employee experience

Why is employee experience important?

Consider buying a new car. It’s an experience that’s notoriously frustrating — one most people dread. They hate pestering salespeople, haggling over price and interest rates, and signing dozens of documents. By the time they drive off the lot, most people are too exhausted to enjoy their purchase. The overall experience was simply draining. It’s the same concept for an employee’s experience in the workplace.

Unlike the experience of buying a car, you want employees to feel good coming to work! Many employees today work hybrid, and it’s your job to ensure they enjoy coming to the office as much as they enjoy remote work. They shouldn’t dread walking up to the building or feeling tension when sitting at a desk. Employees should leave feeling fulfilled at the end of the day. Research shows a good employee experience can improve the productivity, comfort, and cohesiveness of an excellent workplace experience.

What is employee experience?

Employee experience is a self-explanatory term. It’s how your employees feel about their employment. Only recently has employee experience become quantified as the sum of culture, technology, and workplace — though it’s most often correlated with the workplace since that’s where all these variables come together.

In a genuine sense, employee experience is about making employees excited, proud, happy, and confident in their work. Companies capable of doing this create a positive employee experience; companies that fall short may deliver a negative or unexciting experience to workers, leading to employee burnout. It’s an outcome dictated mainly by the willingness and ability to meet and exceed employee needs, expectations, and standards.

Every company wants happy employees but employee experience goes far beyond making people happy. It’s about attaining the benefits of happy, engaged, and productive employees. Here are 10 reasons employee experience is important and why it pays to create a positive one:

Attract and retain talent. Skilled employees want to work in a place that embraces and supports them. From the interview to the onboarding process through all stages of the employee, a good experience provides top talent with a sense of purpose and work-life balance.
Create camaraderie. A company’s workforce needs to function as a team. Bad employee experience can push people apart; good, shared experiences bring them together.
Enable work support. A good experience empowers employees to try their best. This way, employees feel confident about their work and less afraid of failure if their workplace projects an air of support.
Improve engagement. Employees with a positive view of their workplace enjoy a certain level of excitement about their job. They’re attentive, engaged, and ready to do their best.
Foster collaboration. Given a positive experience collaborating with their peers, employees won’t be afraid to ask for help, provide guidance, or work together—especially in an environment that supports them.
Inspire creativity. The ability to think clearly and creatively benefits businesses and employees alike. That creativity fosters innovation, which leads to growth.
Prioritize well-being. If a workplace weighs heavily on an employee, they’ll suffer at work and home. Promoting a positive employee experience encourages higher engagement, which can improve mental health.
Feed the bottom line. An excellent employee experience boosts the bottom line through everything from better efficiency to a higher caliber of work done. Happy employees drive revenue growth.
Bolster company image. People talk. When the topic of work arises and employees say only good things, that word of mouth becomes part of the company’s ethos, and perception is often reality.
Grow professionally. Employees who feel good about where they work grow in their professional endeavors. They do more, learn more, and feel comfortable taking on responsibility.

Remember, these benefits are contingent on a positive experience and can be erased by a negative one. Let’s return to the car analogy from above. If you have a wonderful experience at the dealership, you might be more willing to recommend them to a friend or pay a little extra for features you might not have otherwise.

A bad experience may make you leave the lot without even buying a car! From the moment of arrival to the moment of departure, experience means everything — especially to attract and retain top talent.

Reap the benefits of a positive employee experience

At the end of the workday, positive employee experiences directly correlate to business success. Employees who feel welcomed, accommodated, and empowered bring that positive energy to their work, the interactions they share, and the company culture. These factors contribute to a business’s bottom line and competitive advantage.

Pay close attention to employee experience in the workplace. Do they show up and leave in a good mood? Can they work efficiently and productively? Do they immerse themselves in the workplace? Look for the hallmarks of a good experience and address facets of the workplace where friction, tension, and other negative sentiments are an opportunity to improve the employee experience.

Keep in mind people will never be happy all the time. But an employee’s workplace experience should never be the reason why they’re unhappy. If it is, it’s time to reshape your workplace and employee experience.

