By Kati Barklund
Edition 6 – October 2015 Pages 30-33
Tags: workplace management • productivity
The workplace can and should be used as a strategic tool to support work and cooperation, to shape the experience of the brand and to produce competitive advantage for the organization. Even when not used as a strategic tool,the workplace still affects all these elements and there is an overwhelming risk that it can instead have a negative impact if we are not aware of this relationship.
The workplace makes a great difference to outcomes and it is becoming an important differentiator between successful and less successful organizations.I also strongly believe that the workplace management area is of key importance for us in the FM sector to bring facilities management to a higher level, and shift from a cost focus to more of a value focus. This is something we need to do together within the FM industry and we really should take the driver’s seat. But, let’s start from the beginning.
We can see four key drivers of change within the workplace strategy area,and these are:
• Cost/Price pressure;
• Sustainability and corporate responsibility;
• Technology;
• and the war for talent and productivity.
When it comes to the cost/price pressure area, we still see a lot of focus on the cost side due to the economic situation, maturing markets, global competition and the fact that costs,for example, staff costs and rents, rise continuously. The rent is for example generally really high, especially in the urban areas. We know here that the utilization tend to below at almost never over 50%. In our own utilization studies regarding both our clients and ourselves we have generally seen a 35-45% utilization of work desks. In UK for example, the Real Estate managers see a reduction of almost 50% of the need of space within five years and we can see the same development in the Nordic countries as well.
However, we also see a change from only being cost focused to being more and more value focused. Are we getting what we need, could, and should get for the money and time we are investing? Are we really optimizing the value? And this is especially important in the field of FM where the overwhelming focus over the last years has been on diminishing cost. This is without always reflecting on the relationship between FM services and employee satisfaction and productivity. In many cases the productivity cost can be so much higher than the actual saving we are making.
Regarding sustainability, the focus on the issue continues to be even harder, and not only regarding environmental responsibility but also social and economic responsibility. We see a shift from just seeing sustainability as a hygiene factor to seeing sustainability as a business opportunity and a way to attract both employees, clients and business partners. In the future, companies will get neither clients nor employees if not being sustainable.
In the technological arena, we see this as both a driver and an enabler. Technology is both driving and making change possible, and I am not only referring to new technology, but existing technology that has become both cheaper and more available. For example, QR code technology is today more than 20 years old, but we have only recently started to see and take advantage of this technology. We,both as private persons, employees and organizations, have become much more mature when it comes to technology.
Today we are more used to technology and to trying out new things – and if it does not work, we try something else. We also tend to see possibilities with technology to a greater extent than before. We see how it can help our lives and work –to simplify, improve, streamline, fasten and secure – and we have begun to demand it.
Corporates are also fighting a war for talent and increased workforce productivity, so when it comes to this fourth area, we see that corporationstoday are fighting a war for talent and productivity and that the workplace, meaning “office, home and third place”, is really becoming an important differentiator.
What we can see is that:
• Unemployment remains high. However, both private and public sectors struggle to recruit and retain talented people in several areas and regions. We also know by looking at the demographic development for example, that this war for talent is increasing. We will have even greater lack of talent in many areas and regions in the future and therefore even a greater war for the talent.
• The workforce at our workplaces today is diversified. We have for example a four-generation workforce today; and although I believe that much of the same things are important to people regardless of generation, there are some differences as well in preferences and attitudes towards work and workplaces.There are also other variations amongst the people, for example, when it comes to cultural and religious differences, personal backgrounds,and of course different personalities like introverts and extroverts.
• Many people at work today are not engaged. According to Gallup,63% of employees are not engaged and 24% are disengaged as an average of 142 countries . Many people come to work and lack motivation and just do a minimum effort and are “less likely to invest discretionary effort in organizational goals or outcomes”. Also many are “actively disengaged indicating they are unhappy and unproductive at work and liable to spread negativity to coworkers”. How does this affect creativity, efficiency, productivity and performance of the employees and the organization? And how great is the potential of getting more creative, efficient and productive employees if we can increase this engagement?…