Place Matters:  The Purpose of Place and What Brings People Back

Place Matters: The Purpose of Place and What Brings People Back

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that place matters. Whether working from a home office or sitting shoulder to shoulder with colleagues, employees want to feel connected to their organizations and produce their best work. While remote work has solidified its place in a post-pandemic economy, the purpose of the office continues to evolve and the need for colleague connection and a sense of community is more important than ever.

In this article we take a closer look at why the office plays an integral role in fostering productivity, innovation, creativity and building a sense of community in the workplace. We assess how the benefits of the office go outside the four walls, while considering whether working from home is really as healthy and sustainable as we think.

As you read through, consider whether your employees feel actively engaged with each other on a daily basis, regardless of whether they’re in an office or at home. Recognize that the purpose of place is evolving. Are you investing in the right resources to provide an enhanced office experience? Take a hard look at where you are now and where you want to be. If work from home is in your organization’s long-term future, are you investing in the right resources for your employees?

Back to the Future: The Roots of Work from Home

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This grand experiment has been tried before. Let’s start from the beginning. When the computer was invented in the early 1970s, it made work from home a viable option for many organizations by providing workplace flexibility and real estate cost savings. An early pioneer of this model includes IBM, who scaled from nearly 2,000 remote employees in 1983 to 40% of its 386K workforce in 2009, unloading more than 58 million SF of office space in the process[1] .

However, in 2017, after coping with 20 straight quarters of declining revenue, IBM recalled thousands of its workers back to the physical office in an effort to boost productivity. In similar fashion, Yahoo and Best Buy reversed their long-standing work from home policies in 2013, citing enhanced collaboration as a primary driver.

Then Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, stated, “People are more productive when they're alone, but they're more collaborative and innovative when they're together. Some of the best ideas come from pulling two different ideas together.”

The Productivity & Creativity Balancing Act

Innovation is sparked through collaboration and the cross-pollination of ideas. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s Experience per Square Foot? (XSF) global survey focused on remote work that included more than 60,000 respondents, 75% feel productive while working from home, however, creativity has taken a hit. In a recent Fortune/Lucidspark 1,000-employee survey, 46% of respondents cited less face time with their team as a catalyst for feeling less creative while working from home and 44% said they felt like they were working in a bubble and didn’t know what their colleagues were doing.[2] In addition, U.S patent activity dropped by nearly 4% from 2019 to 2020 due to people not coming together to brainstorm.[3]

46% of survey respondents claim feeling less creative when working from home due to less face time - Fortune/Lucidspark

Environmental Behavior Research studies indicate that the physical work environment best supports intervisibility, team effectiveness, trust, and proximity to promote face to face communication which drives innovation.

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In 2008, the North Carolina State University College of Design conducted a workspace planning and innovation study to test whether differences in spatial layout of research offices and labs affects face-to-face technical consultations, and ultimately innovation process outcomes in university research centers (URCs). The study found that face-to-face consultations formed the main medium of information exchange among scientists within all six URCs.

Interestingly, of the 1,763 research-related consultations reported in six URCs, 57% were unscheduled office visits, 23% were coincidental consultations (both unprogrammed encounters), 3% were prescheduled office visits, 3% were prescheduled group meetings, 2% were unscheduled group meetings (programmed encounters), 8% were e-mails, and 4% were telephone calls (consultations through E-media).[4]

In more recent news, Electronic Arts was set to launch its newest game, Battlefield 2042 ?in October 2021, but announced it would be delayed until mid-November, citing unforeseen challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, which delayed the return of its development staff to offices as the reason behind the delay[5] . "With the ongoing conditions not allowing that to happen safely, and with all the hard work the teams are doing from home, we feel it is important to take the extra time to deliver on the vision of Battlefield 2042 for our players," the company added.

Electronic Arts’ hindered productivity also carried significant financial implications, including shares dropping as much as 7% after the delay was announced. [6]

A Sense of Belonging

The workplace says a lot about an organization’s sense of community and how their brand is portrayed to the outside world. The office provides new hires, especially at the junior level, with invaluable exposure and learning opportunities that are difficult to capture via Zoom meetings. According to Experience per Square Foot? global survey, 33% of employees do not feel like they are learning and 72% of Millennials and Gen Z employees report having work from home challenges such as inadequate workspace, poor technology and caregiver responsibilities.

"72% of Millennials and Gen Z employees report work from home challenges" - Experience per Square Foot? global survey

In-office presence also plays a part in building camaraderie among colleagues and establishes a sense of purpose for the organization, a key driving factor in retaining talent. According to a recent McKinsey study, over 50% of employees who recently left their jobs cited not feeling a sense of belonging at work or feeling valued by their organizations or managers as their primary factors to seek outside employment[7] . Additionally, through regression modelling of Cushman & Wakefield’s XSF data, we have identified that a sense of belonging at work is a positive driver of 80% of engagement outcomes.

