Enticing Employees Back to the Office: Let’s Get Creative

26 Aug 2021 | blog +

Article

The post-Covid world is starting to find its feet, and with it, the emergence of a ‘should I, shouldn’t I?’ question around the new hot topic… Return to the Workplace.

The solution that many employers are working with is a hybrid strategy – one that offers staff a mix of Work from Home and time in the office. This gives their employees a degree of flexibility, whilst also being able to get back in touch with the aspects of working in an office that many people have missed – most notably the culture of the business, interacting with fellow staff members and the ‘get up and go somewhere’ proactiveness of a morning routine.

To help entice workers back to the office, some businesses have adopted unique strategies to signal that they support a fresher, more creative atmosphere and that employee comfort and wellbeing are important to them.

Just some of the ideas that have emerged include:

A lot more plants, soft furnishings and lounge areas where people can replicate their home working environments, but at the office
Offices with special areas for dogs so that you can bring pooch to work
Themed spaces to help stimulate creativity and imagination
A broader spread of open, semi-enclosed and enclosed workspaces to give employees options for privacy

Some companies have really pushed the boat out – for example in Pittsburgh, USA, the Inventionland Institute which specializes in creative solutions for a range of products and industries has created 16 work areas to help stimulate its team’s creativity, including a pirate ship special operations team hideout, a Moroccan-themed meeting room, and a room in which every surface – even the floor and chairs – is a whiteboard.

The key to sustainable workspaces that attract and retain high-value employees is:

Facilitating well-being, creativity and positive interactions
Replicating aspects of home working to give staff flexibility around children, for example
Creating more spaces for relaxation and down-time
Improving kitchen facilities to replicate people’s home environments
Offering a range of spaces from open-plan to private so that employees have options

At Officescape we bring an evidence-based approach to workplace design to help you create inspirational, agile workplaces to foster happy, positive and creative working environments.

Find out more by contacting us on 01223 581 185 or info@officescapellp.co.uk.