Alternative workplaces: Then versus now

In 1998, the Harvard Business Review published a futuristic article, The Alternative Workplace: Changing Where and How People Work. While it was a new and exciting concept back then, in 2023, it isn’t too groundbreaking. If anything, it’s the new normal.

It describes remote work and a growing detachment from the traditional workplace. That said, it’s a prophetic-sounding piece from more than 20 years ago that predicted the alternative workplace we’re seeing today.

Indeed, we have moved from an era in which people actively seek connections with one another to an era in which people decide when and where to disconnect — electronically and socially. Current organizations pursuing alternative workplace initiatives — particularly those with home office arrangements — must be mindful of that paradox.

The rise of the alternative workplace has been a long time coming, as evidenced by the above passage. The global pandemic was just the latest catalyst driving alternative solutions into the spotlight. Today, alternative workplace strategies have taken center stage and are fulfilling the vision first adopted in 1998.

Alternative workplace definition

What is an alternative workplace? It’s a fair question and readily answered by many of the work trends we’re familiar with today. Telecommuting and remote work. Coworking. These paint a picture of the alternative workplace.

In 1998, “alternative workplace” focused more specifically on alternatives to working in an office. Today, the definition focuses more on where employees work and how that environment supports them — from a well-furnished coworking space to the free Wi-Fi at a local coffee shop.

Key elements of the alternative workplace

Alternative workplaces are highly diverse because they can encompass just about any environment that supports work. So long as it supports your ability to work and it’s outside of the “home base” workplace, it falls under the guise of an alternative workplace.

A coworking space might have an office feel and all the amenities of a traditional workplace. Still, it’s an alternative workplace because professionals from other companies and career paths surround you. Your home office is an alternative workplace. Even an airport lounge is an alternative workplace — even if you only work there for 45 minutes before a flight.

Are you sitting in an alternative workspace right now? Take stock of the environment and see if it offers these essential elements:

Are you using your own technology?
Do you have control over your seating?
Do you have control over your work habits?
Is the environment conducive to your work?
Are there people other than coworkers around you?

Most coffee shops, coworking spaces, home offices, breakout spaces, airport terminals, public libraries, and similar facilities fit the bill. But the alternative workplace isn’t only shaped by physical surroundings — more important is how it empowers employees.

Emphasize the worker instead of the workplace

Alternative workspaces are defined by the freedoms they afford workers. These workplaces sever the tie between work and any one single place, which also means they give employees the power to self-govern. When allowed to choose their own venue and work in their own way, many workers seize the opportunity to do their best work in their best manner.

It’s not surprising that many companies invested in alternative workplace strategies over the past two decades — even pre-pandemic. Unlinking work from the workplace and instead hitching work to the worker brings untold flexibility to the concept of what a workplace is. Hence, the current rise in alternative workplaces.

If an employee can produce 100% regardless of whether they work at a desk, in an office, or an easy chair at home, does it matter where they work? Most likely not. What if they could accomplish 120% from their easy chair? It’s a very real driver behind the hype in alternative workplaces.

Alternative workplace concepts come down to an investment in work and the worker, instead of the workplace. So long as they can do the job, who’s to stop employees from doing it in a place that’s comfortable, familiar, and supportive of their personal work habits? It’s a trade many employers willingly make for bolstered productivity, improved culture, and employee satisfaction.

Alternatives are part of today’s modern workplace

“This is not a fad” is a simple but striking sentence in the groundbreaking 1998 Harvard Business Review article. Indeed, it’s not, especially to have survived over 20 years and become the foundation for the adaptive workplace solutions we see today.

The rise of the internet, cloud applications, and better computing technology have all made alternative workplaces viable solutions as companies navigate the modern workplace.

Remote work, flex scheduling, hoteling, experiential workspaces, and coworking are all alternative forms of work, but they’re only part of the greater alternative workplace employees rely on today.

Why breakout spaces are essential to the modern workplace

Revisiting space planning is important for evolving companies. As your employees’ needs change, the workspaces they use will need to change. It’s also worthwhile to reevaluate space allocation if you haven’t done so in a few years — the types of workspaces present are likely outdated or, at the very least, due for a few upgrades. It’s an excellent time to ask yourself if there’s enough available breakout space.

