Employees want their workplaces to support more social interaction, health, and flexible working. See how you can create the best workspaces for your employees.
After all the ups and downs of the past year, most of us are longing for some kind of normalcy in the year to come (even if it is a new kind of normal). And for some of us, returning to normalcy also means a return to the office.
In the past year, many employees discovered what they really value: namely, social interactions, health, and mental well-being.
This means that workplaces will have to adapt to become more human-centric or oriented to the end-user. It means listening to what people want and need. For a return to the office, this means that offices will no longer just be places where people go to churn out work. Instead, people have come to appreciate the social aspects of office working. (One of the top contributors to unhappiness for people who work from home is isolation). Offices will thus have to be adjusted to reflect this social dimension.
In addition, employees want to know that they are safe when they return to work. One of the biggest concerns about a return to the office is that their health and safety will be compromised in the process. Consequently, the human-centric office will have to be set up and managed in such a way that workers are kept safe and healthy. Employees tend to be more loyal to companies that show they care about and value employees’ safety and well-being.
Finally, it is by now well-known that when employees return to the office after the pandemic, the consensus is that this return will take the form of the hybrid or flexible model of working. Surveys in various countries and companies have revealed that employees do not want to go back to the old way of working; instead, they would like a combination of working from home and working from the office. In addition, most employees report that they are happier and more productive when they can choose where they work. Finally, reports say that people who work in a variety of settings or locations are happier and more creative than those who work in monotonous settings. Forward-thinking employers, likewise, are heeding their employees’ call for more flexibility and control over their workplaces, and are now looking towards adjusting and transforming office space (and sometimes even divesting office space).
The past year’s crisis has thus given companies the opportunity to change for the better and overhaul systems that did not previously encourage employee safety, happiness, and productivity. Now is the time for corporations and leadership to put systems in place that clearly prioritize worker wellbeing and concerns.
Solutions could come in the form of office management software that facilitates office booking, access control, and keeps track of who works where, for both optimal collaboration and optimal safety. That is to say, a system – such as Workero’s workspace management system – that allows managers to limit how many desks or office spaces can be booked per day (in order to ensure social distancing), also gives employees the freedom and flexibility to choose when, where, and next to whom they would like to book a desk or meeting room. Employees’ needs of sociability, health, and having a choice of where to work are thus all being met at the same time.
Such an office booking system should, of course, be fast to implement, secure, and convenient to use. That is why Workero’s system ensures that the interactions and booking system on our platform is as intuitive as possible. Desk or office areas can be booked via our native mobile app or on desktop: meaning that employees can book desks on-the-go. In addition, we upload your company’s locations and transform them into interactive floorplans. Booking a desk is as easy as tapping on a desk on the floor plan, and selecting a date and a time slot.
Last but not least, in an era where data gathering is crucial for decision-making and optimization, our software gives you real time data on office space use. This allows you to draw up reports on office occupancy, the overall usage levels of your office spaces, and the costs of these spaces per department or square meter. With this much data at your fingertips, you’ll be much more capable of making decisions on the future transformation of your office spaces or buildings as employees return to the office.
Give your employees the best and lead your company into the future of work with our office management software that takes smart scheduling and hybrid working to the next level. Contact Workero here, and we’ll get in touch!
