Using the workplace to increase productivity and reduce occupancy costs

Best Equipped

It’s no easy task to arrive at the ideal formula that can increase employee productivity and reduce occupancy costs. Innovations expert Dr Marie Puybaraud examines the core elements of using the workplace as the apparatus for change and enhancement

by Marie Puybaraud

The economic slowdown has brought about many things, from unemployment and fear in the markets to a distrust in financial institutions. But it has also served as a major wake-up call to companies worldwide now forced to think smart about how to achieve increased business productivity and efficiency and reduce costs in order to survive. Workplace agility is emerging as an important priority for the providers of workplace services and infrastructure. An agile workplace is one that is constantly transforming, adjusting and responding to organisational learning, change and uncertainty by continuously improving work and the infrastructure that enables it.

One area often overlooked as a tool for change is the actual workplace in which business is conducted and how it is used. The workplace can be adapted in order to optimise space, layout, function and even location, all elements which can significantly contribute to the overall efficiency and profitability of a business.

If you also add in the human element and put labour costs into the equation, accounting for 85 per cent of business expenditure, then it makes economic sense to find ways to increase employee productivity while simultaneously reducing occupancy costs. Considering the average running costs of a London-based office plus IT support and cost of labour is approximately £2,040 per sq m per year (Cushman & Wakefield’s Knowledge Center) — buildings and how they work for you is a costly element to overlook.

What is required?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every workplace; it is about closely tailoring the physical environment to the requirements and goals of the particular organisation. You might ask yourself are: Does information need to be exchanged quickly therefore open plan space would be better? Is the office always full occupied and used during the course of the day? Does the office design convey the right message and give the best impression of the organisation to attract business and staff? How is the technology embedded into the layout?

If space is significantly under-used, it makes business sense to make changes and to consider: to re-locate to a smaller property, to rent out part of the office to another company, or to re-design the office and put to better use the extra space you have available. On average, workstations in office buildings are physically occupied a maximum of 55 per cent of the time so introducing methods such as hotdesking whereby not everyone has their own desk but instead share depending on who is in the office might be a more intelligent route to cost savings.

In our knowledge-driven economy, a premium is placed on generating new ideas and innovation and considering the proven connection between habitat and human behaviour, workplace design can have a huge impact on releasing employees’ creativity by encouraging interaction and stimulating senses.

Advancements in technology such as the laptop and wireless connectivity continue to alter the way we work and use buildings, in many cases negating the need for fixed property altogether. For others, however, the physical workplace is essential to business operations to encourage interaction, team cohesion and corporate loyalty. More often than not, it is about the physical and virtual worlds existing side by side.

Once you have determined what is required from the workplace, it is time to consider what is possible taking into consideration business constraints. Ultimately, it is a fine balancing act between achieving staff productivity and satisfaction while at the same time economic efficiency.

What is possible?

A common misconception about making changes to the workplace is that it is always a hugely costly and a disruptive exercise. This may well be true if you are changing the physical fabric of a building but it isn’t always the case. There are certainly a variety of simple low-cost measures that can still have a big impact — such as modifying the layout to introduce a more collaborative working environment, introducing flexible furniture or introducing colour and messages to engage the users with their peers and with the environment.

The aim is not to win awards for the best looking office, it is about making the office work for your organisation, users and teams, in a measurable way. Working in an office is an emotional experience, as users engage with this environment, share activities and interact collaboratively.

Over and above purely cosmetics, making changes to the way a building uses energy and resources is becoming a major issue both from an environmental and economical perspective. Sustainability has become a key aspect of companies corporate social responsibility manifestos — buildings and how they are occupied have a huge role to play in that. Adopting a sustainable way of working means removing barriers and allowing HR to be flexible, enabling the facilities manager to introduce green policies more easily and prompting the workplace strategist to radically rethink the way employees use space, introducing new sustainable working solutions.

Today, commercial office buildings account for 8 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions and by 2030 a growth of 70 per cent is expected; take that and add fears over availability of energy supply and you get a growing impetus to tackle energy management, sustainability and green working.

Again, improving the energy performance of a building starts with the users and their level of commitment and drive for change, after the technological solution itself, and making simple changes like switching to low energy light bulbs and adjusting the timer on heating systems can make a real difference across a property portfolio.

What do people want?

After work content and colleagues, the work environment is the third most important aspect for overall satisfaction in the workplace. In the future, the physical environment could become a major differential in attracting and retaining staff so spatial and design considerations which contribute to employee satisfaction are key. This could include the provision of informal spaces like coffee corners and breakout areas and the creation of bright, modern, welcoming office buildings.

It is people who use the building after all, so listening to their needs and wants is imperative when making decisions about the workplace. This isn’t always easy as individuals have different tastes and with geographical and cultural boundaries fading, a company’s demographic can be wide and varied. The answer to this is to offer choice and consult with the workforce at every stage — this not only creates a feeling of inclusiveness but constructive feedback from employees is one of the best design tools. By providing a varied working environment, employees can chose an area in the office which best meets their specific needs at the time — be it stimulation and support from others or silence and space to think clearly.

An increasingly important aspect of workplace design is taking into consideration future working patterns and not just the here and now. The ability of an organisation to adapt to change can be the key to survival in turbulent markets and flexible buildings and property arrangements can contribute to that. Research being undertaken by Johnson Controls on Generation Y (18-25 year olds) and the workplace of 2030 shines a spotlight on the future by looking at people’s preferences regarding how, where and when they wish to work. This is an applied research approach which can help inform businesses about the kind of workplace attributes essential in the recruitment and retention of the future workforce.

Property is more than a shell, it is an asset which supports business activity so it is important to take a long-term view to how the building can maximise productivity and deliver real value. The workplace and its users need to be much better understood if it is to perform to the best of its ability. An underperforming building is a real missed opportunity.

Dr Marie Puybaraud is director of global workplace innovation at Johnson Controls