Empowering employees is important for growing a sustainable business. True growth is the product of multiple people working together compounding organisational strength and capabilities.
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The workplace may ultimately be a functional space, but workplace professionals should always consider the emotions and feelings that the space will elicit in the user; this will have a significant impact on their experience. Does the workplace experience make an employee feel good? The desire to create a positive environment for employees is a clear indication that an organisation is willing to invest in its people.
Workers who are highly satisfied with their workplace demonstrate higher levels of engagement. Highly engaged workers are also more greatly satisfied with various elements of their individual workspace, such as its size, furniture, lighting, ambient noise level and temperature. Thus, indicating that a workplace environment is an important tool for organisations to deploy to improve engagement.
To thrive and flourish in the future, it is essential that organisations put the enablement of human performance at the core of their workplace strategy and that they rethink this with their employees.
Your workplace and other facilities are the biggest 3-D billboard for your brand. The expression of the organisation through its space creates and strengthens association, further generating pride and loyalty. Its effects can be to create a community and commitment among the members of staff that unifies and projects a subtle and quiet confidence and reassurance through association and a feeling of being valued and contributing to a greater purpose.
Understanding which physical, functional, environmental and psychological features impact the creation and management of an effective workplace for users allows you to meet the expectations of all stakeholders including suppliers and customers.
Energy is about the power of workplaces to inspire, energise and motivate people. A great workplace can boost the energy of an organisation through its functionality, amenities, technology and services. It can promote behavioural choices that enhance personal welfare.
Giving employees genuine choice over when and where to work can be a frightening prospect for many managers and leadership teams. This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for organisations. It’s an opportunity to rethink how their people work and the workspaces and technology they need to support this, but it will also challenge them to rethink how they manage their people.
The workplace will only remain relevant as somewhere humanity counterbalances technology. Somewhere that inspires people, a place for creation, somewhere people use their imagination, a place where empathy abounds, where ingenuity and innovation is what matters, and a space for collaboration.
As we seek to encourage more variety and diversity in our workplaces, we face greater and more complex social and cultural challenges. The psychology of actively involving people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences can spell the difference between organisational success or failure. In the business, to business services economy this is particularly important, as we seek to establish a close cultural bond with our clients.
Expectations for a satisfying, productive experience are higher than ever. EWM-360 is the response to these expectations, providing a more nuanced approach to the overall workplace experience.
Establishing a positive workplace experience is vital to help employees deliver their best work every day and continually inspire them to contribute all of their knowledge, creativity, and energy for the benefit of their organisation.
Sustainability issues are important signals for potential members of staff who want to work in and be associated with responsible organisations. A fantastic workplace should be as environmentally responsible as possible. With the built environment contributing over 40% of the worlds greenhouse gases it is essential that we take a responsible and sustainable position when it comes to the workplace.
Whilst the physical workplace is merging with the digital and this has implications for our thinking about physical space and change, there are a simple set of functional elements that need to be considered. While each Element is intended to be as stand-alone and portable as possible but ,there are relationships between them, so the elements need to be considered together as a whole.
In today's hyper connected World every organisation and their workplaces exists both physically and digitally. Organisations today recognise the power of the Internet and the digital space opens up the potential for significant advantage or damage.
Diversity in our workplace, both in terms of the people and the spaces, is critical for success. People need to focus, collaborate, rejuvenate, socialise and learn throughout the day. No single type of space can effectively support the diverse needs of individuals and groups. The workplace needs to be designed as an ecosystem of interconnected spaces and settings where people have choice and control over where and how they work and who they work with. This diversity will help an organisation to be more resilient and use its real estate more effectively and efficiently.
A purposeful workplace conveys a regard for corporate social responsibility, the environment, health, and wellness, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The ties to the purpose of the organisation, are undeniable where workplaces are the biggest most visible, actionable, and tangible 3D billboard that reflects the beliefs and values of an organisation.
Envisioning is about bringing together the business, workforce, CRE and workplace strategies in a cohesive approach to generate a hypothesis with which to engage the workforce.
The workplace has to fit in with the organisations commercial objectives, so we need to be in step with the Financial agenda of the organisation. Successfully implementing workplace change and occupancy cost reduction strategies contributes to economic efficiency and competitive advantage through:
- Cost Savings
- Cost Avoidance
- Cost Certainty
Efficiency is an important element in being able to justify workplace transformation but this must not be to the detriment of effectiveness. Efficiency enables beneficial change in the ways of working it enables learning and development and is effective in breaking down unwanted symbols of hierarchy both real and artificial that can engender cultural overtones. An efficient workplace can reduce the overall space required by 30%, through built-in flexibility it allows teams to grow, contract and flex whilst removing the need for and cost of churn.
