Melbourne Workplace Reset Summit

28 MAY 2021

Due to the recent round of health restrictions in Victoria our Melbourne Workplace Reset Summit has been rescheduled for Tuesday 8 June.

I would like to thank all our guests for their understanding and the flexibility and cooperation of the function manager at the Young & Jackson Hotel.

Hope that the restrictions ease in Victoria this week and seeing you at this event as soon as the health experts say it is safe to run it.Dream it.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Sydney Workplace Reset Summit

28 MAY 2021

The Sydney Workplace Reset Summit will be held this coming Tuesday 1 June at the Old Clare Hotel, Rooftop at 26 Broadway, Broadway. There are only a few spaces left for this event, which will be run between 4pm and 7pm.

Due to COVID19 crowd management, please send your intention to attend to bligh@365workplace.com.au or SMS 0403899153 before the event.

HR Departments Leading On Working With Employees, Return To Office

28 MAY 2021

An interesting observation, over the last few weeks while working with our clients, it has become obvious that many organisations looking on how to engage with their employees on returning to work at the office, that these activities are being navigated and steered by the organisations HR function, more so than property.

It should be emphasized that in developing a sustainable flexible working model it requires the buildability and services expertise of your real estate or facilities management representatives, to properly address the communication, change management and flexible working strategy pieces these in many cases except where organisations have a broader occupancy planning and management function are being driven by HR.

Let us not forget that HR, will need to also depend on the organisations ITC team. This will allow the technology requirements, married with the built environment together with the change and culture pieces to be merged into a successful delivery package.….

Keeping Social Distancing Standards Consistent

28 MAY 2021

The recent lockdown in Melbourne this week only just supports the position that organisations should be holding a consistent policy regarding social distancing in terms of room capacity and how spaces are used no matter if the health warnings are considered HIGH, MEDIUM or LOW RISK.

What this means is that during these uncertain times occupants of the office environment do not need to consider how a change in the risk level associated with COVID outbreaks effect the way that they use the built environment at the office or satellite locations.

Consistency in messaging and what you need from your organisations people is key. The less people need to think about event driven changes the more likely they are to feel comfortable in working from locations that are outside their home.

New CEO Skills Required Post Pandemic Outbreak

28 MAY 2021

Tobias Lutke, chief executive of Canadian tech firm Shopify, has been quoted in the last week saying, “It won’t be the biggest companies or the strongest brands that survive, but the ones most adaptable to change.”

Forward thinking CEOs are now actively engaging with expert Workplace Strategy specialists to take advantage of the pandemic to reset the way they work and how they run their business from top to bottom.

The idea of “what is a leader is” has now changed for ever. It is not just the ability around the boardroom table, but every aspect of management from the SLT to  providing essential staff services.

Here at 365workplace we have been emphasising the importance of  education programmes to upskill management to deal with the changing requirements post-pandemic. These programmes also consider what support in terms of new or refreshing education sessions need to be provided to all staff.

Leadership by delegation and through participation is a crucial skill that many C-suite inhabitants have to learn. The pandemic has just accelerated this to being a critical activity.

“The leader trying to cope with unpredictable, volatile futures needs to be able to collaborate effectively with many people with different skill sets, is the advice from Dr Joanna James from Newcastle University.

For the CEO’s who are in denial that this is what their people need of them, I can only advise you they are in denial.

Wheels Are Spinning But Are We Getting Anywhere?

28 MAY 2021

One of the concerning discussions that many people managers have been having with me over the last few weeks is the actual or perceived perception that to get the simplest of tasks completed is now taking a lot longer. Why?

There are several reasons contributing to this, however the workplace has become a lot less nimble in terms of just “getting things done on the fly”. As people are working remotely more often, they are structuring their days with fixed time slots to do specific tasks, often as they need access to certain resources to complete certain jobs.

In the case of client facing roles, the management of who client facing employees are seeing and when, is now more heavily regulated by many organisations over and above the QR tracing requirements.

Lastly many people who are now working remotely, away from the office are being challenged with the creep of personal commitments into that time allocated as their working week. Some recent data over the last three months has revealed that where this challenge is front and centre the impact on productivity has suffered in the vicinity of 20%. make all the difference.

Do You Expect Your Workplace Now To be More Like A Hotel?

21 MAY 2021

Do you expect your workplace to be more like a hotel? A place of comfort with first class services, the feedback from many employees is yes.

There is a new expectation that attending the office is for a specific purpose, either team meetings, project scrums or workshops, meeting with management for instructions, picking up parcels or new work tools or a variety of other reasons.

