Insights from the forefront of future of work thought leadership

The workplace is changing around us as we speak. With more and more people working remotely or with flexible work arrangements, employers are facing new challenges daily in how they create a positive company culture, enable collaboration, attract new talent and plan for growth.

Because of this, there is a serious conversation happening all over the globe about what the future of work and its workforce will look like. We’re in the middle of a massive overhaul of the workplace as we once knew it. The questions we are constantly being asked, and asking of ourselves, is how we can better shape workplaces to accommodate these shifts, while also future-proofing and facilitating these new ways of working.

With this is mind, we invited Cindy Lenferna De La Motte, Future of Work Strategist and Head of Customer and Community at Harvest Digital Planning, to join Annelie Xenofontos, Axiom’s Senior Workplace Strategist, to lead a conversation on company culture, how to create intelligent workplace design outcomes and the future of the workplace. The answers below are a summary of both their responses during the event.

What are the key challenges of the future workplace?

It’s here, it’s arrived and we are already working in this ‘future’ workplace. The key challenge here is the pace of the evolution, and how businesses and employees are keeping up.

Professional development, once considered a 'nice-to-have,' has now become a critical 'must-have' in the evolving future of work. Future of work strategists emphasize that individuals should dedicate three hours per week to enhancing their skills, ensuring they stay relevant and adaptable in the workplace over the next 25 years. By prioritizing continuous learning, professionals can future-proof their careers and remain competitive in an ever-changing job market.

Upskilling and innovation play a massive role; businesses alone cannot afford or accommodate the pace of upskilling that individuals need to keep up with the digital evolution that’s happening. Employees need to take on this growth mindset and responsibility for themselves, and employers need to wholeheartedly support and facilitate their learning.

Those in senior roles, leading business change and growth, cannot rest on their tried and tested measures. Instead, they must lead the way in updating their knowledge and learning so as to drive innovation both in their businesses and in their staff, ensuring their business remains competitive and up-to-date.

There are numerous meet-ups, short courses, podcasts, reading material and forums to meet up with other people, learn and share information. Gone are the days of doing a university degree that will see you through a job for life and into retirement. The lifetime of learning in degrees is now estimated to be three to five years post-graduation, so adopting a new approach and mindset to lifelong learning, even into retirement, is part of the future of work evolution.

From a workplace perspective, customisation is now a baseline requirement. We don’t want to fit in a box anymore. We are working in more sophisticated ways, and we want and expect a customised work environment that supports innovation, creativity and efficiency.

Businesses need to constantly think about what is next and their workplaces need to be conducive to thriving in this evolution.

What are the top skills needed for the future workplace?

Diversity and inclusion are topics that have been talked about for a while and are certainly on the HR agenda, but they need to be highly prioritised in the workplaces of the future. Workspaces need to be designed to facilitate the collaboration of employees of different ages, cultures and backgrounds, and to enable spontaneous conversations, innovation and learning to occur. The evolution of business practices doesn’t only come from business leaders anymore. It comes from every person in the workforce.

Young people coming into the workforce have a wealth of information to bring, while the current working generations have significant experience to draw on. Encouraging collaboration between generations through smart workplace design and technology allows a business and its staff to bolster and flex its knowledge base for now and into the future. This is where the magic of a diverse workforce happens.

In Australia, we are relatively good when it comes to creating a diverse workforce, particularly in larger cities, however inclusion of a diverse workforce still requires attention. We need to be choosing skills and capabilities over age, location and culture to keep our businesses at the forefront, and upskilling current team members into new roles to keep them relevant.

Is the war for talent real?

We have a skills shortage in Australia and the war for talent is real and fierce. According to the Australian HR Institute, there are almost one million more job opportunities than there are employed people in Australia.

The top companies are offering impressive compensation and benefit packages, which the most talented individuals are honing in on. And businesses are getting clever with what they are offering—thinking not just about more dollars, but also about the ways their staff want to work and live.

