Getting employees off the screen and into the office

As employees grow accustomed to working from home, companies have been left searching for new ways to encourage their staff to return to the office.

While team socials and a personal workspace may have sufficed pre-pandemic, workplaces now need more than just a physical office space to bring their staff back together. 

TCC Canada – one of the country’s largest providers of coworking and flexible workspace – has been on the front lines of reimagining the workplace, creating welcoming, comfortable and flexible spaces suitable for post-pandemic office life. 

“People are starting to realize that spending 16 hours a day at home isn’t productive or healthy,” says Sean Cochrane, president of TCC Canada. “Having an office space that you enjoy going to can help companies re-establish that work-life home-life boundary.” 

With six coworking offices in Ottawa, TCC is helping companies reinvent their physical footprint by providing modern office space that caters to each individual work style. Whether you have employees craving collaboration, or need a quiet, solo space to work, TCC Canada has the solution to bring your team under one roof. 

Inspirational shared space 

For many employees, the sudden pivot to work-from-home resulted in make-shift office setups and ergonomic nightmares. 

One of the easiest ways to encourage staff to return to the office is by providing a workplace that offers a range of workstations and comfortable furniture. 

TCC Canada offices are designed with this concept in mind, says Cochrane. 

Each office location features open spaces, comfy seating areas and private suites to ensure that everyone has a suitable place to work. The coworking space provider also prioritizes ergonomic furniture and standing desks, making the office space not just functional, but healthy as well.

“We hear over and over from companies that 80 per cent of their staff want to work from home, but we have to ask ourselves, is that a COVID thing or is that because your office isn’t a place where people want to work?” says Andrew Reeves, senior architect and owner of Linebox Studio, the firm behind Shopify’s Ottawa space. “If you can make that commute worthwhile for them to show up and provide a clean, bright and energized workspace, people will be more inclined to create that work-home separation that is desperately needed.”

Creating positive employee experiences even extends beyond the chair you sit in, adds Cochrane, and can include everything from lighting and air quality to the art on the walls.

“Organizations are looking to meet with their teams in inspirational workplaces,” he says. “After being separated for nearly two years, teams don’t want to come back to a boring old boardroom. Offices need to feel like a place you want to spend time in.” 

To help companies reconnect in a safe space, TCC has also increased its cleaning protocols, and is adhering to all provincial health guidelines. Cochrane and his team have also upgraded all of the air filters and have individual HEPA air filter machines in the boardrooms – which circulate the air in the room up to five times an hour.  

By prioritizing employee wellbeing in the workplace, it will make it easier for groups to start to gather again, says Cochrane, who has seen a growing demand for coworking space in the last few months.

The flexibility of coworking also allows companies to slowly welcome staff back on their own schedule, instead of forcing a team back to an unwelcoming environment.  

“Organizations must create offices specifically designed to enhance the kinds of

interactions that staff cannot achieve from home,” he says. “We are trying to reintroduce employee collaborations, so let’s give them a space worthy of gathering.”