The move from in-person office attendance to full time remote working has caused a profound shift across all areas of life. It has highlighted just how much of a central role the office plays; whether from a social, practical, or corporate perspective.
With the UK government now encouraging staff back to the office, it’s vital for senior leadership teams to understand the current attitudes of their staff towards the workplace, and to learn how these spaces can be best used to drive productivity, foster cooperation, and serve the needs of their users.
To say attitudes towards the return to the office have been mixed would be an understatement. A large-scale survey of UK office workers conducted by Locatee in July 2021 revealed that even when restrictions are lifted, 81% of respondents want to keep working remotely at least some of the time. Of those surveyed, only 17% want to work from the office full time, suggesting that for many people remote working has benefits they simply won’t give up.
However, this desire to work remotely is at odds with the preferences of employers. A quarter of respondents (24%) have been told that they will have no ability to work remotely once restrictions are lifted, leaving a sizeable group of people who will be asked to work in the office full time against their wishes. For management, taking the decision to remove remote working options will be risky. Nearly half (42%) of UK office workers stated that they would consider moving jobs if they were not given the chance to work remotely, with 22% of this group saying they would be ‘highly likely’ to leave.
Managers therefore need to consider a hybrid approach moving forward if they are to keep the majority of employees engaged and satisfied. Despite the benefits of home working, many of the respondents acknowledged that their productivity had suffered. There were also effects on creativity, with only a quarter feeling as though their current levels matched pre-pandemic output. When properly utilised, office spaces can play a vital role in ensuring that staff are able to meet both of these criteria to their highest ability.
It’s clear that for many people one of the main challenges of remote working lies in tasks which require collaboration, including brainstorming, planning, and project management. These are areas where the benefits of in-person communication simply can’t be matched by a Zoom call. In the future, offices could be used as a creative hub where colleagues can gather specifically to chat, share ideas and knowledge, and learn as a team. This will be especially important for rebuilding relationships which may have weakened due to a year of absence, with only 23% of respondents feeling as though their ability to sustain positive relationships matched pre-pandemic levels.
There’s also the matter of professional development and progression, with younger workers particularly concerned about the impact a lack of face time with senior figures may have on their career. Almost a third of those surveyed believed frequent long term working may hinder their progression, rising to 48% amongst those aged 18-24. It’s clear that businesses need to retain a physical space where these relationships can be built and strengthened. This will be especially beneficial for new joiners who have been onboarded remotely during the pandemic, as the office provides a central focal point for community and team cohesion.
When we examine all of the above, what emerges is that there is no one size fits all approach to addressing how people interact with the workplace in the future. The pandemic has highlighted the wide array of personal preferences and different working styles available, and the success of remote working on the whole has demonstrated that other ways of working are completely feasible.
It’s now down to business leaders to work with staff to determine the models which provide the highest satisfaction, productivity, and cost efficiency. Data will play a vital role in this, whether through using workplace analytics tools to assess building occupancy levels and determining demand, to understanding how and why people use office spaces in the way that they do. With robust data, business leaders can make decisions confident in the knowledge that they are meeting staff expectations and needs.
Looking ahead, it’s clear that the office as we once knew it is currently undergoing a transformation as opposed to a death. Businesses have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reexamine and reconfigure the workplace, along with a wealth of data and insights from staff demonstrating how they want the office to work for them. If companies are able to effectively harness these insights, the office of the future will have a long and healthy lifespan.
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