Offices have informally utilized breakout spaces for decades. Today, they’ve risen from convenience to necessity based on their role in agile workplaces. Not only do you need to provide breakout spaces, but you must ensure these areas support various types of work. It’s time to reevaluate the role breakout spaces play in your office.

Defining breakout spaces

What is breakout space? The simplest definition is any space without a predetermined purpose. It could be a table with three or four chairs or as complex as an experiential space employees can flex in and out of.

Breakout spaces are a quick fix to an immediate need. A conference ends, but three people need to get together to discuss a subtask. Instead of crowding around someone’s desk, they “break out” into a space for 15 to 20 minutes. An employee has two meetings on the fourth floor, with a 30-minute break between them. Instead of returning to their office on the first floor, they flex into a breakout space to prep between meetings.

Breakout spaces are the ultimate representation of agility in a fast-paced workplace. They’re usually occupied for around 30 to 45 minutes, and their unstructured nature turns them into the ideal space for whoever occupies them.

Give employees diverse breakout spaces

Breakout spaces themselves don’t generally follow a defined purpose. However, a breakout area can set the tone for the type of work people do in these spaces.

A breakout area tucked into a quiet corner might attract employees looking for a hideaway — a place to concentrate on something important for a short time. Likewise, an experiential breakout area themed like a coffee house might encourage collaboration by attracting small groups who need a place to brainstorm or toss around ideas.

The atmosphere of a breakout space should signal to employees the type of environment they can expect to work in. Creating diverse breakout spaces throughout your facilities is a great way to give employees flex space that meets their changing needs. Quiet work today, collaboration tools tomorrow, and space to spread out next week. The more diverse breakout spaces, the easier employees can move seamlessly throughout the workplace as their day or workload dictates.

Unstructured space is crucial in agile offices

The role of an office breakout area cannot be understated in the modern workplace. Employees in motion need spaces to hunker down, whether to catch their breath, catch up on messages, or accomplish quick tasks. An undiscerning, easily co-opted breakout space is the ideal opportunity. Create the right ambiance via space design, and it becomes a haven for employees — a space where they feel comfortable and grounded, despite their fast-paced schedule.

Today, so much of the office is structured to promote agility specifically. While the workplace experience is flexible on the surface, there are rigid controls in place that allow it to bend without breaking. Facility managers play an invaluable role, and the rise of office automation makes overseeing dynamic environments easier.

Unstructured workspaces are an essential asset on the management side, as well. These “set it and forget it” spaces don’t need management because they’re truly agile. Well-conceived, they’re a smart way to both support the workforce and optimize the office space floor plan.

Making breakout space work

Breakout spaces are the most flexible spaces in the office, but that shouldn’t make them an afterthought or a filler solution in your floor plan. Dedicated breakout space should be strategic — located in areas where it’s easy for people to transition into and out of different activities. Employees should feel comfortable in a breakout space, whether doing head-down work or meeting with a small group. Most importantly, it must foster productivity by contributing to greater workplace concepts of agility and flexibility.

Employees have always used breakout spaces. Now, in the modern office, their role has expanded. Put these adaptable, accessible spaces where they’ll do the most good and encourage employees to leverage them whenever they need a place to be productive.

Four types of wayfinding signage

Wayfinding plays a crucial role in various environments, including healthcare facilities, airports, shopping malls, public buildings, educational institutions, public transportation systems, and large event venues. By employing effective wayfinding strategies, designers and facility managers can create user-friendly environments that facilitate smooth and intuitive navigation.

There are four types of wayfinding signs: identification, directional, informational, and regulatory. As standalone signs, they serve a specific role; as part of the greater wayfinding system, they inform each other.

Here’s what facility managers need to know about deploying each of the primary wayfinding types.

Types of wayfinding signage

Identification

Identification is the most common type of wayfinding signage. They tell a person when they have arrived at their destination. They also serve as general wayfinding landmarks.

