Employee Engagement Brand
Attaining Higher Engagement
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Why does a Spatial Work Culture perform best!
Meeting the needs of a work/lifestyle environment.
Written by Shalom Lindhorst-Grays August 2024
BC to PC
Before Covid on average 11% of the population worked adequately from home, Post Covid that rose to 56% preferring to remain working from their home environments and leaving jobs to continue this trend. Census bureau’s vary in figures depending on what actually means to work solely from home, However, in 2024, three in ten people work exclusively from home, whilst five in ten do hybrid with a lot of tele-work happening at remote locations.
Office culture was transitioning prior to Covid, with many organizations’ realizing you get more from your employees if you give them an environment that is pleasant to enter daily and has amenities that support their lifestyle. Space need not be confined to cubicles, instead open offices with ‘zoned areas’ began to emerge relating to workspaces and chill or chat zones for less formal meetings, but still to develop was the culture, the human element with an environment.
My experience in the design industry led my agency to work on many retail projects that allowed us to create spaces that inspired customers to enter environments and feel part of that brand, become loyal and spend. Obviously, our goal was to make them shop, but the premise of the design brief in that sector was to create a culture that built a relationship between the brand and the customer, which meant sales and loyalty.
In essence The Retail Industry could be credited as the cornerstone of what is happening now across the West with the new office culture. It’s something I’ve witnessed before, that we previously enticed customers to spend time, money and become loyal to brands through services, products and the environment. Similarly, the evolving current office environmental culture runs a similar path. It’s also about creating the desirability to entice individuals out of their comfortable home/work lifestyle and return to new environments that offer a less formal, but more supportive and open environment that breeds loyalty, retention and growth and a brand culture.
It has been proven, that an invested employee working within an organization’s new culture with openness, inclusiveness, wellbeing practices, informal environmental design, and more open spaces, leads to annual profit growth for that company of more than 35%. That means less money spent on rehiring for employee positions, less money spent on training and advertising, less money wasted with revenue lost through sick days, absenteeism and poor service.
An Enviromental Impact
The design and performance of any environment extends way beyond the walls that contain the services or products. In today’s working lifestyle, people move around between companies far more frequently and often work hybrid mingling with other colleagues casually. They will discuss life, social calendars and work issues. So, this is where reputations can get sullied if there is a poor culture within an organization.
This is easy to appreciate if we look at top performance organizations like Google, Apple, Vodacom, and Unilever. Why? Because they have invested in their environment and their employee’s wellbeing, to create cultures that breed retention and the free flow of ideas. I’ve never been inside these organizations; however, I have appreciated through social media, professional colleagues etc. that they have practicing employee supporting environments, and people clamber to work for them due to this positive culture.
Work environments are therefore a very important factor in the progress and future of commercial organizations. Employees need contact through both engagement and via communications formats. Hybrid is manageable, but total employee absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, it sets them apart for poor performance within a team, and lack of ideas and growth. From working on the Design of commercial interiors to writing and producing Engagement programs for employees, it is very apparent that both are essential to modern working practices for success.
The design philosophy of modern office environments must encompass all elements that build trust and nurture openness, free communication processes, informal and formal zones, areas that relate to nature for decompression during a day, informal kitchen facilities or café style zones, private thought or presentation spaces and flexi desk space with team areas. Other important factors that support and direct these above are the colors and materials used to create the moods required for that office culture.
When you design and build engaging, open and inclusive work environment’s, you create small worlds that bring people together to personally invest in that organization. Communication, which is integral flows far more freely, and therefore things move along more efficiently, time saved is essentially supporting effective workmanship, growth, a forum for ideas and profit. Employees are made to feel ‘part of’’ not ‘apart’ from the top management all the way to the reception staff. That within this organization, anything is possible and is part of an organism that has wellbeing as a pillar of its practice. SRG 2024