Making the office worth the commute – enticing and inviting workers back to the office
If your business is still following a hybrid or remote working policy, you’re probably keen to open your doors again by the end of this year. Enticing employees back to office life isn’t turning out to be as easy as it would seem.
Creating an inviting office space where your team achieves things they simply can’t do at home or remotely is an essential part of the “return to the office” strategy. Let’s take a look at why it’s essential to invite (rather than instruct) workers back to office and what kind of commercial space is required to do so.
Rebuild it and they will come back
Enticing workers to return to the office has been the main task of business owners and HR strategists since the pandemic started to wane and vaccines became widely available. More than a year later, many businesses are still wrestling with the question: how do we make the office a place that people actually want to go to?
Let’s take a look at some solutions to this important business challenge.
Hybrid working is your biggest competitor in enticing employees back to office
One thing that everybody will remember about the pandemic is the sudden shift to working from home that took place in 2020. While the situation has reversed somewhat, a large chunk of the workforce now chooses to be productive outside of the office.
- According to a recent Microsoft survey, 57% of remote workers want to switch to hybrid roles in the near future.
- At the same time, 51% of hybrid workers tend to prefer remote working and would like to switch to a fully online role soon.
Digging deeper into the Microsoft data there’s a very clear trend in favour of remote or hybrid working among Millennials and Gen Z. This age group, which represents an increasing chunk of the working population, is less likely to simply return to the office on command and will need to be enticed – but what do they want?
It’s not all about coffee and bean bags
Cape Town’s cafés and trendy organic eateries are full of remote working professionals in the younger age group, and there’s no doubt that people of this age love to grab a coffee and let their creative juices flow.
This trend may have created an impression in the minds of some managers that all it takes to get skilled professionals of prime working age back to the office is a quick renovation, comfortable seating, and bottomless coffee.
- There’s no doubt that a well-designed working environment with less of the traditional cubicles and managers looking over your shoulder is a great incentive for younger workers to come to the office by choice, but it’s not quite enough.
- It’s unlikely that the office can ever match an actual café or restaurant in terms of trendiness and relaxation and trying to achieve this is likely to be bad for productivity in any case.
Instead of focusing on the superficial aspect of the office environment, businesses will need to dig deeper and understand the productivity and psychological needs of their workers to create an atmosphere that attracts and entices them.
Making the office a magnet for dynamic workers
Skipping the morning commute and popping into a local café for a coffee and breakfast and working at your leisure sounds good to most people, but there’s only so much that you can do alone.
- Office environments facilitate co-operation, skills development, mentorship, and the opportunity to work with prestigious clients on exciting projects. These are all major draw cards for career-oriented employees.
Ensuring that your team has access to these benefits on days when they’re required to be at the office will create plenty of goodwill from their side, as they begin to see work as a place where they can grow and progress while contributing to the vision of the company.
On the other hand, expecting employees to come to work on days when there’s nothing specifically team oriented on the schedule will have the opposite effect. Spending time in the office doing solitary tasks that are probably more comfortable to carry out at home or at a remote location is a major demotivator.
Smart HR and project management is required to create an office environment that maximises value, both for the company and employees, but once you create a schedule that creates a win-win for everyone you’re likely to see a big uptick in employee motivation. You may even notice people coming into the office on days when they’re not even slated to be there.
Choosing the ideal office space to attract the best talent
Once your HR and management strategy is focused on inviting employees back to the office, you need to ensure that your premises are conveniently located relative to your employees homes and offer a fresh, visually appealing work environment where people will love to spend a little extra time.
The Commercial Space team would love to help you find the perfect premium office premises for your business this year. To browse our portfolio of premier office space in the Cape Peninsula, contact us today.