Need to get your bearings? Identification signage is there for you. If you’re looking for Sales and keep seeing signs for Human Resources, you know you’re in the wrong place.

Make identification signs uncluttered and straight to the point. What does the sign signify? Someone should understand it in seconds.

General examples include:

Door plaques (Assistant to the Regional Manager)
Departmental markers (Accounting and Finance; Sales)
Landmark signage (donor plaque; historical marker)

Directional

Directional signage helps people get to where they’re going. It’s an invisible hand guiding them from wherever they are to their destination, one step at a time. They’re best used at junctions and areas without a clear traffic flow.

Anyone unfamiliar with their surroundings benefits from diverse directional signage. It can be as simple as a plaque at each junction sending people left or right. Or it may be as comprehensive as colored lines on the floor leading people directly to their destination.

Continuity is key for directional signage. If a person becomes lost anywhere between two points using directional signage, it’s immediately invalidated. Picking up the trail again means backtracking or getting lucky.

General examples

Junction signage (left to cafeteria; right to an exit)
Colored lines on the floor (blue for marketing; red for sales)
Directory signage (CEO, 8th floor; HR)

Informational

Whereas identification signage marks a particular area, informational signage pertains to the overall facilities. These signs give people the broad information they need while navigating.

Informational signage is best placed in an area with broad exposure. Lobbies, waiting rooms, building entrances, and atriums are popular examples. Signage should answer questions before they’re asked. Where are your bathrooms? How late are you open? Do you have an elevator?

Informational signs should be universally understandable with just a glance — signs and symbols anyone can understand.

General examples

Amenities and accommodations (free Wi-Fi; elevators)
Facilities signage (bathrooms; exits; cafeteria)
Business information (hours of operation; address numbers)

Regulatory

Regulatory signage is a proactive form of wayfinding. It’s focused on safety and liability concerns and sets boundaries — what is and isn’t acceptable in your facilities. It establishes and reinforces rules, safety standards, and privacy expectations.

Regulatory signage is generally big and bold — no-frills — only a clear, concise, prominent message. Someone probably won’t open a closet if there’s a “Caution! High Voltage!” sign on the door. Similarly, displaying a “No Pets Allowed” sign means Fido isn’t welcome.

Use regulatory signage wherever it applies and leave no room for ambiguity. A handicap sign sets a clear precedent like an “Employees Only” sign on a locked door.

General examples include:

Rules and regulations (no smoking; no firearms)
Compliance standards (ADA accessibility; high voltage sign)
Access control (no entry beyond this point; employees only)

Combining wayfinding signage

Wayfinding is experiential. Every type of wayfinding signage can and should be used with every other. Regulatory signs should keep people out of restricted areas as they follow directional signage to their destination. Identification signage should tell someone where they are so they can follow directional signage to where they want to be. Informational signage — coupled with regulatory signage — needs to set behavior expectations in your facilities.

Additionally, all signage should be simple. Regardless of its purpose, someone should be able to look at a sign and know in seconds what it says and what it means in relation to wayfinding.

Whatever the information, make sure you have the right mode of delivery. The simpler your signage and the more cohesive it is across all four types, the more effective it will be for anyone using it.

What are the benefits of wayfinding?

Reduced stress and anxiety

Clear and effective wayfinding systems alleviate stress and anxiety associated with getting lost or disoriented. Users can confidently navigate, knowing they can easily find their way and reach their destinations.

Time efficiency

Efficient wayfinding saves time by providing clear directions and information about the shortest and most direct routes. Users can navigate efficiently, minimizing unnecessary detours or confusion.

Improved user experience

A well-designed wayfinding system enhances the overall user experience by making navigation intuitive and user-friendly. It creates a positive impression of the environment and contributes to user satisfaction.

Safety and security

Wayfinding systems play a crucial role in emergencies by guiding users to exits, evacuation routes, or safety facilities. Clear signage and directions help ensure the safety and well-being of individuals during critical incidents.

Increased accessibility

Accessibility is a key consideration in wayfinding design. Well-designed systems consider the needs of individuals with disabilities or special requirements, providing inclusive navigation options and features.

