๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ข
Earlier this week, Amazon's CEO said in a memo to staff:
"Weโve decided that weโre going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid..."
Some have argued that this is a strategy to get people to quit...?
If that's the case, they are such a behemoth that I'm sure they will have no shortage of hungry workers looking to fill any gaps.
For organisations embracing hybrid flexible policies, here are a few tips to help you create an office space that employees want to return to, with or without mandates.
1. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ.
Many companies still believe that the key to improving productivity and collaboration is mandating a return to the office based on the outdated idea that being seen equates to being productive.
However, according to a recent Forbes article, 62% of employees feel less engaged when forced back into the office without flexibility.๐
2. ๐๐โ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐.
๐ Instead of enforcing a one-size-fits-all approach, take a step back and evaluate what your people need and want. Your staff should be central to your strategy, not just an afterthought.
3. ๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต.
What makes your team tick? โฐ Are they early birds or night owls? ๐
๐ Are they in sales, development, or marketing? Do they thrive in teams or prefer to work solo?
These are the questions I ask my clients when discussing their workspaces. Sometimes, Iโm met with blank stares: โWhy does it matter?โ
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐:
- ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฌ๐ด? ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต.
- ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ-๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฌ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต? ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ-๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ฅ๏ธ
Youโll discover the optimal space design when you truly understand what your people need. This will save you cash ๐ฐ in the long run.
4. ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
This is your chance to update systems, review your organisational structure and rethink how your business can thrive in a digital-first world where most employees arenโt fully engaged. ๐
Do you think Amazon care about any of this?
Are there any other ideas that you think are crucial to consider?
Thanks for reading
