New Research That Made Us Say 'Wow'

The Future Is Here

Workplace trends are rarely surprising. It’s not that things don’t change. But they’re usually pretty easy to see coming if you pay attention. I mean, was anyone really surprised people wanted more flexibility at work after all the pre-pandemic office complaints?

We’ve tracked attitudes about the workplace and what’s most important to employees and leaders for years, and they told us about specific products, solutions and priorities for the office.

But when our teammates in WorkSpace Futures research shared the results of their latest study? of global leaders my first reaction was “wow.”

Leaders’ Top Concerns

Leaders said the top issues they think will be more important this year are: employee wellbeing, diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainability.

These topics are hardly new. But they always lived further down the list of choices leaders need to make – things that were important, but not as urgent. Now that’s changed.

Three years ago our researchers used a methodology called “foresight” that’s a regular part of their practice, this time specifically exploring people and planet issues. They scan the horizon for lots of signals that might seem insignificant at first, but patterns emerge and get synthesized into “forces” that are translated into possible future scenarios. It’s a way of planning for the future to make the right choices before these changes are upon us. Our researchers identified that climate change and employee wellbeing were issues that would have greater impact on organizations’ strategic choices in the near future — things such as planning for extreme weather events and prioritizing long-term employee wellbeing over short-term organizational gains.?

We saw this shift in priorities coming, along with others who’ve been on the forefront advocating for change. And now that future is here.

Designing Better Futures

The sentiment that emerged in our leader study offers hope and a signal it’s gaining momentum. Work Better is focused on helping to build that momentum even more. We hope to inspire you with new ways of thinking about product and space design, and about how to make healthcare and learning spaces truly people-centered. We share ideas for designing spaces that are inclusive for everyone and celebrate those who are designing better futures for people and the planet — we fundamentally believe organizations can have a bigger impact if we collectively take action.

We have decided to include our annual Impact Report for 2023: Our Work Toward Better Futures , which details the goals we’ve set and the progress we’re making for the wellbeing of people and the planet. We are working towards meeting more ambitious carbon reduction goals at a greater global scale than anyone in our industry and sharing the details to foster open and honest conversations about our choices and the challenges we face so we can make progress — together.

Because better is possible.

Chris Congdon

Editor in Chief, Work Better Magazine