In a post-pandemic landscape, crafting global workplace branding that both inspires innovation and fosters a thriving company culture has become more imperative than ever. From multi-use social workspaces to innovations in global super-brand workplaces, we’re now faced with the challenge of creating workplace designs that rival or surpass the comfort of homes. Read on to discover why culture, branding and the use of innovative tools like BrandEye are pivotal in shaping the workplaces of the future.
Has it ever been more critical for organisations to create places that propagate culture, stimulate innovation and contribute to an employee’s sense of belonging and well-being?
After a prolonged post-pandemic era, many of our clients at GLIMMA are now responding to the needs of their internal customers with the same verve as they have done with their own customers’ needs. They’ve embraced that great people – supported by dynamic and engaging workplaces – are the driving forces behind progress. In an era of incredible change within the work sector, some of the world’s top brands are nurturing excellence in their own environments like never before.
Multi-use social spaces are now being purposefully designed for modern-day workplaces. From bars, fully operational kitchens, quiet rooms, libraries, yoga studios and even mini-hotel rooms, brands are championing unique solutions to employee satisfaction and retention.
It's incumbent on business owners to create inclusive, considered workplaces that facilitate a collaborative culture within their companies.
With city living costs increasing, workplaces need to function as traditional office spaces and surpass the comforts of home. Looking at the new Apple U.K. headquarters in London’s Battersea Power Station: the carbon-neutral epicentre for employee engagement and enlightenment, the old adage ‘there’s no place like home’ may need a refresh to include the office.
Ultimately, culture can power performance, foster camaraderie and elevate employee well-being. Still, culture is always best sampled in the same place, room and space. So, whether you’re a hybrid organisation or a dedicated 5-day-a-week homestead, it’s incumbent on you to create the best environment possible to enable a collaborative culture to do its thing. Stephen Bartlett cites the culture at his company DOAC as the primer of performance and why they have had nearly 100% team attendance at their office for the last two years.
So, what’s the starting point for creating workplaces that matter?
Brand. It’s how you establish an emotional connection with your external customer, so it should matter equally to connecting with your internal customer: your workforce. Your purpose, mission, vision and values should permeate your design thinking and immerse your teams in why you do what you do, for whom and how. But it’s not just about aesthetics. Your spaces must be functional, ergonomically efficient and foster honest interaction, breaking down barriers in communication between teams. Great design can purposefully encourage conscious inclusion across your company and create a sense of employee belonging and ownership. Design must deliver more than just comfort.
Great design can purposefully encourage conscious inclusion across your company and create a sense of employee belonging and ownership.
With brand and ergonomics noted and prepared for, where do we go next? To the internal customer: our employees.
Most projects we work on for major organisations have all-inclusive collaboration teams from every part of the company to help inform and see workplace design through their eyes, work experiences and day-to-day needs. You must ensure everyone’s voices are heard and their ideas are valued. Teams are more likely to engage in open communication and add value to the spaces you design specifically to generate innovation and ideas if they are consulted and listened to.
If all this sounds daunting, especially as you need to concentrate on managing and winning business and innovating more effectively than your competitors can, it needn’t. Here’s why:
We know that workplace projects can envelop teams and easily become derailed, which is ironic because they are incredibly important to an organisation’s future. So, to make things more purposeful, efficient, and engaging, we created BrandEye, for workplace creation teams.
BrandEye is a digital platform that connects your entire team to the design process – allowing them to comment and feedback at any stage. Designs can be shared as plans, films, CGIs and even AI, enabling your designers to express your new workplace visually for everyone to review and provide feedback.
It also lets finance teams keep their fingers on the pulse through its comprehensive cost tender summaries and end-to-end financial management plans and controls.
BrandEye‘s features allow us to expedite market entry, facilitating swift access to localized installation and manufacturing services, thereby minimizing travel-related costs and environmental impact. This approach also enables increased investment in local suppliers, aligning with your commitment to both local and global ESG strategies.
With BrandEye, you can invest more time in innovation, leadership, success and attracting top talent who seek the best workplace in town.
GLIMMA are currently delivering global workplace and physical brand visibility programmes for two Fortune 500 companies with BrandEye, enabling them to create new futures and maintain their leadership position.
