What Happens When...

This week we’re exploring what happens when companies define their own bespoke approach to the office vs. when they default to their pre-pandemic office construct, despite significant changes in how they work.?To date, many small to mid-size organizations have chosen not to formulate a definitive new approach, instead relying on the old office design and a loosely defined hybrid approach.?In a time when the mere discussion of corporate office policy has the potential to trigger highly negative reactions among employees, it takes courage and leadership to advocate a new plan that reflects a vision for the future.?Understandably, as we’ve crept out of full pandemic mode and begun to look to the future, many companies have been uneasy about taking a definitive position.

What are the implications of the so called “kick the can down the road” approach??From a physical space perspective, it means space which is not designed to facilitate new uses, space which is typically too big and has low energy.?Add to this the preponderance of loosely defined, unenforced hybrid directives, and the result is wasteful spending on real estate that is woefully underutilized.?While seemingly the “easy” or “safe” choice, this approach actually risks greater damage to the company than when management sets a thoughtful future-oriented course (even if elements of the future-oriented workplace end up being wrong).?Why??It signals a lack of leadership or the capacity to think strategically about the office in terms of what it means to the organization - - - the ability to connect the physical office to desired outcomes.?In the absence of such connection, it’s difficult for the employee, especially the employee who would strongly prefer not to be in the office, to grasp how it fits into the broader narrative of bettering the company (meaning how it serves the greater good, not just how it impacts the individual).?We believe employees, many of whom prefer max flex and agency over their schedule, ultimately respect their employer’s approach when it has been thoughtfully developed and is consistently applied across the organization.?What does that look like??It means 3 things:?

1) The rationale for the approach has to be truthfully grounded in how it serves the organization, the benefits it brings

2) The message has to be communicated frequently and consistently over a long period of time to reinforce the policy and ensure broad understanding as to why it matters

3) Leadership must demonstrate its commitment to the approach through its actions

It feels riskier for leaders to conceive a new way forward because it requires they ask new questions, starting with why do we have an office??Humans are drawn to routines and patterns, change can be uncomfortable.?In the context of corporate decision making, there’s always a fear that a new approach may result in a bad outcome; one, which, in hindsight, will seem obviously flawed and for which the management who promoted the strategy will face personal consequences.?But companies are beginning to take definitive action.?And as more do, the winners and the losers will become apparent.?Talent will be attracted to companies that have a distinct opinion about and approach to the office.?This, in turn, will catalyze more organizations to lean into their own version of the future office.?

It’s important to point out that in most cases, the extremes are not in play.?For example, total abandonment of the office, while happening in select cases, is still a radical idea and will not be the right approach for most companies.?Similarly, most companies today are not going to be on the other end of the spectrum, calling everyone back to the office 5 days a week.?So the solution lies somewhere in the middle, in a form of hybrid workplace.?This is the space in which leaders need to be very prescriptive, intentional.?How does the space serve the organization??The good news is there’s only a handful of ways in which the physical office can serve the organization.?These include:

• Fosters human to human interaction, collaboration and mentorship
• Promotes culture
• Facilitates connection that leads to healthier relationships
• Spurs and supports innovation
• Promotes health and wellness
• Promotes brand
• Causes employees to want to be there
• Increases productivity and engagement

While companies can employ surveys and other means to take the pulse of the employee, we’re not convinced this is the best approach.?Firstly, it fails when companies survey their employees and ignore the results.?And let’s be clear, employees often lack perspective for the bigger picture. They’re more focused on how the office impacts their daily lives than on how it impacts the enterprise.?This is why it’s so important for leaders to take a stand on this subject, to define and enforce the organization’s office policy.?Not because it serves some draconian view of management oversight, but because of how it contributes to the overall health and prosperity of the company.?By the way, if the solution does not positively contribute in this way, don’t do it.?Pre-pandemic, leadership could get away with glaring inconsistencies in how they conceived the office, who had to be there and who didn’t.?The majority of the employees could be forced to be in office 5 days a week, while senior leaders had the kind of freedom most employees now enjoy (post-pandemic).?That inconsistency did not go unnoticed.?The difference is, these days, employees have had a taste of freedom and they will revolt against office policies that are not clearly grounded in the truthful pursuit of making the company better.??

What the office is decidedly not about (any more) is a singular place where employees are forced to go to do work.?Work can and does happen in a variety of places.?In most cases, the modern office is about providing a place for essential human interaction, the kind that simply cannot be replicated through technology.?We’re excited to bear witness to and to help facilitate a shift toward the discovery of what happens when companies get really thoughtful about the office and take definitive steps to iterate new approaches.?It’s here that we (finally) begin to move forward, to acknowledge that much has changed and to harness the value that will come from new ways of engaging employees through the built environment.