Do you expect security or reception to operate like a concierge service? There is no reason why it cannot, do you expect to be able to pick up mail or parcels 24x7?  well, you can with new contactless parcel locker systems.

What do you expect from different meeting or collaborative settings? do you consider furniture options, décor and technology offerings to be essential? well many employees now do.

This shift in expectation is certainly changing the way workplace strategists, workplace change managers, facilities managers and designers are looking at meeting the needs of the occupants. Watch this space for some interesting developments.

Providing Hidden Cost Savings Does Not Mean A Reduction In Service Offering

21 MAY 2021

Traditionally when employees hear the word cost saving, they automatically think about a reduction in service, well in the past that may have been true in some instances, but now your progressive workplace advisory team will assist you in applying capital one off cost facilities that provide employees with far more flexible solutions, which can be available 24x7 and are easy to use.

Corporate shared services budgets should be assessed holistically to improve the customer experience while reducing reoccurring costs such as off-site document storage.

We have worked with clients to reduce offsite document storage holdings of over 100,000 boxes costing over $500,000 per annum to reducing this cost by 80% and redeploying part of the saving into employee facing services which improved employee engagement and purpose.

Importance Of The Workplace Ethnographic Utilisation.

21 MAY 2021

The importance of the ethnographic utilisation study is even more so critical now, to understand how your people are using the facilities in the office, the size and capacity of meeting spaces and the technology required for various work locations is even more essential.

These studies provide robust data that does not only assess the metric usage of space, but the activities being carried out in the workplace, it will also gauge demand on community workplace facilities and other shared services that are provided to employees.

This data will also ensure that your real estate footprint is performing as strongly as possible ensuring that the utilisation is performing in the top quadrants, as you provide the services that your employees need.

Is The Workplace Project Still Working Towards An End Date

21 MAY 2021

Over the last three months we have seen a cosmic shift in the way workplace strategy and change management services are being viewed by many clients, as many struggle to understand what their employees are looking for from them, there has been a real need in understanding that the workplace projects are more about people, the changes that are impacting them from outside the organisation and how that relates to where and when they work.

It also is making many businesses assess their investment in their people, how and where they work is no longer just driven by lease end of the HQ, it is about on-going engagement with their employees on the what the changing needs of the employees are, as the definition of flexible working continues to shift as it is influenced by health and economic drivers, together with changing needs of the customer.

Not all employers are considering the on-going engagement of workplace subject matter experts to ensure their workplace, processes and culture continue to move with the changes imposed on them through changes in social and health standards, flexible options on where people can work, while maintaining corporate culture and community.

How Will Your Flexible Working Model Impact Your Customers?

21 MAY 2021

Over the past few weeks, one of the things that has been open for discussion is how a new flexible working model may affect your customers, does your flexible working model allow your employees to work from a client site, or have your clients work from your office for varying time frames – from a few days to months at a time?

Pre-COVID many organisations pushed back on housing clients working from their sites due to risks of unassociated commercial confidential information being put at risk by having external third parties at their office, or the cost of the real estate not being able to be recovered as it was not included in the bid when it was submitted to the client.

However, businesses now need to consider if their clients can provide a safe post COVID environment for their employees if they must work on the client site and assess how close or far apart the two organisations are about flexible working model standards.

365workplace shop is about to go live

21 MAY 2021

It is with great pleasure that we launch the 365workplace On-Line Shop where you can purchase workstations, task chairs, monitor arms and most things workplace. Check it out on Friday 28 May – www.365workplace.com.au/shop

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Weekly Wrap In Podcast Form from 4 June 2021

21 MAY 2021

From next week the Workplace Weekly Wrap will be delivered as a video podcast. This will allow you to consume the weekly wrap in under two minutes, when and wherever you like. It will be available on our website, You-Tube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The Workplace! It Is A Community.

14 MAY 2021

The word community many of us only relate to our neighbourhoods or local social or school groups but it is more than that.

The community that you spend most of the time with each week, is your workplace community. Post COVID19 has revealed the importance of maintaining a strong workplace community which for many organisations has been tested as people continue to work from home.

However, for many organisations that have had a mobile or flexible workforce prior to COVID, how to ensure employees that work flexibly still have a connection to their workplace community, has also been a challenge.

In the past few weeks, we have been working with clients on how to develop, maintain and strengthen that workplace community, as a larger proportion of people are now working remotely, this includes acceptance of all employees back to the office no matter if it is one day or five days a week.

It also addresses the organisations cultural expectations in the community and how to maximise the benefits of the facilities provided to the community.

We are encouraging clients to fund community activities on an on-going basis not just as a return to the office exercise to develop and nurture a healthy community environment.