Enhancing efficiency of complex spaces

In large and complex environments, such as airports, hospitals, or shopping malls, wayfinding helps users navigate through various facilities, departments, or sections. It streamlines movement and reduces confusion in spaces with multiple levels, buildings, or interconnected areas.

Promoting discoverability

Wayfinding systems can highlight points of interest, amenities, or important destinations within an environment. Users can easily locate areas of interest, such as restrooms, information desks, shops, or specific attractions, enhancing their overall experience.

Branding and identity

Wayfinding design can incorporate branding elements, colors, and visual cues that reinforce the identity of an organization or space. Consistent and well-designed wayfinding contributes to the overall brand image and creates a cohesive user experience.

Enhanced navigation for visitors

Wayfinding systems are particularly valuable for visitors unfamiliar with a location. Clear directions, maps, and signage help visitors feel more comfortable and confident, improving their overall experience and reducing the need for constant assistance.

Optimized space utilization

Efficient wayfinding can guide users through less congested or underutilized areas, helping distribute foot traffic and balancing occupancy within a facility. This can lead to improved efficiency in space utilization and overall facility management.

The connection between design thinking and workspaces

In today’s hybrid workplace where occupancy and utilization fluctuate regularly, creating workspaces that matter to employees has never been more important. The days of a 1:1 desk-to-person ratio are now more the exception than the rule. Sharing space in an office is now as common as using a smartphone to request a ride home or rent a shared bicycle.

Continue reading “The connection between design thinking and workspaces”

The ultimate guide to space optimization in the hybrid workplace

Walls no longer confine work, and the hybrid workplace is here to stay. A Gartner survey predicts that 39% of the global workforce will work hybrid by the end of 2023 — up from 37% in 2022.

Many employees want to spend at least part of their time working in the office to collaborate in person with their colleagues, reserve a quiet place to concentrate, and take advantage of on-site amenities. Managing a hybrid workplace brings new challenges, including space optimization.

How do you maximize office space while also allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely part-time? There are no easy answers, but here are a few recommendations.

What is space optimization?

Simply put, space optimization is making the most of all the available office real estate you have and using it to support a positive employee experience while reducing waste and minimizing costs. The goal of space optimization isn’t just to increase the number of employees per square foot but to ensure each space is being used the way it’s intended.

5 strategies to improve space optimization in the hybrid workplace

Establish a baseline occupancy target to determine office space per employee

While different employee roles and functions require different types of space to be productive, it’s good to have some general guidelines.

Start by considering your average occupancy percentage before the pandemic or before you transitioned to a hybrid workplace. How much space did you have per employee at that time? If you don’t know, look at recommended industry averages.

Commercial real estate website Squarefoot also offers a handy space calculator.

Consider how employees’ needs might differ depending on your industry and their department and roles. Your legal team will likely need more private office space for closed-door meetings and review of confidential documents. In contrast, your marketing team will want more open areas for brainstorming and collaboration.

If you plan to continue having assigned desks, you probably won’t need one for every employee. Determine which employees can share desks based on how often they intend to be in the office — or consider implementing office hoteling.

Establish a remote work policy

While each department may have its own guidelines for when employees work remotely and how they use your hybrid workplace, company-wide expectations help create clarity, transparency, and understanding. Decide what values are most important, not just for team morale and productivity but also when it comes to planning and optimizing your space.

Set clear parameters around when teams will meet in person, when they are expected to meet with clients in person, and when fully remote employees will be expected to attend company events.

Survey employees to determine how often they plan to use the office

Ask employees to consider all aspects of remote and in-office work and give them the flexibility to decide on their hybrid work schedule.

Questions to ask employees include:

How many days each week do you plan to be in the office?
During what hours do you plan to spend most of your time in the office?
How do you feel about attending meetings when you are not physically present?
How will you take the initiative to remain involved in office activities?
Have you discussed how often, if at all, you can travel back to your department’s primary worksite?
How will you feel if your travel is limited once or twice yearly?
What type of meeting space and amenities do you need when meeting with clients in person?

