Organisations are the aggregate energy of people who come together for a purpose and to deliver a defined outcome. Where this effort is harnessed is the Workplace. The physical assets that make up the Workplace have traditionally been serviced by the Facilities Management (FM) team.

The confluence of market forces and the need to integrate people, place and productivity means that the Workplace is no longer non-core to the organisation. It has become mission-critical and central to your competitive advantage.

What does Workplacefundi do?

We engage with the Executive team, the Workplace team, Staff and all relevant Stakeholders to appraise the organisational approach to Workplace. The framework of this analysis is a proprietary system developed by Workplacefundi using a variety of tools. One such tool is based on the 6 ‘E’s from workplace strategist Neil Usher. ( See How))

These elements are the principles upon which all workplaces are built. Whilst these six elements are presented as separate and distinct, in reality, they rely on, and influence each other, both positively and negatively.

There are many factors that influence the engagement and productivity of employees, from the management and team structure around them to their daily commute and the type of work they do.

Organisations are starting to recognise that the physical working environment and the way employees experience this environment are also significant contributing factors.

There are two ways in which the experience of the workplace impacts upon a person’s engagement and productivity:

At a functional level – does the workplace, its infrastructure and services supplied enable an employee to perform competently and consistently? Issues such as noise, poor lighting and temperamental IT can consume an employee’s energy and concentration, causing tasks to take longer, increasing mental fatigue and often reducing the quality of work being undertaken.
At an emotional level – 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. A failure in this regard can have a significant negative impact on the employee’s perception of the organisation and its commitment to their health and wellbeing.

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.

How are Workplace experiences designed?

Establish a strategy for the workplace which aligns with your commercial goals

What can the organisation afford?
What is the organisation trying to achieve commercially and in what ways does the working environment impact on these drivers?
How is the Workplace performing currently?
How productive is the workforce, and how can this be improved?
What role will the workplace experience need to play?
How does the organisation break down? Will different parts of the company need different workplace experiences? Are some more important than others?

Engender a ‘one team’ approach across all disciplines

What roles will in-house teams and external service providers play in delivering the workplace experience?
Collaboration and information sharing between multiple support lines needs to be established by the workplace experience delivery team?

ENSURE THAT THE WORKPLACE IS IN SYNC WITH THE CULTURE & BRAND

What is the organisation’s culture, brand and personality, and how can this be reflected in the workplace environment?
Who are the organisation’s key audiences, both internal and external and how will the experience differ between them?
The workplace experience team needs to be able to fulfil the requirements of the brand, acting as advocates for the business to both employees and end customers.

Empower the workplace team to act as integrators, not just facilitators

Support teams HR, IT, FM, Corporate Real Estate (CRE) and Procurement, need to do more than simply provide effective infrastructure, but act as educators and internal communicators to ensure the same experience can be delivered consistently and reliably on a daily basis through economic ups and downs, at different sites, and in different regions.

Encourage investment in technology to manage and measure workplace performance

Technological trends including the internet of things afford us unprecedented ability to measure how the workplace is used and therefore how it performs.

Engage in smart procurement

An understanding of the workplace experience needs to be built-in to supplier selection processes, governance procedures and relationship management regimes to ensure close coordination across teams in a way that establishes a cohesive experience.

Are you struggling with workplace productivity?

Let’s Talk