Human environments: people are essential to the emerging workplace

When we go back to the workplace, we will not be able to simply walk back into our offices and not expect some level of change within our working practices. Landlords will have a role to play in what companies do with their space and it is still unclear as to how this situation will effect co-working spaces. What is unlikely though, is that firms will just ignore the learnings from this period of remote working. It may take some months to get back to full speed, but the experiences that people have had during this time may mean we don't see any radical changes to the workplace.

Naturally one of the expected reactions will be that firms may reduce space requirements. By saving money on space, it releases finances to invest in communications and technology packages to adopt more agile set ups. This strategy will appeal to certain sectors more than others, and equally will be more feasible for start-ups and SMEs to initiate than it might be for big corporates. Another reason that companies might shift to remote models and turn their back on the office was highlighted in Deivik Goel's article. Deivik's makes a great point about the unlocking of talent opportunities and that by shifting to a remote model, you remove the geographic barriers that prevent you from hiring certain talent. Again, this is undoubtedly a huge incentive for a lot of companies to move to this model.

Businesses have made huge investments in their workplaces to ensure that they provide environments for people to share, communicate and collaborate. It's difficult to imagine that these companies will suddenly move away from this and ignore the needs of their most valuable asset; their people. Now more than ever there is a forum for staff to share their ideas on what they need from the workplace. Business leaders will be able to learn from their staff and their own experiences and employees now possess the experience to have an even greater influence on what they require from the workplace.

It’s well recognised that one of the key drivers for businesses investing in their workplaces is to help attract and retain talent. If certain companies move to remote models and reduce their office space or change the role the workplace plays in their organisation, it wouldn't be unimaginable for their competitors to go completely the other way. It wouldn’t be surprising to see both small and large companies invest even more into their workplaces to ensure they can keep people together, build communities and satisfy the human need for social interaction.

There are countless examples of ways businesses and individuals have stayed connected with their employees to retain culture and community. As valuable as the virtual lunches, book clubs and group exercise classes over video chat are, they don't replace people being able to do those things in person. Highly competitive industries already use their offices as a benefit when recruiting so will these companies be brave enough to forgo the office and potentially lose a valuable asset from their offering? It's obviously still unclear but it is something that I'm sure we will see develop but if we go from Company A having a cooler office than Company B to Company A having no office, Company B would have a vastly different offering when recruiting.

Humans are pack animals and there is more to work than just doing your job. So, while we've seen it is possible and functional to work from home, is it really what every employee wants? There is a wide range of variables when working from home and between having an adequate set up and relying on technology, one of the big lessons we’re learning is that people want to be with other people, they want the immediacy of face-to-face conversation and to socialise with their colleagues. For companies to ignore the wellbeing, productivity and cultural aspects of a physical office to save on rent seems unlikely. However, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect companies to change their views on working from home more and offer staff greater flexibility in opting to work from home because they now know it works.

Even if firms decide to downsize and take less space, their offices will still play an essential part in uniting people and showcasing their offering. If we see a shift to a more transient workforce, then the office must provide something different to place more value and meaning on coming into the office. The role of the workplace could now focus even more on the needs of their people and evolve what it means to foster collaboration and community in the office.