Your culture, mission, purpose and workspace have such an impact on your employer value proposition (EVP). From the moment someone walks into your office space, they think about whether it feels like a good company to work for. Is your office representative of your culture and attractive to talent?

A workplace that embodies the culture, mission and purpose of the company lives out its values and starts to hand back autonomy to staff, one of the biggest motivators for top talent. Invest in your employees through creating a space that’s meaningful to them and allows them to do their best work. Creating a comfortable work environment and reducing employee frustration are key metrics in your workspace design, as are:

• Green spaces
• Personalised spaces
• Quiet spaces
• Environmentally friendly processes
• A focus on health and wellbeing
• The opportunity for connection, creativity and deep work

Cindy says, “At Harvest Digital & Planning, we made a conscious decision to source the best candidates for skill and capability regardless of location. The world is literally our oyster and right now our team is 100 percent remote.”

Remote working comes with new challenges, but ones that we are working through, finding new ways to be inclusive and find the emotion in our day-to-day interactions as face-to-face teams do. With remote and flexible working becoming the norm, businesses and workplaces need to find new ways that work for them and their own cultures to address inclusion for remote teams. We don’t have all the answers but we are experimenting together.

What kind of technology and processes can you use to bring remote workers and workspaces together?

This will differ from organisation to organisation depending on your workplace culture and the type of work that you do. But at the heart of it is asking yourself what your team needs in order to stay connected at a human level, as well as at an operational level.

Some businesses initiatives that have worked for businesses we know are:

• Ensuring that all new employee onboarding is done face-to-face, even if that means flying someone to head office for an induction. Ensure that all managers of new staff make the time to make that face-to-face connection as this is the start of inclusion and sets the tone from the outset of the employment relationship.
• Connecting people back in through regular town halls or team-based meetings.
• Communication is critical so have a real-time tool like Slack or Skype for chat. This also helps reinforce culture.
• The “cupcake experience”: always consider who isn’t in the office to receive the cupcakes brought in by a team member. What can you do for those not getting a cupcake? It might seem like a small thing, but it goes miles when it comes to making a remote worker feel included.
• Pizza hour: bringing everyone together to eat pizza.
• Using emojis or gifs in communication allows emotion and sentiment to come through in email and internal comms.

Workplaces can evolve and flourish in businesses with lots of remote workers with some innovative thinking.

At Axiom, we encourage businesses we work with to think about how they might be innovative with their space depending on the outcomes they require. How much space do they really need? How can they reduce their environmental footprint, waste and cost by thinking about the way their staff will use the workspace?

Solutions such as agile working environments that chop and change according to business fluidity, spaces for technology that connect staff members both in-house and remotely, flexible working so spaces might be used differently on different days depending on who is in the office and the outcome they want to achieve, and even lending out space that is not used all the time—not only can it spark creative partnerships and collaborations but it’s also commercially viable.

Where do I start to futureproof my workplace?

Teaching new ways of work requires teaching individuals a growth mindset. For organisations and business owners, start with a small experiment or collaborate with a new partner to challenge your current ways of working.

Ask yourself, am I still doing the right thing? How could I reimagine my workforce connecting, thinking and innovating? Try something different that aligns with your business. Listen and engage your people and implement.

What are the top 3 things that a modern office should have for a thriving environment?

It’s a feeling thing! Each business has a different identity so it’s not a one size fits all approach. You have to tap in and consider what space and technology you need to create the feeling that you want your employees to have when they step into the office. You want staff to love going to work because it feels good.

Although we’re living through a period of rapid change and unprecedented uncertainty, there are still things businesses can do to future-proof their workplaces. Find out more about the future workforce in the Future of Work: A Progressive Leaders Guide To Staying Ahead

The office of today is vastly different from the office of 30 years ago. In fact, workplace design has significantly changed in as little as the last five years. Over the years, the workplace has become more than just a place for people to clock in and out of, mindlessly completing tasks and watching the seconds of the day tick by, wishing it was 5pm already.

