the steelcase inspiring spaces report en€¦ · 5 the steelcase inspiring spaces report...

THE STEELCASE INSPIRING SPACES REPORT

Chapters

2 INTRODUCTION The Rise of the Informal Workplace

4WHY NOW?

8THE REPORT At a Glance Key Insights

13HOW WE CAN HELP Creating Workspaces that … Work

Offices have undergone a radical shift throughout the years. Trends have seen private offices replaced by open plans, while corner offices are disappearing due to flatter hierarchies. More recently, the inclusion of more informal spaces and residential-

INTRODUCTIONtype furniture has signified yet another trend, one that addresses employee wellbeing, creativity and a need to connect. Steelcase conducted a study to understand just how available these spaces are and how they are being used by employees around the world.

3 THE STEELCASE INSPIRING SPACES REPORT steelcase.com

Now more than ever, organizations are recognizing a clear shift in power towards skilled employees and increasing their efforts to attract them through workspace and services. Organizations are also recognizing a direct correlation between employees who are highly satisfied with their work environments and higher engagement. According to Steelcase’s Global Report: Engagement and the Global Workplace, a study conducted in 20 countries in partnership with global research firm Ipsos, 88 percent of highly engaged and satisfied employees have choice over where to work in the office based on what they need to accomplish.

Thanks to this shift in where and how work happens, alternative and less formal spaces are an increasingly important consideration in office

design around the world. From cafés to lounges, patios to enclaves, these inspiring spaces have become key in facilitating collaboration and offering a level of choice over where and how people work.

Whether for 1:1 meetings, breakout sessions, or moments of private solitude, using cafeterias and lounges as impromptu meeting spaces not only reduces the pressure on space but also encourages a more informal and collaborative working environment. Having informal workspaces also means that there’s always a space that does not need to be reserved and is available at the last minute for when other meetings run over, or when spontaneous decisions need to be made.

THE RISE OF THE INFORMAL WORKSPACE

Around the world, competition for skilled talent is increasing. Organizations worldwide are having to compete with progressive players that have rewritten the rules on what a successful company culture looks like. The Googles and Facebooks of the world have normalized ping pong tables and casual dress codes, giving rise to a mentality that pairs bland private offices with a loss of creativity. It may take time for the spirit typified by these supergiants to filter down to banks and legal firms, but an increasing number of organizations are taking steps to meet the needs of today’s less-conventional working methods

When informal workspaces are not made available, employees are forced to seek alternatives. Technological advancements mean people are now able to carry their office in their pocket and virtually work from anywhere. However, teams risk splintering and losing valuable face time when members search out those comfortable spaces outside the office. And as research shows, finding the right balance between on-site and remote work is key to employee engagement.

Employers that offer inspiring spaces and promote connectedness are far more likely to achieve greater employee engagement and wellbeing, and ultimately, a workplace with less employee turnover, increased innovation and enhanced business outcomes.

The last decades have seen office designs cycle through competing demands for openness and privacy, as well as interaction and autonomy; reflecting changing attitudes to work. Although many factors ultimately contribute to the changing patterns, key social

WHY NOW?and economic drivers influencing the push for inspiring spaces include:

1. Shifting workforce demographics and how they use office space 2. An increased need for creativity 3. Technology


As of 2015, millennials have surpassed Generation X to become the largest generation in the American workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. With the same being true in most countries around the world, this socially conscious generation is reshaping the workplace in new and exciting ways.

More so than any generation preceding them, millennials view work as a powerful vehicle for finding meaning in their lives and are far more likely to turn down higher-paying jobs to stay with an employer they believe in and who offers flexibility and fulfillment.

Tech-savvy and hyperconnected, millennials learned to work in college, where laptops and Wi-Fi made mobility the norm. Comfortable working and studying in lounges and cafés, they often view traditionally public settings as great places to do focused work.

This generation is ready to work whenever and wherever, often feeling most at home when moving around.

In contrast, older generations – namely Gen X and Baby Boomers – remain more comfortable reserving the use of informal spaces for social interactions. This results in the same offices today being used in very different ways between generations. Inspiring spaces are heavily relied on to address the differing needs and bridge the workplace divide.

As many millennials come up through the ranks, they are becoming better-positioned to influence company culture and purchasing decisions. Their tendency to gravitate towards dynamic, nonhierarchical and technologically advanced office design is leading towards an increase in spaces that are more casual, comfortable, versatile, inspiring and residential in feel.

1. SHIFTING WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS AND HOW THEY USE OFFICE SPACE


In today’s modern information and technology-rich market, machine learning and artificial intelligence are automating objective tasks, leaving today’s employees to demonstrate value through their ability to cultivate ideas, reputations and relationships. Because of this, businesses of all sizes are recognizing the growing importance of building a culture of diversity in the workplace – both inherent with age, ethnicity, and gender; and acquired through experiences – as a means of generating a continuous stream of ideas to help innovate and stay ahead in increasingly saturated markets.

While many ideas will fail or be disregarded before they make it to development stage, more often than not, they are born from a space where creative thinking is encouraged. At the heart of today’s innovative work environments are three central actions – to connect, ideate and experiment.

