Feature
Employee Health And Wellbeing: Considerations For The Future Workspace
By Mike Hook, Executive Director at LMG
Few considerations have shifted up the workspace agenda as quickly as employee health and wellbeing in recent months. A fact which, in light of the events of 2020, makes perfect sense. Having to deal with a pandemic and its consequences has dominated business decisions and may continue to do so for some time. It has drawn attention to the issue of employee health and wellbeing, permanently. People are working from a variety of different locations, in extremely varied conditions. Some may be fortunate enough to enjoy the comforts of a home office, but many will
be working from kitchen tables. As employees eventually return to the communal workspace, corporate real estate decision makers will have to make an assessment on whether their spaces remain fit for purpose.
Our latest research¹ into attitudes around corporate real estate strategy found that nearly a third (32%) of industry leaders would like to make gains in employee wellbeing; while more than half (61%) say that the combination of Covid-19 and the health and safety of their employees is forcing them to reconsider the strategic value of the workspace, and its business role.
These industry leaders want to future-proof their workspaces against health-related disruption by being proactive with their real estate. It’s this future-proofing that sits at the forefront of the minds of facilities professionals, COOs and developers, as we collectively take advantage of this opportunity to build back with greater resilience.
Greater Flexibility
Expectations are changing for all office-dwellers. When we asked industry leaders how strongly they agree with the statement ‘we expect less employees to work in the office due to health and wellbeing concerns’ — the average score was 8/10. So, while almost three quarters (73%) said that health and wellbeing has moved up their agenda, the solutions they will be implementing seem to be more focused on having fewer people in the office at once, as opposed to upgrading the office space itself.
Over the previous year, remote working was forced upon many — sparking a rethink of the notion that teams must be physically together in the same space in order to be productive and successful. Happy employees have an appreciation for choice and flexibility, and employers are becoming aware of that. The tools are becoming widely available to facilitate this without
any disadvantage to the business.
Distributed working practices
that aren’t reliant on mass office occupation is a cornerstone of a more flexible, resilient real estate strategy. 36 fmuk
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