As technology and management ideologies have evolved, so has the space we work in. The modern workplace is now one where workers have more freedom to decide how, where and when they work. It is imbued with a focus on health and wellbeing, and it is increasingly being treated as an extension of an employee’s life, rather than an isolated compartment.

In this post, we will identify the hallmarks of the modern workplace, their benefits and what it might look like if your workplace design isn’t meeting the evolving needs of your employees. But first, let’s start with what modern employees are looking for in their workplace.

What do employees expect in workplaces?

Workplace expectations have changed, and with a war on talent, employees are holding the cards. In a recent survey, a few key findings about workplace design were unearthed:

• 53% of workers value the ability to work in different locations—a sign that workplace flexibility is increasingly important to employees.
• 25% of those surveyed said that they value workplace flexibility yet don’t have access to it, signalling an opportunity to attract talent by making this sort of offer.
• 47% of the workers surveyed said they find value in a community atmosphere in their workplace, flagging the contemporary need for a workplace to be more than simply a place to do work. 

What does the 2020 workplace look like?

Technology: From instant messaging to cloud-based project management tools to the latest hardware, tech is boosting productivity in offices worldwide. Workplaces are including wireless charging stations, monitors which easily connect with laptops and boardrooms with user-friendly wireless presenting. 

Health: Say goodbye to harsh fluorescent lighting, windowless spaces and white on beige colour schemes. Offices today are expected to be kind on the eyes, both physically and aesthetically. Think natural light, indoor greenery and carefully selected interior elements, all designed with employee wellbeing and productivity in mind. 

Recreation and relaxation: Today’s workplace understands that it’s not all about desks, cubicles and offices. Areas to break out, get creative and have some time to unwind are all becoming more popular. Meditation rooms, on-site gyms, rooftop terraces and multipurpose rooms are all becoming the new norm. 

Privacy: While the open-plan office is nothing new, the workplace of 2020 recognises that the hubbub of the masses can be distracting and decrease productivity. Private booths, quiet zones and secluded meeting rooms are designed for distraction-free working time or private discussions, giving employees more flexibility to choose what’s best for the task at hand. 

The benefits of a well-designed workplace

Now we know what the modern workplace looks and feels like, let’s delve a little deeper into the benefits your company might see with a well-designed workspace.

Savvy companies know that treating an office as a cost centre is an old-fashioned and costly (excuse the pun!) mistake. Smart businesses understand that investing in a well-designed workplace is a way to increase revenue by supporting improvements in employee engagement, efficiency and productivity. Bonus: this focus does not go unnoticed by potential talent!

Businesses are expected to have more than a mission statement hung on the wall; rather, they are obliged to create workplaces which live up to their vision. Spot the problem: your company culture is apparently focussed on employee health, yet your office is dark and dingy, and there is no access to an employee wellbeing program. Or how about saying your business is one that values flexibility, yet your office features rows of cubicles which employees can’t leave till 5 pm or later.

The modern workplace is one that considers how design impacts on the health and wellbeing of employees. And not just the physical space, but also the overall practices and culture of the company. By supporting healthy decision making, businesses are reducing both absenteeism and presenteeism, as well as boosting productivity. Your employees will look forward to coming to work instead of counting down the minutes to clock-off time

How do I know if my office isn't meeting my employee's needs?

As you may have already noticed, there are several symptoms that your current office space is no longer meeting the needs of your employees.

Here is a quick checklist of some of the most common signs, to help you quickly spot if you have an issue in your current space:

• Your space doesn’t align with your company culture
• Teams are split across multiple buildings, floors or areas, or you’ve simply run out of room
• New talent is being put off by your current space
• Your current space doesn’t support new ways of working (ABW, remote working, etc.)

If you’ve ticked the box for any or all of the above, now may be the perfect time to think about revisiting your workplace strategy and design. Check out our white paper to discover more about how workplace design influences digital transformation across the critical areas of talent, diversity, innovation and technology.

Axiom Workplaces combines your commercial fitout goals with our experience and expertise in evidence-based office design to create a thriving workplace for you and your workforce.

