22 it means being able to expand the organisation’s geographic radius for the recruitment of employees. Today’s office situation shows clearly that employees not only prefer a different approach to working life, but also a different working environment to what the majority of today’s office spaces offer. I believe we need to recognise this and develop the offices of tomorrow on the basis of this insight. Bringing employees 100% back into the office is perhaps something of a pipe dream, but with the right design and premises strategy (and with focus placed on organisation culture), I believe it will be possible to bring back the majority – even if under different circumstances. “Senior management is very frustrated that so many employees want to work remotely, and so they offload responsibility onto a facility manager. But my retort is that the office is not the only solution. There need to be other factors which make employees want to come in.” Ears to the ground To conclude, the levels of remote working we have seen since the end of the pandemic have meant a larger structural change that has a bearing on the office environment of the future. The extent to which people work remotely hinges on factors that cannot be overlooked in today’s situation and which will likely vary across different sectors and organisations. With this in mind, it is advisable to approach this changeable and nebulous future with our ears to the ground and our feelers out for changes within our own organisations – much in the same way as we approach the market and our external environment more broadly. Even if much remains uncertain, there is one thing we do know – that openness, curiosity and courage, combined with a down-to-earth approach, will make it easier to adapt to post-pandemic office working life.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=