle a to-do list. It’s a place for collaboration, creativity, and learning, where an employee feels nurtured and a sense of belonging.

Names of buildings, floors, areas or rooms should reflect this intent. Terms like “learning centre” or “innovation space” communicate the new perspective, shape design changes, attract talent and influence behaviour.

The fintech company calls its new headquarters Mindmark to acknowledge the creative work inside.

Cutting-edge tech companies like Facebook and Google have campuses for the same reason; they want their engineers to experiment just as they did when they were students.

Even UPS recently renamed its corporate headquarters building – from the Plaza to Casey Hall – to emphasise a more warm, inviting, collaborative environment.

Think of Covid as a catalyst to talk about what a tenant’s best employees want from their workplaces, even if you can’t execute on every idea as a landlord. For most organisations, reverting to the status quo won’t be an option. People will expect more flexibility, better technology, and incentives to come to the office, and landlords as well as businesses must heed that call.

Salesforce, for example, reduced its desk space by 40 per cent and embraced a floor plan that features more team-focused spaces, encouraging a balance of individual and collaborative work.

Focus On Productivity

The fintech headquarters caters to various modes of working, including the kind of heads-down individual work that happens at a desk, flexible seating for when people need a break from their desks, collaborative spaces that encourage focused team interaction, and lounges for socialising. This combination of experiences encourages worker productivity while providing structure.

While some companies will create a new headquarters post-pandemic, most can design a more thoughtful office environment with the help of their landlord.

To begin exploring ideas, start small. Help a tenant repurpose conference rooms or refurbish a floor instead of an entire building. A landlord might also incorporate multimedia technology to bring people together and breathe new life into their office.

WarnerMedia’s new headquarters features an immersive media experience incorporating content from the company’s vast universe of networks to create a sense of brand identity and community. Many companies have also invested in smart hybrid meeting technology.

‘Think of Covid as a catalyst to talk about what a tenant’s best employees want from their workplaces’

Landlords can also look for multi-use opportunities. For example, the indoor/ outdoor ramps stretching from the bottom to the top of the fintech building can be used for one-on-one walking meetings, individual exercise, or social breaks in nature and fresh air.

Finally, be sure to focus on safety and sustainability by following healthy building guidelines.

For younger workers, the office is as much a place to learn and socialise as it is a place to meet deadlines.

Nearly 60 per cent of millennials report opportunities to discover new insights are extremely important to them when applying for a job, and they may also stay longer at a company if they get involved in social causes.

Smart companies make this happen by partnering with outside organisations.

Providing space for activities like yoga or meditation, community service, or continuing education are a good place to start.

Even small initiatives like hanging work from local or student artists in rotation, canned food drives in the lobby, or pop-up food trucks outside can give a tenant and their employees a sense of purpose.

Gravity – a mixed-use development in Columbus, Ohio, housing a large-scale creative office building in addition to residences – employs a full-time amenities curator to seek out partners and programmes that feed curiosity and build community.

The workplace trends that accelerated and employee preferences that crystallised during the pandemic aren’t going away. Landlords should use this time to think about how they can improve work environments in a way that boosts tenant engagement.