Considering that a person spends over 13 years of their life at work, it’s unsurprising that workplace design plays a key role in people’s happiness, satisfaction, health and wellbeing.

The routines, habits, and daily ebb and flow that your workspace enables are significant and perhaps more life-altering than you might think. This is why your office space needs to be about more than just ‘the work’, and also about creating a space where you are able to express your fullest self.

With all this at stake, it seems like engaging staff in the design of the workplace would be both obvious and simple to do. We know that when people have options and choices about how, where and when they work, they feel empowered and engaged. Which lends even further weight to the theory that engaging your whole business in your workplace design is singularly powerful.

Yet in many projects, a lack of buy-in from employees will result in project failure and a workspace which hampers satisfaction, efficiency and productivity instead of supporting it. On the other hand, a Steelcase survey linked employee-driven workplace design with increased productivity and high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction.

The survey found that it was not just involvement in the design of the physical workspace that kept employees content, it was also providing input on their working style—work schedules, privacy, processes and business decision-making.

So, how can you ensure your entire business, every employee, is engaged with your workplace design?

1. Start by educating them on the benefits of engagement with workplace design (hint: we’ve just talked about them above!)
2. Share the design process and actively seek feedback throughout—let your employees know exactly what they will get a say on.

Here are just some of the areas your employees can be asked for their opinion and feedback on:

Designing for a Strong Company Culture

Company culture is a set of beliefs, norms and values that represent the way a company does business. Disengaged employees, high staff turnover, poor customer relationships and smaller profits are all symptoms of poor company culture, whereas a strong and healthy company culture will improve a business’s overall performance.

Engage your employees in defining your company culture by working with them on:

• Vision and values
• How your business is managed—the systems, structure, procedures and goals
• Policies—code of conduct, dress code, etc
• Workplace processes—training and development, onboarding, benefits, etc
• People—the qualities of people you hire
• Physical work environment
• Communication and collaboration—how, when and how frequently

Boost Productivity Through Design

Check-in with your team to find out how, where and when they are most productive and, most importantly, how your workplace design can facilitate this.

Some examples:

• Quiet distraction-free zones—while some employees love the hum of the open-plan office, others need quiet space to concentrate or at least the option available to them for certain kinds of work.
• Indoor greenery and nature—workplaces incorporating plants are likely to be happier, more productive workplaces.
• Co-working—a third-party managed and fully serviced co-working space is an option that is gaining popularity.
• Breakout areas—kitchens or other casual breakout areas are great options for employees looking for a collaborative and creative space to work in.

Employee wellbeing Through Better Design

Start a conversation with employees at your company about how their wellbeing can be supported by the business. While perks like bean bags and an on-site massage therapist sound great, it might be that what your workers really need is the flexibility to pick the kids up from school twice a week, or their manager supporting them to take their lunch break away from their desk.

Consider:

• Activity-based working—there are many wellbeing benefits of a workplace created with activity-based working principles.
• Active design—as the name suggests, active design encourages more activity, eg. including strategically placed staircases, sit-stand desks, etc.

Engaging your employees and discovering their motivations and unique working styles as a part of your overall workplace strategy and workplace design will not only ensure buy-in, but also a more satisfied and productive workforce into the future.

Wondering how your workplace strategy fits in with digital transformation? Download our Digital Transformation – the role of workplace strategy whitepaper to explore how workplace design influences digital transformation across the key areas of talent, diversity, innovation and technology.

Axiom Workplaces combine your commercial fitout goals with our experience and expertise in evidence-based office design to create a thriving workplace for you and your workforce.

Did you know mental illness is the leading cause of sickness absence and long-term work incapacity in Australia? Given that our work plays such a significant role in our lives—we do spend most of our working weekday hours there—it’s crucial we acknowledge its impact on our mental health and wellbeing just as much as we do on the physical side. Aside from reducing absenteeism, focusing on workplace wellness helps employees to feel healthy and valued at work, enabling them to perform their best. Additionally, a healthier workspace attracts new talent and leads to greater retention.

