Your future workspace

By Jacqueline Stuart

Office or home?

Following lockdown there has been much speculation about companies’ long term plans to downsize office space, by encouraging their employees to work from home, with the objective of saving money on rent. However studies have shown that rent comprises less than 2% of revenue in large companies, so the risks will have to be carefully weighed up against the benefits when assessing the potential outcome.

Two years ago I moved from Ljubljana to Trieste, and decided to work some days from home. This is not my first experience of home working, I also worked from home for a few years when I lived in Spain, and in London when my Son was a baby.

Global realtor Cushman and Wakefield surveyed 40,000 employees and discovered that 90% of those working remotely felt trusted to carry out their work, 82% felt informed, 75% felt they could effectively focus and collaborate, and 73% believe that remote working policies should be expanded. On the other hand 55% reported they wished to return to the office to feel a sense of wellbeing, 64% to learn, 56% to feel connected to colleagues, and 50% to feel connected to the company culture.

Productivity Vs Innovation?

John Sullivan is a professor of management at San Francisco state university, he states that studies show that people who work from home are significantly more productive but less innovative. If you want innovation, then you need interaction. If you want productivity then you want people working from home.

His views reflect my personal experience. My days in the office allow me to communicate with team members and share ideas, which sometimes leads to better ways of working, new business opportunities and other benefits. However I don’t always get a lot of work done. Days working at home are more productive, but the spark for new ideas in the form of face to face communication with colleagues is missing.

In the future we will probably see most companies encouraging more remote working for part of the week, with workplaces becoming social hubs where employees can collaborate and meet.

Some are more suited to remote working than others

Some industries are better suited to remote working than others. Many companies in the tech industry have teams comprising exclusively remote workers, sometimes from many different countries. Management training and Creative services also have a high percentage of remote workers.  Other industries that rely more on face to face communication are less suited. 

Google announced on 27th July that nearly all of their 200,000 full time and contract employees will work from home until July 2021.

Globalwebindex reports that tolerance for remote working correlates with increased seniority and achievement levels, with 83% of those in executive management positions being permitted to work remotely, whilst only 63% of general office workers have the same benefit. They report that international organisations are more likely to offer the option to work from home than locally based companies. Age matters too, Gen Z remote workers say that collaboration tools such as Skype and Microsoft teams are effective for communication, but for baby boomer remote workers this falls to just 17%.

Introverts probably thrive better when working from home than the extroverts that need human contact to energise them.

Three fundamental questions

Cushman and Wakefield identified three fundamental questions organisations are asking in response to Covid-19 and remote working:

How much agility can be embraced and maintain culture? The COO of Goldman Sachs said ‘Having everyone working from home has the potential to damage Goldman’s culture’. Most very successful companies have a strong, individual culture and rely on face to face interaction to foster it.

How much office space is required?

James Gorman, the CEO of Morgan Stanley said ‘the bank would need much less real estate in the future. We’ve proven we can operate with no footprint. Furthermore, Twitter told staff they can work from home ‘forever’ if they wish.

What is the role of the office?

Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays suggested the company might ‘use our branches as alternative sites for investment bankers and call centre workers’. Jonathan Lewis, CEO of Capita said ‘the office spaces Capita will keep would be used less to house banks of standalone desks and much more to bring teams together to work collaboratively.

The impact of demographic changes

There is no doubt that remote working will increase during and following the Covid 19 pandemic. Most companies have discovered that they can function perfectly well with employees working from home. There are three major demographic shifts taking place that will also have an impact, as identified by Kinnarps, a leading interior workspace solutions company:

1. For the first time in history we have four generations working side by side, their different ways of thinking and behaving must be taken into account, younger workers are more suited to digital interaction than veterans.

1. The struggle for equality between women and men at work is entering a new phase. Looking at workspace from a gender perspective, in particular where to work from, is becoming more important. Childcare is much easier for women working from home.

1. The digital generation is entering the workforce, having grown up connected to the world through smartphones, tablets and computers. Face to face interaction is less important to many of them than to older workers new to the digital world.

The impact on the residential market?

It is possible that with more people working from home at least for part of the week, the suburbs might experience a renaissance. Towns like Kranj, Domžale, Mengeš and Kamnik have much to offer with green spaces and fresh air, and many more hours of sunshine than Ljubljana. But they lack the quality coffee bars of Slovenia’s capital city, and the variety of restaurants and cultural events. It is possible that the appeal of the suburban towns might grow on inner city professionals who no longer have to commute to work each day. A house in the suburbs for the price of an apartment in the city centre may become more appealing, particularly for anyone wanting a spare room to use as a home office. Regional cities that have been losing out to Ljubljana might also regain some of their popularity. People will gradually be able to choose where to live first, with proximity to work less of a priority.

Working from home successfully

From personal experience, this is how to set up a successful home office. 

Have a dedicated part of your home for work. One that can be closed off at the end of the day allowing you to disconnect. Not everyone has the luxury of a home office, but you can separate off a small area with a room divider or screen. I even turned a linen cupboard into an office in London, it was tiny – just enough room for a shelf that served as a desk, and a chair, with further shelves above for files. But it kept my work life separate from my home life, and served its purpose, I could close the door on work at the end of the day. Importantly, I could also close the door of my cupboard when I was in it, getting peace to work with no distractions from cats or baby. The WHO reported that stress is the most serious health issue of the 21st century. Stress will be around long after Covid has gone, and will have to be managed. Someone said recently that work has been ground up into a fine powder, that pervades every part of our lives, encroaching on leisure and family time. With work email on smartphones and laptops, many of us are ‘always on’.

Get some proper office equipment for use at home. Number one priority is an office chair. A friend was suffering from back issues during lockdown from having to use a kitchen chair, luckily I had a spare office chair at home that I was able to donate. I have a small home printer/scanner that is invaluable. For some reason I find my anglepoise lamp is important to my home working space. When I turn on the lamp it means it is work time, and when I turn it off it signifies the end of the working day. In our company we all have laptops and keep files in the cloud, which contributed to a seamless transition to home working during lockdown. I value my laptop cushion, because if I feel like leaving my small home office and relaxing a bit on the sofa whilst working, I can do so.

Many people claim it is important to set specific hours for home working. I disagree. One of the best things about working from home is being able to choose to work when you feel like it. I personally like to sleep late and work late, but I am aware that many Slovenians are early risers and would rather do the opposite.

Until the pandemic is over, companies have to adopt strategies to keep employees safe. There is no evidence so far of any employers abandoning ubiquitous open plan office suites to return to the individual cubicles of the past. It is easier and more productive to encourage team members to work from home. Some companies have divided the workforce in two, with revolving shifts from home to office. The digital revolution has enabled remote working, and it will no doubt be accelerated as a result of the pandemic.

Jacqueline Stuart is a Director of S-Invest d.o.o.