Table 5.3 Organization's Values Are Reflected Some Highest‐Scoring
Organizations
Some Lowest‐Scoring Organizations
Nike General Dynamics
Google AmerisourceBergen
Facebook Archer Daniels Midland
Apple Anthem
LEVERAGE MULTIPLE WORKSPACE
who work there. We are moving away from working in a linear,
monotonous world, so our workspaces must adapt accordingly. This is why the most forward‐thinking organizations around the world are actually creating multiple floor plans instead of focusing on just open or closed spaces. None of the forward‐thinking organizations in the world commit to just a single type of workspace environment (or even two or three!). For example, when I visited the offices of SAP, I noticed that they have a very wide variety of spaces that employees can choose to work from. This included modern cubicle‐like environments, open spaces, cafe and lounge areas, collaboration spaces where you can write on the wall, conference rooms, quiet areas, outside work areas, and more. By creating this type of environment, organizations like SAP are saying, “We get it. Your job is not linear and uniform, so we will understand how and why you work and give you multiple options based on that. As an employee you should be able to pick the environment that will allow you to be most effective and efficient.”
That's a powerful message and a commitment to people. Many
organizations also realize that they are able to save a lot of office space and hence real‐estate cost by doing this because they are able to leverage those closed offices, usually devoted for a single person, for multiple people.
A recent article published in Harvard Business Review by Diane Hoskins, the co‐CEO of architecture design firm Gensler, called “Employees Perform Better When They Control Their Space” found that employees who have more choices over their workplace (including when, where, and how they work) scored higher on innovation, job performance, job satisfaction, and workplace satisfaction. This makes complete sense. Why shouldn't we have a bit more control and choice over the spaces in which we work?
Perhaps one of the best examples of an organization that offers multiple workspace options is the commercial real estate company CBRE, which redesigned its Los Angeles offices to focus on “16 spaces to work.” Think about that for a minute. Most employees are lucky if they are afforded a way to work beyond their cubicles, but 16 spaces is really astonishing.
CBRE is in the process of pushing this out to its other offices as well. These spaces include everything from a client conference room and open team areas to teamwork tables and offices for a day to phone booths and even a Zen garden area. Each of these spaces caters to a specific way that
employees at CBRE work.6
I recently spoke with Freddie Chow, the chief talent officer for the Asia Pacific Region of Sanofi. He told me that in his region, the physical environment employees work in creates and promotes a certain type of hierarchy. The more senior people get the nicer offices with the better desks and the more extravagant views. Sanofi was trying to become a more
collaborative and flatter organization, so the physical environment was a big hindrance to making any kind of progress. Freddie and his team made a radical change and eliminated all the offices in the organization. Instead they focused their efforts on something known as Activity Based Working, which is a concept where employees don't have any assigned seats. Instead they have multiple floor plan and workspace options they can select from based on the activity or task they are doing. After this shift Freddie and his team saw an increase in productivity, engagement, and collaboration, along with a reduction in real estate costs.
Don't get stuck in the open versus closed office debate. Instead seek to
understand the various activities that employees perform throughout the day and how they work. Then design spaces accordingly.
A word of caution when thinking about the physical workspace. When we see or hear about organizations like Google or Facebook, one of the first things we think about is their amazing office spaces. Business leaders flock from all over the world to visit these organizations in an attempt to bring back some things they can implement at their own companies. The thought process is “Google has a giant slide. We need one too!” Or “Facebook has a giant cafeteria with free food. We have to get that!” What many of these people fail to realize is that you can't simply copy a Google or a Facebook, nor should you. These organizations might seem like they are just building anything that looks fun, but everything they do in relation to their physical environment is done strategically and with purpose. Organizations that invest in beautiful spaces don't just do it for fun.
Atlassian is one of the cool and hip companies that have a modern and
beautiful office space. I met with its executive team to find out whether they just hired a design firm and threw money at making an awesome‐looking space. They laughed at me when I asked that. Atlassian actually analyzed how employees worked by using sensors attached to employee's desks and speaking with employees. After looking at the data executives realized that employees hardly used assigned seating, which led them to design a space
that made sense for them, a more open central plan that leveraged multiple other ways of working.
Atlassian, like many other forward‐thinking companies, didn't copy what others were doing. It used data to understand how employees work.
Atlassian then designed around that.
Another executive I spoke with at a large organization didn't have a large budget to redesign the workspaces so he recruited volunteers. He set a budget at IKEA (the do‐it‐yourself furniture store), and everyone showed up for a few weekends to create environments they wanted to work in.
Airbnb used to work with fancy design and architecture firms to build and design their conference rooms (which are modeled after actual Airbnb
listings). Today the company recruits volunteer employees and gives them a
$900 budget to design these conference rooms. Not only is this cheaper for Airbnb but employees also feel a sense of pride and ownership in actually creating the rooms.
You will be amazed how excited and engaged employees will be if you tell them they can design their own environments. Not only that but also I'm willing to bet that your organization has a few creative and handy
employees who will know more than their fair share when it comes to design and furniture.
What This Measures
Commitment to enabling employees to do their best work Understanding of how employees work
What You Can Do
Observe how employees work and where they work.
Get employee feedback around the types of environments they would like to use.
Think beyond open or closed floor plans, and instead view your
organization like a house, where each room serves a specific and unique purpose.
See Table 5.4 to see who some of the highest‐ and lowest‐scoring companies for this variable are.
Table 5.4 Leverage Multiple Workspace Options Some Highest‐Scoring
Organizations
Some Lowest‐Scoring Organizations
Google Sears
Facebook McDonald's
LinkedIn General Dynamics
Airbnb Lowe's