One of the most common refrains from employees that prefer a hybrid work schedule is, “I get more work done outside of the office.” It is a valid argument when you consider the results of a 2024 Stanford study that found employees who work from home for two days a week are just as productive and as likely to be promoted as their fully office-based peers. Meanwhile, Gallup reports that a 21% increase in productivity occurs when employees feel engaged, which is often tied to face-to-face interactions. Certainly, there is no lack of stats about in-office engagement, the types of teams that thrive in person vs. working at home, and the pros and cons of being in the office.
Who is at fault when employees say they can’t get work done in the office? Is it the loud talker? The chatty Cathy? The conference room squatter? The team taking an extended lunch in the break room? All of the above? Or maybe it’s something else.
It’s time to consider that the building itself may be undermining the tenant experience.
Five Building Questions that Tell You Everything About In-Office Productivity
Instead of pointing at colleagues as the reason for a lack of in-office productivity, consider another silent source. The building itself. Is it conducive to collaboration and productivity? How would you know if it isn’t? Here are five questions to ask and what the answers could mean.
- Are employees reserving conference rooms, but the spaces remain unoccupied? Or are they squatting in the conference room for individual work? This is a sign they do not have the proper environment to execute focused work. This could be the result of inefficient HVAC systems.
- For employers with a hot desking policy, do employees covet the “good desks” or “best side of the office” to work? If parts of the office remain unoccupied, it may indicate the office layout does not match the needs of your workforce. It may also justify renegotiating the lease and maintenance contract.
- How often do employees host impromptu meetings, where are they held, and can you align those actions with productivity? Being able to capture trending data about where and when employees gather in the office impacts decisions about meetings and hybrid schedules. The goal, of course, is to optimize the time employees spend in the office.
- What is the occupancy and foot traffic in the office throughout the day? Having aggregate data on how employees move about the office can provide insight into schedules, how often teams interact with each other, and how work gets done. The key is to not look at individual employees but to consider the workforce as a whole.
- How often do employees use amenities such as collaborative lounges, wellness rooms, and quiet areas? These perks often rank high on surveys about must-have office features, but the actual usage needs to justify the cost.
Understanding Human Behavior
You could run an employee survey to get answers to those questions. Yet the reality is that employees tend to hold back how they really feel for fear that their responses are not truly anonymous. Surveys answer questions while human behavior tells you so much more. This is why employers are turning to technology to get a better understanding of how the office is used.
Many large employers and property management companies are starting to take a closer look at how their workforce uses the office for team meetings, strategic planning, one-on-one reviews, and building stronger relationships with colleagues. They’re measuring these factors against productivity, collaboration, and retention. What they aren’t doing, however, is instilling fear by monitoring badge swipes and keystrokes. Instead, they are learning how humans interact indoors without compromising individual privacy.
Using sensors that combine AI and body heat sensing technology to anonymously understand how employees interact in the office offers insight that informs decisions about layout, scheduling, furniture, and amenities.
The Rising Costs of Office Space
As one of the biggest expenses on a company’s balance sheet, the cost of office space continues to rise, especially as employers focus on in-office attendance while improving the employee experience. According to JLL, the average global office fit out cost is $1,950 per square meter, with regional costs ranging from $850 to $3,200 per square meter. Meanwhile, inefficient offices have a negative impact on maintenance and facilities management. Without insight to anticipate tenant needs, the building will not be optimized for its occupants. If the office isn’t optimized for the workforce, it has a bigger impact on the bottom line and sustainability that goes beyond employee complaints of not being able to get work done.
The office of the future needs to be as flexible as the workforce. At first, this may seem impossible. After all, buildings are fixed structures. However, we can make them adaptable and more responsive to the needs of the people in them by using sensors that understand human presence. Based on aggregate data about human behavior, employers can make buildings more amenable to the workforce using them. This results in workspaces that reflect the corporate culture and bring out the best in employees while making the office a place where they enjoy spending time.
