The Pandemic and Office Designs – How To Attract your Employees Back to their Desks

As we slowly move out of the grips of covid, it is clear that flexible working will become a mainstay of many organisations. The proportion of working adults who did any work from home in 2020 increased to 37% on average from 27% in 2019 with workers living in London the most likely to homework.

This has, in tu, changed the perception of the employment market across all sectors leading to the workforce demanding flexible working and looking at it as less of a perk and more of a necessity. Online job adverts including terms related to "homeworking" reached pre-pandemic average levels by July 2020. By May 2021, such adverts were being posted at 307% of their February 2020 average level. However, remote working adverts still only account for 8% of total adverts.

This poses a challenge to organisations who feel they need to rely on face-to-face interactions between their staff to drive productivity and promote team spirit. Another challenge is for those who have longer leases on larger offices who feel the need to fill their spaces to justify costs. Finally, for those unwilling to concede to an overly flexible environment, how do they use the office experience to entice new and retain current talent while the position around the coer is offering a very flexible working environment?

There are options for these companies who are unwilling or unable to provide extreme flexibility in their positions and it starts with the office itself. Redesigning your office space to create a more inviting, flexible and comfortable space is a very useful exercise. Providing relaxing areas with comfortable chairs, plant life and quiet areas is a good start.

Companies should also consider making their spaces more fun by adding things like table games and a wet bar which not only make offices more exciting but encourage the face-to-face interactions that you may be looking for.

Office redesign is something we expect to see a lot of over the coming years, even for those offering flexible working. DMJ is happy to offer hybrid working to each of our employees however, we have designed our space to make it more appealing to the varying schedules of our staff.

Individual Zoom pods for private meetings

We have given a fresh look to the office, hot desks to allow those coming into the office less frequently to feel comfortable wherever they sit and much more. Our new screens and ‘zoom areas’ will also help add to the technological advantages employees can receive at the office.

Spacious design with new screens

Example of one of the shared spaces to promote collaboration

The Sagal Group provided the fuiture and spearheaded the redesign. We recommend their organisation for all of your refurbishment needs and suggest contacting Christian Logue at chris@sagalgroup.co.uk for more information and guidance.