Workplace Trends Driving Flexible Serviced Offices
The world is changing, and work is changing with it. From saving money to encouraging creativity and employee health, more flexible workspaces are a simple solution to many modern work trends.
When people think about going to work, they often imagine large groups of employees heading to a specific building from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For decades, that image of the 9-to-5 job has been an accurate portrayal of many workers’ reality. In recent times, however, the world has been moving away from that model.
Even before the start of the pandemic, the workforce was starting to shift to a more flexible arrangement. While recent events have accelerated the shift, there were already plenty of workplace trends driving flexibility. Here are the most common trends that have encouraged companies to move away from traditional office space and toward flexible, serviced office solutions.
Wider Talent Pool
The first trend is the simplest. If a company is willing to allow its employees to work remotely or from a serviced office, it can hire people who live too far away to commute. Instead of relying on the workforce nearby, it can hire anyone in the country. That’s a much wider talent pool, which means the company can get more qualified employees without necessarily paying top dollar in crowded markets.
Collaboration
Another significant change that’s spreading through many industries is a shift toward collaboration and away from strict hierarchies. Traditional offices included long, rigid chains of command that didn’t always encourage creativity and innovation. The modern workforce expects much more freedom to speak out in their day-to-day jobs, especially with agile and lean management tactics becoming more popular.
Collaboration allows for much more flexibility. Instead of following strict guidelines to get new ideas approved, teams can work together to find the right solution. This type of collaboration is most accessible when everyone involved can easily be in the same space without being separated in restrictive cubicles.
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Employee Wellness
Commuting takes time out of employees’ days, and many people prefer to avoid long commutes as much as possible. A growing trend for many workplaces is to improve general employee wellness by reducing the commute. The staff themselves get time back in their day and reduce their time in traffic and smog.
Healthier employees are happier employees, and happy employees are more productive. When your workforce can choose where to work, they can take full advantage of their downtime and still give 100% when they’re on the clock.
Employees can also choose to work when they know they’re most productive. Early birds can take advantage of mornings, and night owls can clock in once they’ve really woken up. Better-rested people make fewer mistakes and get more done.
The Millennial Effect
With age comes experience, but age is no longer a guarantee of whether an employee will know how to do their job. The rapid change of technology over the past few decades has made many younger workers better able to handle daily tasks than their older peers. This is the Millennial Effect, named after the generation that started the change.
Millennials, who have grown up with technology and are often “digital natives,” have a fundamentally different relationship with technology than their parents and older siblings. As a result, many younger workers not only enjoy but also expect a workplace that involves digital messaging and remote work to do their jobs.
Of course, older and more experienced employees are still valuable assets. Providing spaces where younger digital natives can collaborate with their more experienced coworkers can create synergies in their skill sets. You can offer more senior employees easy access to peers with tech knowledge and give younger employees mentors with experience in the business.
Choice
Offering your employees more choices for how they work is a great way to encourage better results. Studies show that workplaces that provide alternatives for when and where their employees can work are seen as more innovative and get better results.
Choice has to involve multiple, equally accepted options, however. Companies that insist all employees work from home will run into similar problems as companies that require all workers to come into the central office. Remote work, coworking spaces, and an office should all be presented as equally valid options to give your entire staff the resources and freedom they need to do their best work.
Technological Innovation
Of course, none of these workplace flexibility trends would exist if it weren’t for recent technological innovations. The improvements in internet speed, videoconferencing, and other business technology allow employees to do their best work without visiting a single, centrally owned office.
Modern innovations like VPNs and videoconferencing let every employee do their best work wherever they may be, whether that’s at home, in a coworking space, or at your headquarters. Changing with the times involves learning how to make the most of this technology and letting your employees do so.
Cost Savings
Not only does requiring employees to report to a single office stress them out, but it can also cost the company money. Leasing traditional office space in the first place requires a significant investment of capital and locks the company into years of upkeep and maintenance costs. For just that reason, many businesses have been open to more flexible working arrangements to cut costs.
The math is simple. If half your workforce chooses to work from home, you need office space for only the remaining half. If you choose to use flexible office spaces with Rubberdesk, you can get just the space you need. You’re never locked into an expensive building with significant upkeep costs.
Conclusion
The world is changing, and work is changing with it. From saving money to encouraging creativity and employee health, more flexible workspaces are a simple solution to many modern work trends. They offer employees more choices, more chances to collaborate, and free time to live their lives. That leads to happier people and better results.
Strong businesses change with the times. With flexible offices that meet your needs, your company can quickly grow and flex from month to month and year to year. Find the flexible office space you need to improve your bottom line and your employees’ lives today with Rubberdesk.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of Flexible Office Space?
Serviced office space offers far lower capital hurdles and less liabilities than traditional leased space, freeing up the balance sheet, an especially attractive proposition in a post- Covid 19 recovery. Additionally, the choice is not binary between employees either working from home or in a central head office. There are more options available to remote workers that can keep them safe and productive closer to home and without having to share public transport.
What Is a Serviced Office?
A serviced office is an all-inclusive leased space that professionals and companies rent on shorter-term all-inclusive rolling contracts. The short-term lease lets the tenant grow or downsize as needed, without having to wait for the traditional multi-year lease to expire. As a tenant you still get everything you might expect from a professional office space including security, cleaning, maintenance, and even parking. Today’s serviced offices come in a variety of sizes, from a single dedicated room to a full building. Businesses of all sizes and types can find serviced office space with not just desks and chairs but also reception services, IT infrastructure, and meeting facilities.
Are Serviced Offices Safe during a Pandemic?
The safety of this setup is a concern for members and interested prospects alike — and rightly so. All the big operators have taken significant steps to decrease risk. The New York-based behemoth WeWork, for example, has taken the following measures include: increased sanitization, personal protective equipment, single-use products, staggered seating and socially distanced layouts, improved air quality, direction and approval from experts, and behavioral signage With these measures and more in place, serviced offices have never been safer, and some of the changes might be here to stay. Look into the spaces near you to find out exactly how they’re putting safety first during this unprecedented time.