In recent years, there has been significant talk about the benefits of workplace design, which includes activity-based working (ABW) or agile working. But in this post, we will specifically be exploring how ABW can affect employee wellbeing—both mentally and physically. Let’s start with a definition.

What is activity-based working?

Activity-based working understands that employees undertake a variety of activities in their everyday work and therefore require different work settings, supported by the appropriate technology, to perform these tasks efficiently and productively. ABW is about creating spaces to meet the needs of individuals and teams, with an emphasis on empowering employees to make decisions which allow them to work at their full potential.

The wellness benefits of activity-based working

There are many wellbeing advantages of a workplace designed with activity-based working principles:

Sense of agency = happiness

The flexibility of an ABW workspace allows individual working styles to be taken into consideration. Employees are able to choose the space best suited to both their task, their style of working and their mood. Naturally, this licence to choose is linked to a feeling of agency or control for the employee, which is essential to a workplace focused on employee wellbeing.

Work/life balance

A key pillar of ABW is flexibility for employees. They are enabled to choose where and when they work according to their individual working style, preferences, patterns and productivity cadences. As more and more employees prioritise a healthy work/life balance, this flexibility is both attractive and significant to their overall wellbeing.

Healthy eating behaviours

A feature of many ABW workplaces is a communal break out area or eating hub for employees to dine and socialise with colleagues. Paired with a policy of discouraging eating at one’s desk, studies have found ABW encourages healthier eating and increased movement.

Collaboration and networking

Businesses and individuals increasingly understand the significance of interaction and collaboration between employees, and are looking for ways to facilitate strong connections between coworkers. ABW supports employees to work collaboratively through enhanced opportunities for formal and informal knowledge transfer and networking. And while collaboration is good for business, it’s also important for employee wellbeing. Research shows teamwork makes people smarter, more creative, and more successful—and who doesn’t want that?

Aside from the business and productivity benefits of working in a team, having friends at work boosts mood and morale, providing emotional and psychological support to ensure employees are resilient and ready for the challenges of the workplace.

Work the way that works

As we’ve already mentioned, a trademark of activity-based working is the flexibility for employees to choose when and where they get their work done. Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all workplaces, an ABW approach takes into account different personalities, habits, associations, styles and patterns of working. This is especially essential for supporting mental health in what can often be a challenging and stressful space.

An attractive workplace

While salary and benefits aren’t off the radar for younger generations, it does appear that millennials prioritise things like work/life balance and a sense of purpose or meaning in their work. With this focus on workplace wellness, it’s clear that a workspace with variations and choice in the work environment is an attractive option for the next generation of workers.

The wellness downfalls of activity-based working

Installing hot desks or knocking down cubicle walls is not enough to reap the workplace wellness benefits of ABW. This approach requires careful consideration and customisation to ensure that a company’s culture and style of working is reflected. It requires the support and buy-in of all levels of the business—from the C-Suite to the student doing work experience.

Important elements to consider when creating a fluid workplace design include:

• quiet spaces where employees can work distraction-free when required;
• making employees feel connected and ‘at home’ even without a permanent desk, such as encouraging opportunities for social interactions.

The bottom line

No matter the workplace strategy, there will be impacts on workforce wellness. However, designing a workplace that meets your business’ future vision and requirements, instead of focusing on what’s cool and trendy, will always result in better outcomes. ABW is a flexible and dynamic style of working which will support your employees to do their best work and encourage a culture of workplace wellness.

Key takeaways about activity-based working:

• One size does not fit all and operating as if it does will be detrimental to your employees’ wellbeing.
• One in, all in. Employees need to feel supported in their working practices, otherwise they can easily sink back into old habits.
• ABW offers flexibility and support which encourages a healthier workforce, both mentally and physically.
• ABW can offer a highly productive and healthy office environment when aligned with the overall business culture.
• ABW as a workplace strategy will only succeed if it meets your business needs.

