When designing an office space, whether that be brand new
premises or a refit of an existing workplace, thought should certainly be given
to those working within on a daily basis. A well-designed working environment can
have a remarkable effect upon the workforce, and companies are steadily
beginning to realise this fact. In line with this realisation, a new study recently conducted by Unispace has found that HR managers are now
taking a much more active role in workplace design as creating a positive
employee “experience” is seen in an increasingly-important light.
The study of 100 HR Directors asserts that if future success
is to be achieved, heightened emphasis must be placed upon keeping the
workforce “engaged in the workplace”, enabling them to better collaborate with
colleagues and boosting productivity as a result.
Simon Pole, Unispace Global Design Director, commented, “Our
research suggests that there will be greater HR ownership of the physical
workspace. This is reflective of a change in perspective from ‘human resources’
to responsibility for the employee life cycle and experience, and a growing
sentiment that employees are internal ‘customers’.”
This effectively means that HR professionals are set to take
on the role of “curator” within the office, charged with creating a positive
atmosphere to inspire the large pool of millennials now entering the working world
en-masse.
This focus on employee experience is, according to the
survey’s respondents, now reaching heights previously reserved exclusively for clients
and customers, reaffirming the aforementioned assertion from Mr Pole that the
workforce itself is now seen more as a group of internal customers. An unnamed
HR director from an unspecified Fortune 500 company told Unispace, “It is
really heartening that people are starting to talk about employees as
‘customers’ of the organisation. They actually are; we refer to them as the
first and most important customers.”
Another unnamed respondent stated, “I think more and more
HRs are looking at the general experience of work. So, our intention of
inspiring this debate absolutely feeds into taking a more active interest in
how the buildings are set out, how people work together, how they meet, how
they engage. Does the building help or hinder that?”
These opinions do however differ depending upon the company’s
base location. While on a global scale 80% of respondents said they foresee
greater HR ownership of the physical workspace, this drops to just 67% amongst
European enterprises. Australia presented the most positive response with 86%
of respondents agreeing with the above statement. This figure drops to 85% in
New Zealand and 73% in the United States.
“We have identified a clear consensus that workplace
culture, employee engagement and knowledge sharing are all substantially
affected by a change of work environment,” explained Mr Pole. “Similarly, while
wellness, talent attraction and talent retention are less affected, there is
still a significant perceived correlation with a change in physical space.
These findings highlight the immense opportunities organisations have to
realise strategic HR objectives if they engage with their people during any
workplace change.”
Sam Bonson
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He is currently
working as a content writer, journalist & editor as he continues to expand
his horizons.
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