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The purpose of the office will adapt to focus primarily on the organization’s connective tissue- offering spaces, tools and amenities that foster interaction, innovation and allow for escape. Amenities such as onsite fitness facilities, food stipends, locker rooms/showers for alternative commuters (cyclists) and informal collaboration spaces are just a few examples of amenities that reduce friction points and promote delighters. From a talent attraction/retention standpoint, flexible work will be a widely offered benefit in the market, making employee-centric amenities a key differentiator.

When thinking of the types of amenities, perks, and benefits that you incorporate into your employee experience and workplace, be comprehensive with the entire package. Our recommendation in the office is to set up employees for success, so that when they do come to the office for work, they have the spaces, amenities, and support to be a positive part of their week. ?

Supporting a Healthy Workforce

From an employee health standpoint, there has been an increase in anxiety and stress during the pandemic lock-down and restrictions which have led to an increase in sedentary behaviors, sleep disruption and weight gain.

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In fact, 69% of respondents in a recent WebMD poll confirm weight gain during COVID-19 restrictions[8] and 92% of respondents of the American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Occupational Health poll report an increase in musculoskeletal conditions and pain among patients as a result of working from home[9] .

In addition, while working from home has caused CO2 to drop due to the lack of commuting, average home electricity consumption rose more than 20% on weekdays in some parts of the county,?according to the International Energy Agency.[10] A shift to full-time work from home would also cause a migration to suburban neighborhoods, which are shown to have higher household carbon footprints than urban core cities.[11]

Home electricity consumption rose more than 20% on weekdays during work from home - International Energy Agency

Getting (re)Started

While the office carries a variety of benefits, organizational success really comes down to its people. Employees want to feel engaged and feel like their organization supports their workplace, whether in-office or virtual. It’s the organization’s job to make investments in the right resources to provide an enhanced workplace experience regardless of location.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

  1. Take action today. Employee engagement doesn’t have to revolve around frequent meetings or occasional happy hours, it can be as simple as saying “good morning” whether in-person or on messenger, in an effort to reinforce a sense of care among colleagues.
  2. Recognize that the purpose of place is evolving. Employees are expecting more from their physical office space, from upgraded amenities to greater levels of collaboration among colleagues. Through mediums such as in-depth survey analysis or focus groups, there is an opportunity to invest in discovery and uncover what the key drivers are for your employees to return to the workplace.
  3. Take a hard look at where you are now and where you want to be. If continued remote work is in your organization’s future, ensure your employees have the tools and resources they need to sustain high levels of productivity. This will require investments in reliable technology, proper ergonomic set up and providing opportunities for regular employee engagement.

As we move forward into the future of work, the emphasis should not be solely on whether you work in the office or remotely. It should focus on where is best place is to do the types of work that you need to do – as an individual, a team, and as a company. There is no one size fits all solution. Success will be driven by good communication and expectations between employees and management, and a sense of purpose.

Many thanks to Taylor van Dam, Marissa Huber and Nikhil Dua for their contributions to this article. For more, visit our team’s page here .

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[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/11/when-working-from-home-doesnt-work/540660/

[2] https://lucidspark.com/blog/report-collaboration-and-creativity-during-covid

[3] https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/h_counts.htm

[4] https://projects.ncsu.edu/iucrc/PDFs/Toker&Gray2008.pdf

[5] https://www.yahoo.com/now/electronic-arts-ea-delays-battlefield-145902549.html

[6] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/electronic-arts-weighs-on-videogame-stocks-as-delay-rumors-herald-in-likely-new-normal-for-sector-11631731445

[7] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours

[8] https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200518/webmd-poll-many-report-weight-gain-during-shutdown

[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/well/live/ergonomics-work-from-home-injuries.html?auth=linked-google

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/02/is-remote-working-better-for-the-environment-not-necessarily

[11] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es4034364

Tom Benek

Independent Corporate Real Estate Consultant

3 年

Still at it? Good stuff!

回复
Steve Monaco

Corporate Real Estate Advisor I Interim CRE Executive I Design & Construction Expert

3 年

Great reminder of what humans really need... each other!

David DeThorne

Director of Academic and Employee Labor Relations | What does the contract say? | Improving Communication and Understanding Different Perspectives

3 年

Your # 1 reminds me of something I learned decades ago, but still seems relatively rare. Subordinates only want two things from their leaders: knowledge (expertise the group relies upon) and concern (does management care about my welfare or am I just a cog in the machine?).

Bruce Sargent

Corporate Real Estate Executive / Leader - Retired

3 年

Excellent points / insights for all of us. My experience is that no technology to date can replace the collaboration that takes place when together live.

Tony Reichl

Sales Manager - North America at Vega Industries. Inc

3 年

Excellent perspective and insight!

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