Want more? In this deep-dive white paper, Axiom explores how workplace design influences digital transformation across the key areas of talent, diversity, innovation and technology. We look at the steps to achieving your own digital transformation and we emphasise the importance of having an ongoing workplace strategy as you move forward.

This post is the second in a series. Please read Part One first to understand what’s happening with the way Australia works.

As we learned in Part One of this series, the war for talent is very real, and the complexity and confusion around 457 skilled visas in Australia are not helping. Big international tech companies are consuming local talent and paying above odds on wages plus offering highly desirable employee benefits. And there is currently no national conversation occurring about the future of work in Australia and how to prepare for it.

However, the private sector is beginning to respond: in 2019, Telstra announced a huge $25million upskilling and reskilling program in collaboration with Sydney’s University of Technology. 

So what can your business do to attract and retain talented, productive and forward-thinking employees? And beyond this, how can you future-proof your workplace? Your workplace strategy is an excellent place to start. 

Start by getting to know your employees

Understanding the context around your current and prospective employees is crucial in developing a workplace strategy which suits their requirements and satisfies their health and wellbeing needs – so they can be the best employees possible. 

Future of Work strategist Cindy Lenferna de la Motte recommends considering how your employees are feeling:

• Anxious about whether a job exists for them in the future
• Stressed out living in a share house or overwhelmed by household debt (maybe both)
• Tense and worried about the climate crisis
• Concerned about failure/change/isolation/etc

Cindy says a workplace can act as a ‘release valve’ for employees, so consider how your workplace can alleviate the fears and anxieties your employees have, freeing them to be efficient, productive and happy at work. Some examples include:

• Supportive leadership that provides a future vision, encouraging co-creation and collaboration
• Investing in professional development
• Quiet spaces for ‘deep work’
• Flexible working arrangements 
• Coordinated Wellbeing programs including Employee Assistance programs and Financial wellbeing
• Acknowledging and addressing societal issues like the climate crisis as a company

Keeping the employee experience front of mind will ensure you build a business that is more ‘human’ and supports connection and community, one that is less brittle and more adaptable to inevitable change. 

Explore the nature of work

While it’s important to get to know your employees, it’s also crucial to genuinely understand the work that is taking place. Cindy mentions that often workplace design becomes a little too trendy – like installing ping pong tables when what’s really required is quiet space where employees can escape the hubbub of the open-plan office setting to get deep thinking tasks done. 

The nature of the work is also inextricably linked to the employee doing that work and their style of working. It is, therefore, essential to understand and consider both when designing spaces to work. For instance, some employees thrive in a loud open office environment and need the background chatter to concentrate on the task at hand, another employee, however, would find the same task impossible, the chatter disruptive and need a quiet space. Why not design space for all styles? Creating lots of different ways and areas for people to work – in collaboration or individually providing – sitting, lounging, standing or moving options – is a hallmark of smart workplace design.  

What the future of work in Australia looks like

According to the World Economic Forum, the top six skills required in 2022 will be:

1. Analytical thinking and innovation
2. Active learning and learning strategies
3. Creativity, originality and initiative
4. Technology design and programming
5. Critical thinking and analysis
6. Complex problem solving

Consider how your workplace can support this type of work. Think about both the physical space and also the technology and policy which enables this work to occur. When done well, your workplace will be an essential enabler of productivity, innovation, collaboration and community. 

Go deeper than ‘trendy’

As Cindy points out, ping pong tables, bean bags and other workplace design ‘trends’ can often be employed with good intentions, but without sound intentions. The physical design of your workplace needs to dig a little deeper, to support productivity as well as being an enticing employee value proposition and theories based on evidence which takes into consideration the actual health and wellbeing needs of your staff.

“It’s more than just offering hot-desking (or whatever the latest trend may be). It’s about tapping into the visceral nature of what your people need through intentional design,” says Cindy.

Explore more about workplace strategy, the future of work in Australia and how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated transformation in the workplace in our ultimate handbook: A progressive leader’s guide to the future of work in Australia.