Effectiveness and efficiency are ying and yang, they are inseparable and need to be considered holistically. Whilst there may be a natural creative friction between efficiency and effectiveness this can be harnessed to create the best solution. It is therefore essential to create a balance between the efficiency of the workplace and its effectiveness.
Staff are able to be at their best all day and every day, it promotes and enables choice, trust and transparency by allowing people to work together and on their own in a private setting. Effective workplaces make life simple, intuitive, and easy and inspire motivate and energise the workforce.
The Workplace, as with the organisation that it serves, needs to be in a permanent stage of ‘beta’ development. This means an iterative path for workplace strategy, an open dialogue with the organisation’s people, with emergent and frequently adjusted solutions. As organisations work out how to return to their workplaces, hardly any will get it right first time. It will necessitate an emergent process of measure/learn/adjust.
Which data points across the employee experience and the environment are needed to justify the change and create sustainable measures of success? We refer to these as the Metrics that matter most.
The compass represents an holistic 360° view of the facilities, workplace and it’s inhabitants . It provides us direction to navigate the new world of work.
At the centre of everything it is about people being more important than the buildings they occupy and the idea that buildings and our working environment shape us and what we do and how well we do it.
The people are the heartbeat of the organisation and the health of the building affects the health of the people
The EWM-360 provides your team with the management framework and process that represents the safest pair of hands for your two most valuable assets:
- Your People and
- Your Workplace
In an atom it is the orbiting electrons that give an element it’s specific chemical and physical properties.
Similarly the International Building Operating Standards (IBOS)represent the science and how we measure the operational effectiveness of the workplace.
The building’s operating and life cycle costs, and how they are assessed, managed, balanced and optimised.
How well the building complies with relevant statute, best practice and guidance on the working environment.
The suitability of the building to meet occupier needs in terms of issues such as connectivity, configuration, flexibility and utilisation, but also human factors such as the user experience and the effectiveness of FM and asset management services.
All the different internal and external stakeholders with a potential interest in the performance of the asset, particularly if the asset is customer-facing and/or supports a number of functions.
The ability of the building – and the way it is managed – to effectively support the performance, satisfaction, user experience, health and well-being of occupiers.
The building’s social and environmental impacts such as decarbonisation, energy use, waste, social impact, accessibility and transport arrangements.
We do a deep dive assessment of on the employees experience both working from home and the workplace. This forms the fundamental base data and insight from which the workplace strategy is formed.
For example, changes to the fresh air ventilation rate or CO2 levels.
For example, matching the ambient temperature to optimal thermal comfort or provision of cooling in summer
For example, improved sound absorption, partitions offering acoustic privacy or other acoustic solutions.
For example, access to windows or changes in ambient or task lighting .
For example, a reconfiguration of the desk layout, a decrease in desk density or enhanced visual privacy.
For example, better ergonomic chairs and desks.
For example, Providing activity-based workspaces or convenient off-site flexible workplaces empowering employees to choose the right kind of workspace for the work to be performed.
For example, personal control of (task) lighting, choice of openable windows, local control of temperature or provision of desk fans.
For example introducing biophilic design elements such as plants, natural features (like water), landscaping or views out onto greenery.
We assess the data and insight from the Workplace experience assessment and marry them with the strategies of the organisation as they relate to business , the workforce and the workplace.
This is where we do a deep dive in to the integration of all of the workplace disciplines including HR, IT, FM and CRE and understand what performance means.
We bring all of the pillars of operation excellence into play and put them into action along with the required resources and processes.
This is where we set the workplace up for success in how we manage the new workplace how we censure the right metric produced the right behaviour and we measure the metrics that matter most. Lastly we look at the fact that workplace will need to change as the business does and how it evolves.
Ensõ is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism meaning, circle of togetherness.
The ensõ circle symbolizes strength, elegance, and one-mindedness, the beauty in imperfection, the art of letting go of the past, the circle of life, and connection.
The ensõ is a lesson in the impossibility of creating the perfect circle, and that the very imperfections and contours that otherwise prevent a perfect circle from being created are exactly what makes the ensõ beautiful.
I could think of no better symbol for which to represent my work.
“His core skill is delivering business improvement projects that allowed our organisation to innovate, improve service delivery and enhance customer experience. Andrew's strategic ability matched with sound judgment, communication and facilitation skills enables him to formulate compelling and innovative solutions and lead others through difficult change management initiatives.”
“I found his input and support, both in his capacity as 'Chief Fundi' and as Chairman of SAFMA incredibly valuable in assisting us with the development of our Workplace DNA SaaS application. He is knowledgeable, experience, well-connected, and progressive; all of which has made him a pleasure to work with”.
“It is rare to get a consultant like Andrew who is both an expert in his field but also willing to share his knowledge so freely.
Andrews ability to take complex corporate real estate and workplace related issues and formulate compelling and innovative solutions make him the go to person in the industry.”
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