Property consultant JLL said businesses should invest in workplace improvements to help attract and retail talent while boosting employee morale.
JLL said in a report the social and collaborative aspects of a workplace are now the prime reason for the return to office of employees.
“Integrating social strategies with design strategies can promote company culture and support wellbeing,” the report said.“Highly efficient and tech-enhanced workplaces are required to support high-performance environments which can adapt to the changing needs of employers and staff,” it added.
JLL said thoughtful design strategies for building refurbishment, adaptive reuse or retrofit which incorporate circularity can drive decarbonization while also creating positive social impact, boosting wellbeing and enhancing overall value.
“`Destination’ workplaces, which deliver high-performance environments, support organizational culture and identity, and deliver social purpose of the workplace, will strongly support staff recruitment, retention and productivity and therefore garner the most investment,” it said.
JLL said that while hybrid and flexible working models are not new, the adoption of these at scale in the post-pandemic era has changed working patterns and demands on all workplaces, as well as employee expectations.
According to JLL, staff members of companies look for increased flexibility regarding office work and clamor for collaborative spaces and alternative working spaces in the office.
It noted a marked requirement for higher integration of technology in working life, which will continue to grow as businesses adopt AI solutions.
JLL said research shows investment in office design can improve the environment for focused individual work, boost collaboration and improve air quality, all critical to employee performance.
“Redesigned offices can also offer a choice of workspaces as well as views and green spaces, all of which are strongly linked to increased employee wellbeing and productivity,” it said.
JLL said that the social purpose of the workplace has become the most important reason for returning to the office.
The collaborative nature of office workplaces is beneficial for productivity, company culture, wellbeing and innovation.
“Collaboration, social interaction, culture and connectivity are cited as the top reasons for working in the office, for both employees and employers,” it said.
“A wide variety of activities take place in the office; it is not as simple as meetings in the office and focused work at home. In many offices, the true value of the workplace is often at the blurry edges of activities: a serendipitous meeting or cross-team social bonds. This means workplace design has to look beyond planned collaboration spaces, considering how people interact, form social bonds and share knowledge,” it added.
JLL said companies can find value in engaging with “non-traditional” design disciplines – such as business or organizational psychology – in the early stages of workplace transformation strategies.
“This can inform a design approach that enhances social capital, nurtures organizational culture or supports productive teamworking,” the report said.
An emerging area of opportunity, JLL said, is the use of a social strategy to inform a design strategy that identifies and curates social and collaboration space within a wider landscape of workstations to create a productive environment for individuals and teams.
“Now is the time to invest in workplace design
The increased complexity of the world of work means a bigger role for workplaces in supporting employee performance and expectations, corporate sustainability ambitions and the evolving technology and AI landscape. All this means now is the time to invest,” JLL said.
