It is one thing for companies to require employees to return to the office and another for employees to actually choose to be there. The challenge now is how to transform offices into meaningful workplaces that deliver value for companies as well as their employees—places where people want rather than have to be. So, how do we turn offices into destinations?
Hybrid work may be the new norm, but while it affords employees a high level of flexibility, it still requires them to be in the office for a certain number of days per week. For many companies, this transition is proving challenging. Enter the destination office.
Creating a destination office is about future-proofing your business
The destination office is a workplace designed with employee needs and desires in mind. Much more than just a place where work gets done, it is a thoughtfully designed space of collaboration and wellbeing, a place that offers a rewarding experience that can’t be had remotely. It is the kind of place that not only motivates people to come to the office but gets them genuinely excited about it. Creating a destination office, however, is not as simple as adding a couple of ping pong tables and colorful sofas. It requires careful design and planning to ensure that it meets both employee and company needs.
So, what do employees want? What workers truly desire, according to a number of recent global surveys, is a workplace that supports different types of work, such as individual work and collaboration, while also fostering a sense of purpose and belonging within the company. Based on employee preferences, we can identify four essential spaces that they look for in a workplace:
- Personal spaces, which give people control over their privacy and comfort;
- Collaboration spaces, which offer flexible settings, mobile tools, and technologies to support in-person and distributed teams of all sizes;
- Social spaces, which provide an intentional mix of shared and individual experiences to foster a sense of community and belonging; and
- Learning spaces, which are high-performing and adaptable and deliver integrated learning opportunities.
Ultimately, employees want to feel valued and want to feel a sense of belonging, and the workplace can play a crucial role in fulfilling these needs. Some employers go to great lengths to ensure their people get what they need. Companies such as Netflix, Dyson, Uber, and LinkedIn have appointed workplace experience managers, or variations on the title, as permanent additions to their workforce, tasked with helping to create a welcoming and inspiring workplace, facilitating change, supporting diversity and inclusion, prioritizing employee wellbeing, and using data to plan and track strategic change. By helping to optimize the workplace experience in real time, workplace experience managers enable companies to create more dynamic and responsive workplaces that meet ever-evolving employee needs.
Vibrant office spaces foster strong company culture, encourage learning, and promote the exchange of fresh ideas between employees—a win-win for social and professional growth while also boosting staff wellbeing and morale. Creating a destination office is about future-proofing your business. It’s about creating spaces that nurture both productivity and happiness, workplaces that provide an advantage in attracting and retaining top talent and that provide enhancing experiences that make employees excited to come to the office. Ultimately, investing in a destination office is an investment in your company’s success.
