5 Internal needs matter most The most important role of the office is to satisfy internal needs and, above all, to function as a space for interaction and meetings. This according to 53% of our respondents when asked about what they believe or know their employees to think. From a management perspective, the figure was 63%. Secondly, the office also needs to fulfil work-specific needs that are more difficult to accommodate from an external workspace, such as tasks that require special technical equipment, software and good ergonomics (39% from an employee perspective, 26% from a management perspective). In other words, employees feel that it is the ability to perform their duties that matters the most. When comparing public and private organisations, we can see that the private sector attributes greater importance to the office as a place for internal meetings. Public organisations instead emphasis the role of the office in satisfying specific work-related needs. The role of the office as a place for external meetings with customers, partners and suppliers is viewed as being less important both from an employee perspective and a management perspective. That the role of the office as a venue for external meetings is seen as secondary could be interpreted as meaning that the role of the office as a tool for external brand-building has faded somewhat in the wake of the pandemic, with focus shifting more towards internal needs. This may mean that organisations now need to strengthen their position by promoting internal collaboration, innovation and productivity to a greater extent than before the pandemic. Based on this hypothesis, we can say that office-focus has shifted more towards the internal needs of an organisation at both the individual and group levels. Our study reveals a change in how organisations view the office whereby its role in meeting external needs and brand-building has taken a backseat in favour of more internal functions, with focus now placed instead on internal branding, enabling the work of the organisation and promoting internal collaboration, innovation and productivity. “We have a whole new office landscape and a new way of working based on operational needs combined with the needs of the individual. We want our premises to encourage attendance rather than remote working.” One conclusion that can be drawn from the survey and interview responses is that many want the office to be a fixed base and a gathering space for the organisation – a concrete location for added value where collaboration and knowledge development occur, and which both symbolically and physically shows that: “this is where it’s all happening”.
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