After over a year of remote work for a number of industries, many business owners and executives are finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel for resuming “normal” operations. Thanks to the release of COVID-19 vaccines, we’re seeing a slow but steady return to the office, albeit with safety precautions for preventing the spread of the virus.
This return, however, has brought arguably more uncertainty than the initial transition to working from home. While numerous business owners were pleasantly surprised with the ease of transitioning employees into working remotely, now the challenge lies in bringing them back to the office — and deciding what to do with their space now that so much has changed.
If you’re a business owner or executive currently navigating these waters, here’s what you should consider as you look to the future of your office.
Some employees are going to remain remote
While businesses may have been reluctant to allow remote work prior to the pandemic, many have now realized it can be done successfully. And a sizable number of employees want to continue working remotely — according to PWC, over half of employees want to work from home three days a week or more. However, employers have competing ideas about working remotely. The same survey shows that over 50% of employers report employees need to come to the office three or more days per week to preserve the company culture.
This poses an obvious challenge for business owners, and we’ve already seen friction between employees and employers about coming back to the office. Going forward, we can expect that most businesses will retain some kind of working-from-home model.
… but the office doesn’t have to be either/or
Thus far, the conversation on the “new normal” has centered on whether businesses will remain remote or return to an office setting. However, there are a number of risks that come with going completely remote: barriers to quality control, accountability, productivity, and training, to name a few.
The best way around these concerns (and creating a two-tier workforce in the return) is to create a hybrid model that accounts for job description or task rather than title. In our industry, we’ve seen this change already, with executives moving out of the office to allow a private space for employees who need it while accommodating for social distancing. Building the job’s location into an employee’s job description is a good way to decide who will be in the office and who will work remotely, and it’s also important to include in postings for new positions as well. It will not only help attract candidates who want to work within your parameters, it also will give you a clearer idea of how much office space and what kinds of offices you’ll need.
Implications for the physical office space
Whether it’s keeping up company culture or avoiding Zoom fatigue, there’s no shortage of reasons to return to the office. However, given the dual challenge of reducing potential exposure to COVID-19 and accounting for a hybrid workforce, it’s easy to get bogged down in details like plexiglass heights or who will get an office and who won’t.
It’s important to recognize that there isn’t one “new normal” for the post-COVID office. We’ve seen some of our clients move to single-story buildings in the suburbs or reduce their office space in the city. What the clients had in common was an established percentage of the workforce who would remain in the office vs. work from home. That number allowed them to determine how much space they would need and what it would look like, and it empowered them to be able to choose a location that would work best for their new business model. Firms being able to make decisions on their long-term space needs are able to take advantage of attractive rental rates.
Creating a clear vision for the future of their workforce, rather than getting caught up in the granular details, enables businesses to keep moving forward. In an ever-changing environment, businesses that carve out a concrete, high-level plan for their offices will have the upper hand in finding office spaces with advantages for productivity, culture, and ultimately, profitability.
