Has it ever been more critical for organizations 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 epicenter 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 organization 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 organizations 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 organization’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 programs for two Fortune 500 companies with BrandEye, enabling them to create new futures and maintain their leadership position.
The digital revolution has changed the way we work, enabling an estimated 70% of professionals to work from home at least once per week. The key drivers of change in the workplace:
01 Demographics – millennials now represent over half of the workforce
02 The digital revolution
03 New ‘social contract’ between workers and their employers
The explosion of shared offices, hot desks and co-working spaces stand as a testament to the importance that people still attach to the workplace – put simply, people like to work with other people. No amount of technology – be it Skype or WebEx – can completely replace a face-to-face meeting or a quick chat at the water station. Let’s face it, this is often where deals are struck, positive relationships are forged, and creativity can flow freely. Our fundamental human desire to ‘press the flesh’ and be in the company of other like-minded people and fellow employees, is the number one reason why an investment in your work environment is a wise investment.
The millennial-dominated workforce asks tough questions of employers – unlike previous generations, they have little expectation of a career for life and are comfortable moving jobs/organizations/countries to find fulfilling work. Accustomed to having the best digital devices in their pockets, they want to work somewhere that offers the same cutting-edge experience. They are also totally at ease with online collaboration or sharing, and like to work in a social, interactive way. For older generations, flexibility is vital. As more and more parents share childcare responsibilities, men and women are looking for opportunities to work from somewhere other than the office. It may be a home, a remote office, or a co-working space.
When workers are in the office, the priority becomes not sitting at a desk on their own, but instead catching up with colleagues whom they may not see for the rest of the week. They also want to ensure that they cover enough ground to be able to work remotely. As it becomes less common for all employees to be in the office at the same time, your office must create a sense of connection and grounding for everyone – a kind of base camp to which everyone can return, creating a sense of unity and attachment. With so much remote working, an office has become more than just a generic place to work.
Coca-Cola workplace branding by Glimma
'There is a 25% difference in productivity between offices that are considered ‘comfortable’ over ‘uncomfortable.’
Workplace design is complex when taking into account people flow, use of technology and availability of space. Branding enables you to make the most of your existing space, without the need for costly and disruptive architectural changes. This can be achieved by focusing on the look, feel and basic layout of the existing workspace.
‘The employer brand provides a coherent framework for management to simplify and focus priorities; increase productivity; and improve recruitment, retention and commitment.’
Where there is a disconnect between your external brand experience and internal employee experience, the result is demotivated, confused and distracted employees.
Larger organizations are likely to have identified their Employer Brand and articulated their Employer Value Proposition. This concept, first coined by Simon Barrow, helps to create consistency between customer-facing marketing and internal employee experience. Smaller companies may not have specifically created their employer brand, but it will exist – even if it is only in an intangible way through business processes and culture.
Workplace branding offers you the most visual way of expressing your Employer Brand. It creates the ideal opportunity to openly share company values and aspirations, ultimately creating the right culture for your employees. Start by understanding what you want to say, who you are speaking to, your tone of voice, and the level of ‘corporate feel’ you want to introduce.
'65% of respondents feel that if a company properly embeds its purpose in the workplace, it will have a positive effect on their work.'
Case Study: HSBC
HSBC Group has an extensive and award-winning workplace branding program. With operations in 80+ countries and over 6,900 workplaces, they aim to create unity amongst their 300,000+ employees.
HSBC workplace branding by Glimma
Remember that employees are your most important brand ambassadors – they hold your reputation in their hands when talking to others. Set up a local team to brainstorm ideas and develop strategies together. For larger projects, multi-disciplinary teams from all functions (i.e. HR, IT, Marketing, Ops, Real Estate, Finance, etc) will help to understand the bigger picture. Engagement plans could even include staff competitions with the winning design being implemented. This level of engagement creates accountability and ownership of the project, meaning that all teams have a stake in its success.
Staff surveys and other metrics play an integral role, helping to establish baseline performance and providing a way of measuring the effectiveness of the rebrand project when it comes to an end.
01 What is it being used for?
02 Who will use it?
03 Will customers visit?
04 How do you want visitors to feel when they are there?
Office design itself is a specialist skill but a simple rebrand or refurbishment will have an immediate positive impact on your existing space – visually transforming your workplace. Clever design can be used to differentiate between social and work spaces and create different ambiences. Think of your workplace as a giant advertising board – you can be as subtle or overt as you wish with your messaging to promote your business’s culture and values. As well as being aligned to your overall company mission, your workplace should place a premium on meeting and social space, and be well-equipped for both.
Case Study: National Grid
In 2014, National Grid, owners of the UK’s electricity and gas transmission system, undertook a refurbishment of many of their properties. The results of their head office makeover speak for themselves:
‘Happy employees are the best advocates for your brand – here are the 7 factors for turning that satisfaction into success.’
Often a work environment can seem sterile and corporate. Make the environment relatable to staff at all levels and allow it to express your culture.
Think beyond the obvious meeting rooms and reception areas. Corridors, staff restaurants and restrooms are all key areas. Consider how your space will be used and how branding can be used to differentiate between social and work environments.
Your corporate identity will be the backbone for your design but think about the end result – consider what atmosphere you want to create and how you will do this. In addition to corporate color palettes, color can be used to set and change ambience. This may give you a slightly different ‘twist’ on your visual identity in the workplace.
The most effective workplace branding programs involve a wide variety of staff. This helps with the practical rollout and with the levels of engagement and success.
If you are branding across different countries and cultures, be aware that certain design elements such as color and imagery may not translate well. They could
do more harm than good. With a global program, it is often wise to inject local influences into the design to help create relevance.
Consider refurbishing rather than replacing, for example, worn-out furniture that can be re-wrapped to look as good as new. As well as saving money, the environmental message to employees is strong. Use the latest technology: for example, we use theBreath® as artwork, a fabric that absorbs and breaks down harmful fine dust to reintroduce clean air.
A strong central project management team, backed by local implementors, will ensure that the refurbishment is hassle-free and delivered on time and within budget.
'An investment in the workplace is money well spent, even in times of austerity. It can quickly boost employee morale and productivity, increasing output and customer satisfaction.'
It is possible to update an office space on a relatively small budget. Here are 4 small changes that can make a huge impact:
Existing furniture and fittings can be refurbished rather than replaced, limiting the cost of the transformation. This approach also has the advantage of minimizing waste.
Keep budgets low by sourcing suppliers and partners who will work with the whole of your estate. By negotiating better prices, economies of scale can be achieved.
This doesn’t necessarily mean a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It is often desirable, or even essential, to keep a local ‘flavor’ to a refurbishment – including the use of local contractors where possible.
Build on brand guidelines rather than recreate them. A good supplier will be able to interpret and flex existing brand guidelines to create a unique offering for the workplace. Resist the temptation to reuse or repurpose external branded collateral, as the employer brand is not the same as the customer brand. In many workplaces, there are no logos featured at all, with far more emphasis on colors and imagery instead.
Kaplan workplace branding by Glimma
Kaplan, a subsidiary of The Washington Post, operates specialist colleges in over 30 countries, reaching more than one million students globally.
'In a recent study, the workplace was considered responsible for 24% of job satisfaction.'
The workplace is the most tangible expression of your ’employer brand’. Think beyond the functionality and the bricks and mortar to harness what it can achieve for your employees and your business. By providing a focus on this physical space, you are not only demonstrating your commitment to your team but also creating the foundation for a satisfied and motivated workforce – the backbone of any business.
With offices in Europe, Asia and the Americas, we can help with single-site or multi-site global programs.
+44 (0)20 7043 1322
info@glimma.com
