Here’s what you need to know about the capabilities and purpose of leveraging workplace data in your return to work plans.
Our communal understanding and attitudes towards work have changed and workplaces themselves will need to evolve to reflect these shifts in order to remain not only safe, but fit for purpose.
Speaking at a recent event Lucy Fox, VP at
OpenSensors, discussed factors driving change on a global scale as businesses prepare to welcome employees back to the workplace and what steps we can take
now to ensure a smooth transition.
Why does the workplace need to change?
Entering 2020, most people shared a very similar experience of work centred around the office. Our lives followed similar patterns and the workplace acted as an equaliser for many as we left our personal lives on the pavement and entered a space designated for work.
The ability to work remotely could be viewed as a luxury available to a lucky few and even then the expectation was that the office would remain at the centre of your working life. For many, remote work was seen as unnecessary, with business leaders fearing low productivity.
As the pandemic hit, businesses globally were forced to work from home as lockdowns were introduced. Met with a sudden wave of enthusiasm, the internet was flooded with articles speculating that the office was dead as businesses adapted their processes, updated their tech and continued their operations. As such, it became the expectation for productivity to remain high whilst working remotely.
Why businesses will adopt blended workstyles
Now, as we progress through 2021, we can see that once again attitudes have shifted -
17% more people in the UK are taking the journey into work compared to in the first nationwide lockdown.
Challenges began to emerge for those working remotely. Those living in house shares or with families struggled with balancing the lives of those around them and some of those living alone failed to replace the social aspect of the office. For some the nature of their role made working remotely increasingly difficult as they struggled to access the environment, resources and tools needed. Additionally, maintaining any semblance of work life balance became a challenge, especially when your bedroom became your primary workstation. We've learnt that maintaining business continuity from home is, whilst achievable, not an absolute solution.
That brings us to now, where we see
90% of employees wanting to work 2-3 days a week in the office.
How will the workplace be impacted?
Throughout the pandemic organisations were dynamic to categorise their employees and formalise the relationship between them and the office. Decisions had to be made surrounding who could access the office as organisations went through three different phases of how employees needed to engage with the workplace.
Phase 1: Essential workers
This group is composed of those who required access to the
workplace in order to complete their work. However, as these employees constitute less than 5% of the workforce the strain this placed on organisations from a safety perspective was minimal as they typically were assigned a personal workstation.
Phase 2: Those with remote challenges
For some, working from home was not a feasible option. Those with young families, house sharing, limited private space to work, limited access to wifi or technology tools, struggled working remotely. This group needed to be in the office and as lockdown rules in the UK eased, it was possible for them to return to the workplace. There was minimal complexity as organisations were able to introduce internal systems with relative ease to manage site occupancy.
Phase 3: Those who choose to return
As European lockdowns eased over the summer of 2020 organisations faced by far the most significant organisational challenge as increasing numbers of employees chose to return to the office. Maintaining social distancing, allocating workspaces, cleaning and scheduling work rotations as occupancy rates increased put a huge strain on organisations.
To ensure employee safety organisations needed to monitor and manage who, how and when people were in the office. Planning this phase of return to work early has become top priority as increasing numbers of employees wanting to return on a rotation basis leads to a higher demand on time.
Organisations are now leaning towards leveraging workplace data such as occupancy and booking insights to manage work rotations and keep within social distancing occupancy limits. There is a lot that can be learned from the global return to work to ensure this phase runs smoothly and will evolve to form a central part of managing the emerging hybrid working environments that are likely to be our business as usual post-COVID.
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How other countries have managed return to work
Businesses globally have faced these challenges, and overarching patterns have emerged in countries’ responses. The APAC region in particular has made significant progress. In New Zealand
hybrid working has been heavily adopted allowing employees access to the office in shift patterns and satellite offices have emerged to reduce time spent commuting.
In response to the virus, Japanese businesses now have to allocate 16sqm per employee, limiting the number of people able to access the office at any given time. To counter this Japanese businesses have invested heavily in remote work technologies in an effort to extend the office environment outwards. Similarly, the Singaporean Government has mandated that employees must work 50% of their hours from home, leading to an emphasis on rotation based working.
These countries have seen great success under these models, with
office occupancy remaining constant at approximately 50%. Furthermore, these changes address the desires and needs of employees. In the
UK 40% of employees stated that they need and value the social element of office working, and 42% struggle with distractions at home. Clearly, a return to the office is desired, and rotation based working has been central in facilitating this across the APAC region.
The role of workplace data in return to work plans
Employee safety is paramount in all return to work plans. Organisations need to ensure that social distancing guidelines are followed and that the office itself does not pose a risk to an individual’s wellbeing.
Monitoring occupancy across locations provides a birds eye view of how your employees interact with spaces, and allows for both the day to day operations of your building and your long term plans to be evidence based.
Occupancy challenges
How will your organisation ensure social distancing policies are followed and what internal track and trace systems are in place?
By monitoring the occupancy of your assets you’re able to ensure in real time that occupancy remains at a safe level and respond to any spikes immediately.
Working throughout the pandemic has extended the workplace to include the home, and demonstrated that certain tasks are more suited to the home environment. For example, if you have all day conference calls, the privacy afforded by working remotely could be highly beneficial for some, but for those for whom this isn’t realistic, dedicated space within the office is still required.
Furthermore, replicating the collaborative nature of the office environment has proven challenging. Introducing booking systems enables Phase 3 employees and beyond to assess when and where they would like to work in the office, dependent on the type of task they have in mind and then coordinate with colleagues to save their space.
Combining historical
occupancy and booking data also enables business leaders to assess the functionality of their workplace, enabling facilities teams to truly understand which assets within the office are most important to employees and perhaps which are now unnecessary.
Additionally, workplace data can be used to create mobility profiles based on job description and department, enabling HR teams to tailor shift patterns and rotations to fit in with forecasted space usage.
Environmental challenges
Recent studies have shown that viral transmission is closely linked to air quality, both indoor and outside. Using
environmental sensors within offices to monitor Temperature, CO2, Particulates and Humidity levels, enables business leaders to not only react immediately as levels rise, but also assess the practicality and safety of policies introduced.
Key considerations
- Rotation based working has been widely adopted by APAC businesses and has proven to be successful in bringing more employees into the office on a part time basis. How ready is your workplace to support this?
- Blended workstyles desired by employees fatigued by remote working conditions. The pandemic has changed work behaviours with 90% of people wanting a blend of flexible working. Do you know what your employees want?
- Booking and occupancy data combined provide a birds eye view of your workplace's activity, support work rotation and enable you to ensure the office is fit for purpose. What systems do you have in place already?
- Monitor indoor air quality to ensure your workplace is safe for employees to return to and minimise the spread of viruses. What steps are you taking to reassure your employees?
Want to learn more?
Whether you need help with workplace analytics, consultation on your strategy or guidance on your workplace plans, we're here to help. Call us on +44 (0)20 3868 4376 or