The new era of the office

The New Hybrid Model:

For several months I have been sharing with you information about the hybrid work model and its surveys around the world. This is already a reality, organizations around the world are allowing their employees to return to the office little by little; and many companies are wondering how to adapt their spaces for the new office era.

Adapting spaces for the new era is not just about disinfecting, keeping distance, closing forums or wearing masks inside the office, it is also about offering flexibility and the experiences that workers are needing and looking for. It's about offering a hybrid work model that supports the new ways of working.

The office days we all knew Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm or even later are over. The employee now wants to have the decision of when and where to work. Some are choosing to work full time at home, others are choosing to work from a third location (cowork) part time or full time and still others are choosing to work some days at home and others in the office. They have already demonstrated that they can be equally or more efficient working by making this choice, it is up to the employer to be more inclusive and adapt to the new culture.

In addition to the new hybrid work policies, organizations should not forget that to make the hybrid work model work, the office workspace must adapt. Redesign, furniture, experiences, technology (hardware and software) and locations are some of the points to modify or implement in the new office era. We must be careful that when implementing these policies and environments we do not add bureaucracies that end up adding a new task for HR or operations teams.

 The objective is to provide the most favorable combination of remote and in-office work to positively impact better economic performance, culture and well-being for employees.

There are many benefits of the new office culture:

1.- Diversity:

By changing our hiring policies we will have access to human resources from different parts of the country or the world, it is no longer necessary for our personnel to live in our city where our corporate headquarters is located. 

Cost reduction:

With the new work policies and employees using part-time spaces, we have many extra m2 in the buildings, for example: if we previously needed 1,000 desks, we can now use 500 on a rotating basis. These savings can be used in other areas of the business.

3.- Empowerment:

People no longer have to go to the office to meet a schedule, that culture is behind us, now we are being more inclusive by leaving the decision of where to work to the employee, when this happens people can feel themselves and get the best out of them.

Creativity and culture:

working remotely impacts the culture and creativity of teams. The office will no longer be the place to meet schedules, hybrid spaces have the potential to become not only a space but the main driver of company culture and the place where ideas are shared.

The New Office Normal

 Hybrid work is already the new normal, we have no choice but to evolve with this new culture if we want it to really work. It is vital to establish hybrid work policies to rethink spaces and to train and equip employees and support areas such as HR, IT, and Operations with technological tools to make the transition easy. Organizations should consider moving from fixed stations and services to more efficient ones where there is greater adaptability and flexibility.

At WOR we have developed services, spaces and technology to make this happen, and we are also advising HR leaders and directors to make the best real estate decisions for the best performance of their companies.