As you consider employees’ needs, don’t forget about their belongings. You might need to add shelves, closet space, or intelligent lockers to help employees keep valuable items secure.

Intelligent locker systems are ideal for a workplace with desk hoteling because they can be reserved, assigned, and reassigned by any employee throughout the day.

Understanding the employee’s needs and expectations helps you optimize your space accordingly. It also enables you to analyze, test, and implement tools to streamline space reservations/claims.

Use a desk booking system

As you give employees more flexibility to choose when they come into the office, you need a way to manage seating while ensuring space optimization.

A desk booking system gives you a more structured way to manage your space and resources. Desk booking allows your employees to reserve space in advance, helping your facilities team update your workplace based on the number of employees who plan to be there. It also helps you monitor space utilization trends over time to better design your future space needs.

One of many considerations for desk booking is creating a welcoming and productive workspace for most people. It’s common for facilities managers to plan their booking strategies by thinking about the average day. How many people are typically in the office? What resources do they need? This narrow planning may create problems later. Instead of preparing for a reasonable scenario, think of the worst case.

Consider your peak demand; how many desks will you need if everyone shows up? Desk booking software gives you analytics and data regarding usage and timing. You can use this and prepare around that number.

Make smart, multi-purpose furniture and surface choices

Your workspace is more than computers, desks, and tables. After overcoming a global pandemic, we all learned to adapt and pay attention to our surroundings to create the best environment to thrive. Look around your office space for innovative ways to use your current assets.

Use whiteboard paint on the walls in brainstorming or meeting rooms. Buildings.com, an industry news source for facilities and space managers, offers these and other tips for optimizing your space.

Furniture also plays a role in creating a space that can host a board meeting in the morning and be subdivided into smaller team meeting rooms later in the day using mobile walls or dividers that double as whiteboards. Use smaller desks or tables that can be rearranged Tetris-style to create differently sized spaces, change the energy or mood, and make the most of your area.

Use space management software to optimize your hybrid workplace

Space management software helps you visualize all your spaces, track utilization, and reconfigure your floor plans.

You can see a graphic representation of your floorplans overlaid with real-time data on desk and space reservations, giving you the ability to make strategic, data-driven decisions.

The right space management software will provide you with a sense of control and understanding of your facilities from a global perspective, helping you create short and long-term strategies while avoiding paying rent on unoccupied space. Understanding how your space is used and creating a space that serves your employees will lead to better employee productivity, boosting the bottom line while minimizing costs.

Just because your employees are scattered, your office space organization doesn’t have to be. Tour Eptura’s space management software and find the tools to improve space optimization in your hybrid workplace.

Striking the perfect balance in workplace flexibility

How do workplace leaders and facility managers help strike a balance between the hybrid work model and the employee experience? How do remote employees who work from home feel connected to other team members who are working in an office on a set number of days per week?

Answers to these questions reflect an identifiable tension between flexibility and certainty. While not a binary conflict, employees now desire to work more fluidly than ever before, yet organizations have a real need for predictable business outcomes.

This tension can cause a variety of mixed reactions and behaviors from employees, managers, and leaders. It’s certainly playing out in the data we’ve captured from our customers in our most recent quarterly Workplace Index report and from the hundreds of conversations with facility managers and operations leaders we’ve spoken with regularly on our podcasts.

In the last year, there has been expansion of desk bookings across the globe but at very different paces and velocity depending on the region, according to our latest Workplace Index report:

Asia Pacific (176%)
Europe, Middle East and Africa (839%)
Americas (281%)

Most office environments are adapting to balance workplace flexibility, but it is not an easy feat. Many organizations realize they need to support their employees’ ability to work from nearly any work location – to help balance their personal lives while working to increase productivity, retain employees, and keep everyone engaged.

Get the entire 2023 Workplace Index: Q1 report now.

How can you balance flexibility in the workplace today? Hybrid work vs. traditional work

Much of the C-Suite is aware today’s workforce wants more autonomy than they’ve had in the past. Many employees expect to choose when they go into the office. From wanting to spend less time and money commuting or needing to help with family caregiving, today’s employees expect more work and life balance.

