Hosted by Stewart Smith, Managing Director of UK Flex at CBRE, and Co-Hosted by Microsoft’s Jeff Schumacher and Standard Chartered’s Suzan Dixon, the OCCUPEERS met at the ‘SPACE [UK Tribes]’ micro-event to discuss some of the challenges arising from a hybrid workplace. Here’s some of the key points raised…
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- The idea of culture within the workplace changes with people’s perspective; age, gender, upbringing and experiences. So the challenge is; how can we demonstrate and cultivate a change which works for a diverse workforce?
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- The manifestation of change within the workplace has been fast-tracked by the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought about this concept of hybrid working. 75{01478c458fce4bf021c853cc0e4e42fc55e857523dd829bd5f02c15dc08b6a50} of employees want to work from home at least 2-3 days a week. But does the industry have a space which people want to come back to?
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- The challenge is how to create a space which employees feel safe within and want to attend. It could be argued that by having the majority of the workforce working from home, it could be a matter of “lost cultures and broken cultures.”
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- “Culture is a living thing, it evolves” – Is it a good thing that people are now working from home? Many big corporate companies have employed a “Push push, fight fight culture”; yet with COVID, it has given companies time to re-evaluate their cultures for the better.
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- A Hybrid workplace has allowed employers to give enablement to employees. Which has caused a pivot in culture within the workplace. The idea of a Hybrid workplace is effectively the choice in; where, whom and how you will work.
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- A “work from home culture” has changed how occupiers are engaging with their employees. It has streamlined efficiency within companies’ communication from CEO’s to graduates. The demand for participation has increased; “the pandemic has accelerated our collective being.”
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- Will the “millennials”/younger generations become increasingly unsatisfied with their learning opportunities and their desire to become part of a tribe. Will their continuous search for a more rewarding place and purpose for work ultimately prove unfulfilling?
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- The need to listen to the workforce has become even more important. Companies need to personalise the experience of the office. Increased involvement will improve the sense of belonging.
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- The future success of Hybrid working will be based on a few key principles
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- Diversity and true inclusion
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- Equitable deployment of tech that allows those not in the room to have a similar experience to those who are not there.
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- That the home and work environments are equitable in both their impact on the employee, productivity and the environment.
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- Productivity and cost of real estate; Whilst the dial has swung back to the key issues of attraction and retention, in time economics will reassert themselves and new occupancy models will be needed to gain maximum return from the office and it’s five day infrastructure.
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SPACE [UK Tribes] is a SPACE+ micro-event series, taking place in unique venues across London.
To attend micro-events, Join SPACE+
To sponsor or host a discussion, contract rob@space-plus.org