Richard Kauntze
Chief Executive, British Council for Offices (BCO)
Create a workplace that attracts, not mandates. See the guide that helps businesses design engaging, hybrid-friendly offices that boost productivity, collaboration and wellbeing.
As calls for people to spend more time in the office grow louder, more employers are specifying set days for workers to be present. Office space isn’t cheap and, understandably, businesses want to see a return on their investment. However, ‘investment’ is the keyword, and creating a magnet will be more powerful than any mandate.
A guide to the modern office
Growing businesses need to attract talent, and providing an engaging and appealing workspace that embraces hybrid working is critical. The British Council for Offices (BCO) has just updated its advice on office design to facilitate changing workstyles and empower people to be more productive. This flagship ‘Guide to Fit-Out’ now supports businesses in encouraging their employees to consider more deeply how they are spending their time in the office and to choose a work setting that is best suited to the task at hand.
You cannot design an office well
without understanding its purpose.
Creating both collaborative and quiet places
The concept of an assigned workstation is being eliminated. Some may miss personalising their desk, but the result is more space for collaborative and social spaces — a significant gain. The Guide also recommends strategies to encourage active working. This includes furniture for standing and walking, alongside areas for quiet concentration. Collectively, this should produce a healthier, more productive and more inclusive working environment.
Barclays’ BCO Award-winning campus in Glasgow is a great example — far from the corporate citadel that you might expect of a banking giant. It offers a multitude of alternative work solutions and spaces for both meeting and social functions while being integrated with the local community through exhibition spaces and a street food market.
Think about the office’s purpose
Ultimately, you cannot design an office well without understanding its purpose. As the bestselling author on leadership, Simon Sinek, says: we must start with ‘why.’ Successful offices promote human connection and develop social capital. A fulfilling day working alongside colleagues in person makes ‘Why should I go into the office today?’ an easy question to answer.
