Working in an office isn’t really defined by the space we inhabit; it’s defined by the people we interact with.
Whether they’re showing up for a meeting, training, to bounce ideas around, or just to see a familiar face, coming to the office, when properly planned, just might be the jumping off point for an epic work adventure.
It’s that experience, that journey, that keeps them coming back.
It follows then, that when planning space to create amazing employee experiences (what we’re calling an epic work adventure!), where both the professional and social needs of your team are met, that we remember that they are all in fact individuals; each with a diverse set of needs and preferences with respect to where, when, and how they perform best.
Here’s a clue: You won’t find the road map to adventure buried in people’s job descriptions. It lives within every employee.
Remember that people with the same job description will inevitably have different work-style preferences that are unique to them. Each of your employees (and their loved ones) are dealing with the habits, preferences, and stresses significantly influenced by their home lives, upbringing, household income, past experiences, relationship status, physical health, mental health, and that’s before they even show up for work!
Combined with a fast–paced job that demands swinging from intense mental focus to brainstorming and collaboration, it’s no wonder that the world’s most successful companies are recognizing that they need to offer unprecedented freedom and choice (in and out of the office) to stay competitive when it comes to managing talent.
At Real Strategy, we believe that your physical office should be planned from the outset to enable a high degree of individual choice and flexibility to set the stage for an epic work adventure and we lean heavily on the principles of Activity Based Work (ABW). We envision an ABW space as a diverse palette of functional environments, each designed to facilitate the multitude of evolving tasks that an employee can face throughout the day.
Enclosed environments for heads down focus work; semi-private zones for small, impromptu meetings; and open, soft seating zones for encouraging spontaneous creative collisions should all be present in an ABW space and filled with the tools and technology your people need so they might have the freedom to choose where, when, and how they can work.
While we still need traditional offices, meeting rooms, and workstations, we need to rebalance our allocation to these elements in recognition that the way we work has changed.
Choice and freedom are for all, not just for senior staff. This is a radical change from traditional hierarchical workplace thinking. Gone are the Human Resource Plentiful days when better space and executive perks defined much of office layouts. Today, as the war for talent continues to heat up, that kind of attitude doesn’t cut it.
Choice and freedom must permeate every layer of the company and this change begins at the top and it takes trust. Trust that measuring employee productivity and performance instead of micromanaging the employee’s attendance, or the way they work, can utterly transform the story of your workplace to epic proportions.
Epic Work Adventures are made up of great employee experiences – their personal stories. Those stories are what they talk about to themselves, and others, about what it means to be an employee of your company. These stories are reflective of their core beliefs and culture as it relates to their experience at work. Realize that you as a leader have a role to play.
Just as a parent can create their child’s most precious memories by planning great meals, holidays, and special moments, so does an employer have the opportunity (even the duty?) to create similar memories at work.
While our motto at Real Strategy is that incredible people deserve amazing space, it takes planning and intention to curate a positive employee experience. Leadership style, quality of workplace environment, and flexible attendance policies are the tools that set the stage for an epic work adventure.
Just imagine coming to an office where you have the freedom and the tools to work where you feel most productive. Where it’s safe to share concerns about where your organization is headed because your boss (and their boss’ boss) believes this is a starting point for conversations that might lead to innovation and overall improvement.
A company where you can trust that senior management cares about you and your personal sense of well being. Where your ideas are welcomed and cherished. A place filled with happy people bringing their A-game and excited to work with you.
Everyone, from the most senior executive to the most entry-level employee, deserves to work in a space that supports their happiness, humanity, and health.
What if this was your story at work? What would it be worth to you to get there? Could you ever imagine leaving?
It can be challenging to embrace a new story, especially in an area of life where the stories are comfortable and familiar. It takes courage to stand up for what you deserve. Or as we like to say, incredible people deserve amazing space.
We would love to join you on your epic work adventure.
Realstrategy.com