Employees need a a culture of trust that allows them to be diverse and adventurous in their thinking and approach in the workplace. They also need workspace solutions that support culture, spaces that offer a balance of collaboration and focus, spatial flexibility and reconfiguration and venues for informal social interaction. And finally, these spaces need to be designed for mental relaxation, which in turn creates a mindset for insight and innovation.

Beyond this, centralized shared spaces are key in fostering natural encounters and encouraging cross-pollination between employees who wouldn’t normally work together. A method subscribed to famously by Steve Jobs, this strategy is vital in minimizing interorganizational silos and promoting the flow of ideas necessary for innovation and creativity. 2. AN INCREASED

NEED FOR CREATIVITY


With a laptop, a Wi-Fi connection, and a mobile phone, workers can perform their jobs virtually anywhere, making the idea of going to work increasingly archaic. Employees are no longer bound to their desk phones and monitors or limited to traditional boardrooms for group collaborations.

Not only has technology gone mobile, but it’s also gotten smaller, allowing companies to shrink employees’ personal workspaces and open space up for more shared work areas. This, in turn, is driving a complete shift in how and where work is done. Creating technology-enabled multipurpose

spaces and technology-rich meeting rooms that connect with the global workforce leads to a cascade of workplace environments that can be formed and reformed to meet the needs of the team.

In today’s hierarchy of office needs, basic technology such as power and Wi-Fi are often seen as the fundamental necessity of today’s employees, along with a range of spaces offering connections, privacy and comfort; organizational support and permission to work in new ways; and an employer’s genuine care for its employees’ physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing.

3. TECHNOLOGY

THE REPORT


AT A GLANCE

To better understand exactly how and why inspiring spaces are being used today, Steelcase’s WorkSpace Futures team conducted a global user survey on the use of informal spaces in offices.

SURVEY DETAILS

March 2017

2,806 respondents: 23 percent baby boomers (1945 - 1964), 44 percent Gen X

(1960 - 1980) 32 percent millennials (1981 - 1996)

8 Countries: USA, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, UK, China and India

7 types of ancillary spaces tested: dining-style, lounge-style, café-style, booth-style,

bar-style, patio-style, den-style

The survey tested a typology of informal settings developed in qualitative WorkSpace Futures research. Various types of inspiring spaces were clearly defined to respondents using words and photos. The research looked at the key motivations, activities and benefits of using inspiring spaces; mobility in the workplace; overall satisfaction and performance, and opinions on setting styles.

Lounge-style: comfortable, residential- type soft seating with couches and chairs

Dining-style: dining tables and chairs, often characterized by a long, communal table

Café-style: small café table and chairs

Booth-style: small, enclosed areas for privacy

Patio-style: outdoor spaces with tables and chairs

Bar-style: high seating at a bar to support sit or stand postures

Den-style: soft seating in quiet spaces with dimmer lighting

TYPES OF SETTINGS:


1. INSIGHTS ON MOTIVATIONS, ACTIVITIES AND BENEFITS

Primary motivations for employee usage of informal spaces at work include connecting with colleagues, comfort and privacy. The main activities for which informal spaces are being used include social time with colleagues, one-on-one meetings, and task-based solo work. Meetings of three or more people, focused solo work, and project-based teamwork were all close behind, while phone calls and videoconferences were the lowest-rated activities for informal spaces. Top-

2. INSIGHTS ON MOBILITY

As mobility and the need to work with more diverse sets of colleagues increases, Steelcase data shows people are actively moving around their workspaces in a bid to connect with colleagues. While 77 percent of respondents globally have their own workstation, 87 percent of respondents still spend

3. INSIGHTS ON SATISFACTION AND PERFORMANCE

Overall, there is a fairly equal split between employees who feel they can find the right informal space when needed (47 percent) and those who feel like they don’t have enough informal spaces in their office (42 percent). The top three ways employees would like to improve their informal spaces are more views of nature or greenery (45 percent), better support for informal connection with colleagues (41 percent) and better acoustic and visual privacy (38 percent). Better ergonomics was a close fourth (37 percent), while the need for more power outlets and more flexibility to hack a space both scored lower (20 percent).

two to four hours away from their primary workstation in a typical day –

perceived benefits of informal spaces are to break the monotony of work, comfort, building trust with peers. These are particularly important for enhancing employee wellbeing and ensuring their hierarchy of needs are met to thrive professionally. According

to the study, most organizations only provide people with the technology and permission to work in informal spaces. What’s missing is the variety of spaces where people want to work that support their physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing.

whether it’s to connect with colleagues or escape for some private time.

45%more views of nature or greenery

41%better support or informal connection with colleagues

38%better acoustic and visual privacy

Top three ways employees would like to improve their informal spaces

87%of respondents globally spend 2-4 hours away from their primary workstation in a typical day

77%of respondents globally have their own personal workstation

47%respondents who feel they can find the right informal space when needed

42%feel like they don’t have enough informal spaces in their office


Millennials are more likely to use dining and bar spaces to do focused work, while older generations use these spaces for collaboration and socialization. Lounge spaces are used by millennials as a place for privacy, while older generations use these spaces socially. Millennials are also more likely to use a wider range of informal spaces and to adjust their furniture, whereas older employees tend to pick favorite spots to use and leave their furniture settings alone. A breakdown of setting styles

Lounge-style: All respondents see lounge

settings as a place to socialize, but secondary reasons are different by generation. Younger generations see lounge settings as a place for quiet privacy, while older generations tend to use them for active buzz and socializing.