“When employees perceive that they are free to perform their work in their own way within an autonomy-supportive context, they may be more likely to find that work engaging, [to] possess more favorable evaluations of the job, and [to] proactively engage with their environment and others with whom they work,” finds researchers from the scientific publication Emotion and Motivation, per the CFO article “Autonomy in the Workplace: Boost Employee Productivity and Happiness.”

The challenge? With flexibility comes variance — and it has a cost. When daily schedules vary from team member to team member, space planning in shared workspaces can be especially tricky. It can create maintenance and operations friction for teams who need to plan around fluctuating workspace needs and building resource demand.

Today, most organizations have directional policies on the company’s desired in-office attendance. Hybrid vs. traditional work models show:

Split week: 35%
At will: 24%
Office first: 12%
Designated teams for hybrid: 12%
Remote-first: 8%
Week by week: 4%

Take note: Totally remote work is not as prevalent as you might imagine. Organizations and employees are finding value in being together. The days of commuting in five days a week for traditional work has dramatically shifted.

A new maintenance and operation model arises: Midweek office occupancy

When we separate return visits from unique visitors, we have seen a 35% increase in visitor check-ins year over year. Peaking in November 2022, visits have now exceeded pre-pandemic visitor traffic levels with a gain of 60% from January 2022. Our most recent quarterly data continues to show a trend of unique visitors increasing over time overall.

But on what days? To understand this more precisely, look at meeting room bookings. Over the past three quarters, most companies are experiencing a rise in what we call the midweek mountain since Monday and Friday are the least reserved days of the week. The data is loud and clear: Room bookings are highest on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday — with similar patterns in desk bookings.

What does this mean for the future workplace? For facility managers, maintenance needs to be planned around lower demand times. You need to choreograph maintenance work orders by watching attendance data closely and pay close attention to meeting room and desk bookings. It will all become a delicate balancing act as workplace leaders seek to create the optimal use of resources.

Real estate teams face similar challenges with variable occupancy rates. There is no doubt that visitors to the office are on the rise, and there is increasing evidence to suggest these visitors are capitalizing on critical in-person connections by arranging multiple meetings. But with today’s flexible work patterns, it’s still difficult to get future visibility on likely office attendance.

Workplace flexibility does not mean complete office exemption. The office is for human connection.

Think about this fact: Our customers have experienced 495% growth in collaborative room bookings since the beginning of 2022. Employees crave human social connection, unity, and a sense of being part of a whole. Employees are conscious of the need for collaboration to get things done and to support company culture and support other team members in person.

Having a positive company culture is an important driver of employee retention and in attracting new potential employees. Employees often state that in-person proximity to management helps with career advancement and finding mentorship too. Employees desire to be together, just not every day.

How to balance workplace flexibility and business certainty

To find balance, you need open communication and clear hybrid work policies with all team members using reliable technologies. This includes having solid video conferencing, strong presence awareness capabilities that make it easy to view and share in-office work schedules, and feature-rich collaboration software.

But you also need accurate, reliable attendance and occupancy data that works in as close to real time as possible. How do you achieve all of this needed balance?

Reinforce planning transparency and encourage weekly participation.

Make it about everyone on the team – not rules for the sake of rules. Managers can lead by example by sharing their calendar. In our case, we have plug-ins for collaboration software such as Microsoft Teams that make it super easy to share schedules and desk and room bookings, so everything is transparent.

Make onsite the new offsite experience

Maybe it sounds counterintuitive, but in-office attendance is not guaranteed anymore. The social aspect of the office is crucial now – as is the area of the office and the rooms you use. The in-office experience matters, so treat it as an event. Organize special lunches or happy hours or combine meetings with other departments and encourage collaboration with other teams.

Encourage in-person training and development – and mentorship

This is especially important for younger workers that want career growth opportunities. If employees feel their growth is limited, they are more likely to seek different employment. The office should be seen as the meeting place for career expansion.

See all the data. Download the full 2023 Workplace Index: Q1 report today.