DESIGN AND INTERIORS
FM & HR: A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
David Bricknell, Managing Director at Dale Office Interiors, believes that when it comes to office refurbishment; innovative and futureproofed workplaces are only built when FM and HR departments come together.
Traditionally speaking, facilities management and human resources departments within organisations have had very little to do with each other. That isn’t to say, however, that they don’t have anything in common. In fact, FM and HR have always shared interests.
Both, for instance, have always strived to deliver efficient, healthy workplaces, where employees can thrive. Yet, while FM has tended to focus on the physical assets that make up a workplace, HR has been far more focussed on its people.
But the roles of both FM and HR in the workplace are evolving at a tremendous pace. Technology and our understanding of staff productivity are changing the way we look at asset management, bridging the gap between the two departments.
Well-designed office spaces can promote a sense of wellbeing amongst staff, a quality which leads to productive, engaged and healthy employees. Sounds lovely, but it’s more than just a nicety – these days we know that staff wellbeing directly impacts a business’s bottom line.
Because of this, it’s absolutely critical that facilities managers understand that employees need to feel comfortable in the workplace to produce their best work.
Of course, there are a few immediate and obvious measures that facilities managers might jump to in order to improve productivity, such as using ergonomic seating, encouraging natural light and getting the acoustics right. However, there is no universal approach to office design. Different rooms have different flows, and different types of workers thrive better in different settings, so office design essentially has to be a consultative process.
This is where HR can come in and give a steer on what staff want. For example, the positioning of technology is normally a decision left to IT teams and rarely involves any wider consultation. Equipment is simply put in the most convenient place for existing power sockets, or perhaps nearby the IT team. But this might not be the most convenient placement for the rest of the workforce.
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By enlisting the help of HR, staff can suggest preferred locations for things like printers, from a position of experience. It might save each member of staff 30 seconds every trip to the printer if you positioned it here instead of there. It’s a small thing, but small things build up and could have a surprising impact.
Certainly, as technology advances and we see the growth of augmented reality, an increase in the demand for flexible working, and even the use of AI in the office, it will only become more important that employers get their strategy right for staff.
A company’s culture must evolve alongside any office refurb designed to facilitate new working practices, such as agile working. If you’re a facilities manager, your best bet is consult with HR and get them to identify what needs to change in order for a real cultural shift to happen, so that staff can get the most out of
their new office space.
Often facilities managers will order expensive, high end ergonomic chairs, only to receive complaints about how uncomfortable they are. The problem here is that while people are taught how to walk and ride a bike, nobody is taught how to actually sit correctly. HR should step in here to ensure staff are trained to properly embrace the office furniture, plus any other new additions, such as collaborative spaces and booths, brought in by facilities managers during a refurb.
Ultimately, working practices and habits are evolving, with flexible and agile working becoming more and more commonplace and their adoption set to be normalised further as businesses adapt to coronavirus-related isolation and lockdowns.
To meet the needs of such evolving practices and habits, facilities managers need to work with human resources departments to properly understand the workforce for which they’re designing an office space for. If FM works with HR to make strategic decisions, it stands a better chance of strengthening the workplace for employees, than it would have without such consultation.
www.daleoffice.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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