Dining-style: This varied quite a bit between

generations. The older employees see dining settings as a place to connect with colleagues, while younger employees associate that space less with socializing, and more with active buzz, personality and being themselves.

Bar-style: Older generations consider bar settings

as a place to informally meet with colleagues, while younger generations see this setting as a place to focus.

Den-style: Younger generations see den

settings as a place for active buzz, more so than other generations.

4. INSIGHTS ON GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES

Younger and older gene-rations agree — everyone likes informal spaces and uses them regularly — but for different reasons. This means inspiring spaces are working twice as hard to satisfy the requirements of all employees.

reaffirms the notion that millennials feel more comfortable focusing in informal spaces as a direct result of having learned to work in universities, while older generations utilize such spaces to connect and socialize.

Generational differences aside, findings show that the amount of time spent away from the primary workstation increases as one’s job level increases, with the growing time away from primary workstations being spent at informal spaces instead.


Dining-style settings: scored the highest ratings in

terms of versatility, hosting all types of work from formal and informal tasks, to group and solo work, as well as phone calls and videoconferences. Its consis-tently high scores indicates it is also the most available informal space, with 54 percent of respondents having access to dining-style settings in the workplace.

Lounge-style settings: the second most used style,

lounge-settings scored the highest in terms of usage for general comfort, and is the only type of setting that is fulfilling both social and privacy needs.

Café-style settings: the third most used settings,

over half the population claim to visit café-style settings at least once a day, and have the lowest duration of use with an average of 30 minutes or less.

5. INSIGHTS ON SETTING STYLES

Overall, the setting style most available to employees is the dining-style, with 54 percent of respondents having access to this type of informal setting within their workplace. Second most common was the lounge-style (29 percent), followed by the café-style (28 percent). The setting style least commonly found in workplaces was the booth and den-style spaces, available to just 18 percent of respondents.

Booth- and den-style settings: while not among the top overall used settings, booths and dens ranked as the top

settings for highest duration and frequency of use, with individuals using them several times a day. This indicates the need for privacy as a high usage motivator. It also indicates that there is lower availability of these settings than alternate types of informal spaces.

Settings available by company culture/industry: self-identified progressive companies, such as tech companies and manufacturers of consumer products, have significantly more spaces available than their government and utilities counterparts. Traditional companies are significantly more likely to have dining-style settings available, if they do provide informal spaces.

Dining-style settings

Café-style settings

Booth-style/den-style settings

Lounge-style settings

54%

28%

18%

29%

Most common setting styles:

HOW WE CAN HELP

Visit steelcase.com

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©2019 Steelcase Inc. All rights reserved. All specifications subject to change without notice. Trademarks used herein are the property of Steelcase Inc. or of their respective owners.

CREATING WORKSPACES THAT … WORK

Work is an ever-changing, fast-moving phenomenon. Inspiring spaces can provide a welcome alternative to a person’s primary personal workspace and offer a choice of space for whenever a change in pace and perspective is needed.

These high-traffic spaces need durable furniture capable of surviving the everyday wear and tear while meeting rigorous performance and safety standards. They also need to incorporate natural elements that allow connection to nature via colors and patterns, indoor plants and natural light. This biophilic aspect alone can help employees mentally recover and provide respite from day-to-day activities, to maintain positive wellbeing.

Wellbeing is linked to a variety of factors including flexible working hours, the

tools provided to complete work, salary, personal development and training, access to senior management and a worker’s commute. While some of these factors cannot be managed by a company, many others can. By adopting a proactive approach to staff wellbeing, the benefits can include reduced absenteeism, in-creased engagement and productivity. With such strong correlations, even a small shift in wellbeing can have a dramatic impact. Perhaps one of the largest factors contributing to employee wellbeing is the physical workspace.

“We believe work requires these deeper, more meaningful responses and experiences to create a more purposeful, enjoyable and beautiful workplace,” says Lew Epstein, Global Manager of Coalesse, a Steelcase brand led by intuition, backed by research, and driven by design to create great spaces that bring new life to work. “We’ve learned that people are ready for more, too. They want better, more complete solutions to address the diverse and dynamic modes of modern work.” Ten years ago when the brand started its journey, the Coalesse team’s instinct was so timely. They showed that a residential atmosphere of warmth, comfort and wellbeing had a place at work.

Beyond the furniture, inspiring spaces today help create a place where employees want to show up, rather than a place they need to show up to. In a world where money is no longer the primary motivating factor for employees, focusing on the employee experience is the most promising competitive advantage that organizations can create.

“Workers, companies, and the design community alike all expect a more residentially infused workspace today. It’s clearly the new normal,” says Epstein.

the steelcase inspiring spaces report en€¦ · 5 the steelcase inspiring spaces report...

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