July 30, 2021 - In a post-pandemic world, employees are flocking back to their workplace. Barco research found that most (56%) were eager to return.
As lockdown went on, the ideal work balance shifted back in favour of the office. In September 2020, most employees felt that the ideal workweek would be 2 days at home and 3 days at the office; today, the desire has dropped to just 1.5 days at home.
But there is also a surprise hidden amongst those figures: 40% of workers said they were more likely now than they were a year ago to consider accepting a job with a new company.
Everyone has had time to re-assess and re-evaluate. People found value in shared experiences on a small scale during COVID. As we emerge, how will technology be an enabler for the next generation of office experiences?
In many cases the main, visual contact point between you and your employees is your shared physical spaces: the corporate lobby, boardroom, experience center, auditoriums, and meeting rooms. The places that most employees pass through when entering and exiting the office makes the best possible location to inform and engage – even excite – your staff.
Make going to the office worthwhile
One way to excite your employees and to make the trip to the office more than worthwhile is by using eye-catching digital displays. The contrast between working from the kitchen table and working from a 21st century office space surrounded by large video walls will never be more apparent. The digital capabilities of employers become a key attraction point.
We call this ‘Enjoy The Office’ experience or ETO. There were and are benefits to Working from Home (WFH), but the limitations became all too apparent after many months of it. The laptop, designed for on-the-go, mobile working, has been stuck inside our four walls – and our eyelines stuck inside the confines of its screen.
A recent report by Arup into post-Covid working explains that the purpose of the office is changing, from the days of copy machines and desktop PCs to a “place to form social bonds, create corporate culture, host clients, and attract talent”. This leads to a reduction in dedicated desk spaces and an increase in interactive and collaborative spaces: the office as experiential rather than simply functional.
Going beyond employee engagement
HR used to talk about ‘employee engagement’. Now that has evolved into ‘employee experience’, which involves creating impressive, nourishing environments.
By contrast, your lobby can instantly impress your workforce with informative and inspiring messages and images displayed on a large video wall; meetings rooms can be enjoyable and interactive; brainstorming sessions become truly multi-media.
Employees want something more than an email catch-up; they want a life experience, to feel they work for a meaningful organization with its finger on the pulse. Email inboxes are already overloaded, so companies need to find new ways to communicate and share their key messages throughout the organization.
Since employee expectations have changed so significantly, enterprises will clearly benefit when putting the employee at the heart of their digital investments and can Enjoy The Office (ETO) once again.
Rethinking the workplace
As the look and dynamics of the workplace continue to evolve, Barco’s large video walls empower companies to optimize the engagement potential of their space. Our vast display portfolio inspires and excites within any desired area – including, but not limited to, the board room, building lobby, experience center and auditorium – unlocking new avenues to impress and inspire, inform, and instruct.
Rethinking the 9-5 workplace and shifting towards a more employee-centric, having an experiential office space is the next step towards business success. Workers’ expectations, happiness and inspiration should be considered when equipping the workplace to create a dynamic environment for everyone.
As they return to the workplace from their home workspaces, employees are seeing it – and you, the employer - through fresh eyes. It is crucial, therefore, that they like what they see. If you feel it’s time to combine the desired Work From Home (WFH) time with an exciting and visually engaging Enjoy The Office (ETO) time, contact Barco and let’s jointly look at how we can create a dynamic workspace to attract your people back to the office.