The mode of operation is going to change in the future. Employees will be given the right to decide where, when and how long they will perform their duties. A crucial aspect is well-being of employees. Work place will response to their needs, for instance, by adjusting the lighting to the mood. The experts of CBRE point out 5 key office trends related to care about a good condition of employees.
The increased interest in care about well-being at work is a derivative of current demographic and social trends. One of them is the increased average lifetime, which causes the need for different generations to reconcile their expectations at the office. The social awareness is also growing. The employed aspire to decrease stress and maintain a balance between occupational and personal life, thus these two worlds are starting to pervade more and more intensely. Companies still have about 20 years to adjust themselves to this peculiar trend and then the line between home and work will be blurred. In the OFFICE SUPERSTAR competition, we’re searching and distinguishing those organizations which exceed the epoch and consider the office as something more than just a work place – says Kamil Tyszkiewicz, Director, Advisory & Transaction Services, Office Space Lease Department, CBRE.
Freedom
The experts of CBRE emphasize the necessity of departing from a fixed work schedule. Employees should manage their own time if only they are able to cooperate with members of their teams effectively. Office should be a place for exchanging thoughts and joint meetings. Apart from a comfortable work place, it should offer a space for relaxation. What is more, there should be a possibility of joint work offered to people who are scattered around the world because design teams more frequently comprise of employees from different locations.
Care About Older Generations
Another trend is related to care about older generations of employees. According to the forecasts of the Central Statistical Office, there can be a lack of even 10.5 million employees in a productive year in 2050 in Poland. Thereby, it is in the interest of employers to build programs aimed at promoting the state of being professionally active for as long as possible. It is worth offering, for instance, greater flexibility and different unconventional methods of work organization such as contracts that specify the number of hours per year and the way of work organized by employees.
Healthy Lifestyle
Employees should also care about health of employees in order to lower the absence rate. Innovative offices are designed in such a way to take care of oneself by providing healthy snacks in food distributors or the access to gym in the head office of a company.
Office buildings are more frequently designed in such a way to meet the standards of the wellness strategy. Taking care of employees contributes to their better health as well as increased efficiency and productivity. What is more, “healthy” office is a great bargaining chip in the market competition for attracting or maintaining the best employees – emphasizes Kamil Tyszkiewicz.
Lowering Stress Level
Stress is one of the most common reasons for absence at work. As stressing factors employees often point out the balance between personal and professional life (according to the survey prepared by CBRE, this is stressful for 79% of employees). Companies should support their employees in lowering the stress level by offering, for instance, flexibility in choosing time and place of work or design of relaxation zones.
Individual Approach
Employers should also remember that every employee has different needs and thus they should be treated individually. Expectations of students who have to balance work and study at the same time are different than expectations of young parents. Flexibility regarding office hours is as important as other facilities.