The employee-centric workplace is not just about beanbag chairs and attracting new employees. For the record, I have nothing against beanbag chairs! Even the hippest, coolest environment can look great from an outward aesthetics perspective, but that doesn’t guarantee a harmonious workplace for the long-term. A true employee-centric mindset is one that organizations adopt for their entire workforce, the environment, as well as those less tangible variables. Ann Frey, a Corporate Leadership Coach, says it’s best when she defines employee-centric organizations as ones who “create an environment where you honor your employees, where you take care of them, so they can take care of your customers.” I love this definition. It not only addresses the needs of employees, but also highlights the fact that optimal customer experiences are directly related to organizational environment and culture.
As a facility management organization ourselves, we can greatly affect a positive employee-centric workplace, which, in turn, creates a customer-centric workplace. There are 7 essential components of an organization which are required to put the employee front and center. In this post, we’ll define each component, explore why it’s important, and provide examples of how you can make changes to your facilities to build an employee-centric culture.
Positive Culture
Comfortable Office Design
It’s no surprise that employee wellness is one of the leading concerns for employers. Rising health care costs and loss of productivity due to employees missing work because of illness, sick children, or high stress levels are the norm for organizations today. The Harvard Business Review cites 80% of both workplace accidents and doctor visits are due to stress. These numbers are driving employers to evaluate the design of their current workspace. The actual workplace impacts wellness; studies have proven that access to natural light, environmental control technologies that adjust temperatures and lightning, and physical wellness spaces create a healthier environment that improves employee productivity and well-being. With building space at least 50-60% underutilized at all times, companies are missing out on tremendous opportunities to develop working spaces that are designed with the health of the employee in mind. This is where facility management solutions and analytics software come in to play. It helps businesses uncover the possibilities, the what could-be, and most importantly, creates cost savings that can be directly invested back in to employees. It also helps you manage maintenance projects and process tickets, like that dripping ceiling tile or smell coming from a vent which may be impacting employee wellness and satisfaction.
Space Availability
Agile for all Scenarios
Future-proofed workspaces
Collaboration-friendly layouts
Collaboration in the workplace is the bedrock of the innovative organization and includes small and even larger groups of employees working closely with one another to exchange ideas and information. Workplace collaboration can be encouraged and enhanced when organizations provide an environment that makes it easy and organic for employees to move from one group of people (or one department) to the next – removing barriers that might typically keep an organization siloed. Just as we discussed with productivity, cross functional collaboration is fostered via workspace design. Often this means renovating your existing space to create a more open environment, or moving departments from one floor to another, from the right side of a building to the left side. Space planning technology enables facilities teams to make decisions and accomplish complex projects with real-time, accurate data at their fingertips, which cuts down on completion time, saves major costs, and boosts time to collaboration.
Employee-Centric Mission
From a space and facility management perspective, we need to stay informed and in step with the changes that impact each of the 7 components encompassing the employee-centric workplace. While each impacts the employee, and each brings a vastly different benefit to the table, they all have one thing in common; the workplace, or physical environment. The age of IoT is unlocking new data sources and analytics from existing building technologies such as Wi-Fi data, badging systems, thermostats, and cameras. When centrally connected and analyzed by workplace management software, the potential for what your organization can do for its employees is really endless. By embracing all of these components as a single, collective whole, the employee-centric facility team can enhance performance, productivity, wellness, culture, innovation, and even happiness–with, or without, the beanbag chair.
The Mobile Workforce Preparedness Guide
In case you missed our webcast, the recording is now available for on-demand playback. Take a step approach to readying your organization for an even more mobile and remote workforce by designing spaces with the help of technology. Introduce innovative concepts such as hot-desking and hoteling to turn your real estate in to an asset.