Prior to any workplace change programme, baselining the
workplace’s performance is essential to understand where an organisation can
start making improvements. No matter what the initial drivers are;
rationalisation of space, increase collaboration, improve employee satisfaction
or to aid new ways of working, it is important to measure and understand the
use of the physical space.
With property being the 2nd biggest cost to any
organisation, after its people, it’s an obvious consideration for any
organisation to measure the performance of the workplace, thus ensuring space
is optimised and waste is reduced. The better an organisation understands this,
then the better the decision-making process becomes.
However, many organisations can often be led down a path
that relies purely on the quantitative data and therefore the output does not
deliver the desired outcome. Here organisations often fall to a ‘paint by
numbers’ approach that results in workplace change programmes that are nothing
more than an expensive and ineffective reshuffle.
Why is this? Well firstly, we must look at what ‘workplace’
is.
There are of course many variations and opinions as to the
precise definition, with some claiming there are no defined boundaries to the
discipline. However, etymology aside, it can generally be agreed ‘workplace’ is
the blend of physical, digital and cultural factors that allow an employee to
perform their role, hopefully in the best possible way. The workplace often
manifests itself in the physical space of an organisation but is not solely this
environment. This is crucial to get right and is often the reason for
organisational change projects to end up circling around cookie cutter
approaches as to how it uses its space. It is important to understand the
cultural aspects of an organisation, as well as its digital capabilities, as
these are significant in determining the success of the physical environment.
We must, therefore, approach quantitative data as it is – a
snapshot in time. It is a measurement that, once gathered, is already at risk
of being obsolete, if it is not used in the correct manner and being married up
with robust evidence-based qualitative data.
A utilisation study may highlight an estate that is vastly
underutilised, and therefore the decision to remove allocated desks, in one
example. In theory, this may play out well in the spirit of a ‘smarter working’
programme. However, if there are workers who are low mobility, in relation to
their tasks, then their work style and the role has not been considered and this
has a negative impact on the change journey. Any negative factor during change
will have a direct and indirect impact on the successful delivery of the
project.
Furthermore, is the IT infrastructure in place to remove
desk ownership? Do the employees have
the digital tools to communicate and collaborate effectively in order to optimise
the use of the physical environment? There is also the need to understand permissions
and trust within the organisation and those cultural drivers represented by the
leadership team.
If the physical and digital factors are taken care of, are
the staff given the right level of trust? If an organisations leadership has
relinquished that control, are the employees able to carry out their tasks in a
variety of different settings via the appropriate technology? And does the
physical space allow its users to work productively with the level of comfort,
convenience, and connectivity suited to their function within an
organisation?
Finally, are the solutions implemented being tailored to the
organisation or is the organisation being made to retrofit into an off the
shelf solution?
It is important to ensure there is a balance of quantitative
and qualitative data when embarking on any workplace change programme. There
must be a robust and evidence-based approach to any decision-making process and
ensure that the change programme isn’t forced down a path of fait accompli and
predictable desk ratios.
So, it would be recommended that any workplace analysis
undertaken is done so with a balance of quantitative and qualitative data. Of course, it is important to measure the
utilisation of the space available to its inhabitants. However, understanding
how they work, what tools are at their disposal and the cultural and
behavioural aspects of the workplace are essential to making informed
decisions. The quality of the output is completely dependant on the quality of
the input, and this comes from knowing how the organisations employees work and
what they require to maximise their productivity.
Workplace strategy, change programmes, and management must be
approached from a solid, evidence-based process. Can you afford to risk making
decisions based on one-sided data?