What Entices People Back To The Office

7 MAY 2021

COVID has certainly changed the way leading Workplace Strategists and expert Change Managers address how they look at solutions for organisations when it comes to their workplace.

The order of place, people and process has now definitely been redefined as people, process and place.

The level of engagement with their staff is now critical to understand matters that concern or create comfort for employees.

The issue of place is now most just the HQ, but also services that are surrounding the office, such as cafes, bar and restaurants that are open. This vibrant neighbourhood feel is essential to entice people back to the office.

The definition of place has also shifted to be more than only the office, but to include working from smaller satellite offices, working from client sites and working from home. Obviously the mix of any of these combinations will be directly related to the someone job function.

Resetting Peoples’ Routines

7 MAY 2021

When COVID hit, peoples’ routine were seriously interrupted. The initial transition period from pre COVID working conditions to the period during the pandemic was a very unsettling period for many people while they came to grips with their new working regime.

Now people have become “comfortable” working from home the majority of the time, but the question arises, is that what is best for the individual and the organisation. For some people, the less than 5% that use to work from home close to full time, the answer is yes, the remainder of the workforce it could be questionable.

The impact on peoples’ wellbeing and specifically their mental health is a strong under current issue, with over 11% of people in a recent survey declaring that they have felt isolated since the outbreak of COVID. The other concerns for employers is how remote working impacts on workplace culture and career development.

So how do we overcome this? The solution is resetting peoples’ routine. Routine can be easily reset by people being satisfied that the workplace is safe, their mode of transport is safe and the essential services are available in and around the workplace. Couple this with repetition and we are all good to go.

Office Envy

7 MAY 2021

Many organisations are now concentrating on running events in the office, booking guest speakers, running wine and cheese or coffee and smallgoods tastings, team games and other purpose like events to entice people back into the office.

The purpose of these events are to ensure people reconnect in the office, build those face to face collaboration instances and create an envy for people who continue to work from home remotely on a full time basis. This is now an expense that organisations need to consider retaining to assist in maintaining employee well-being and organisational culture.

Has Workplace Design Changed Forever?

7 MAY 2021

Many organisations some in the A&D sector are working on small works changes to their offices, which is seeing a reduction in the number of workstations and enclosed meeting rooms to more open collaborative space, short term drop in project spaces where teams can agree to meet to work for a half or full day a couple of times a week and then concentrate on their quiet independent work on alternative days either in the office, or from another location.

These changes are being driven by either management or by individual employees who are looking for their workplace to support the transition into a new flexible working model.

The days of rows and rows of workstations dominating the office landscape could be argued is truly over and people attending the office with a focus of collaboration and or eternal meetings on the same day is now the driver for changes in workplace design.

However make these decisions by conducting an ethnographic utilisation study which will influence the varying styles of collaboration zones that should be considered.

Are We Working More Flexibility Than Before COVID?

7 MAY 2021

Are we really working more flexibly than pre COVID, by observation, I would say no.

What?, I hear you say.

Many people often worked only in the office or one location, now the office has been replaced with them working from home the majority of the time.

In many utilisation studies that have been conducted in the last few years, somewhere between 35% and 55% of employees worked flexibly from a variety of locations during the working week.

This post COVID statistic is much the same, however the only difference is that the location has changed. So do organisations need to encourage and educate people on how to truly work flexibly I say, the answer is yes. How to change peoples’ patterns that they work from a certain location or in a certain setting for the task at hand is essential. Couple this with how to maximise the technology tools that are available to employees.

Organisations that wish to have a successful flexible working model are now conducting assessments on how to educate their people on how to truly maximise the benefits of this as a part of their role in the post COVID-19 environment.

A successful flexible working model also maintains workplace culture, workplace identity and retention of people.

The Roller Coaster Ride Continues.

30 APRIL 2021

We are now four months into the year and it has certainly been a wave of on-going challenge and change. It could best be described as a roller coaster ride.

With unexpected outbreaks of COVID in Sydney in January and a couple of 3-4 day shut downs in Brisbane, along with the delay in the vaccine role out, there has certainly been uncertainty.

Couple this with challenges on reduced public transport capacity, employers being ready for employees to return to a COVID19 compliant workplaces, it has been a year so far of much on-going change.

People Before Dividends

30 APRIL 2021

The challenges that the global pandemic has served up to everyone in the last twelve months have been significant. The impact on organisations on workplace culture has been significant, both by many people working in a predominately virtual environment, headcount reduction and the organisations pathway forward into the new post COVID19 workplace model.

For organisations to rebound from the depths of the pandemic organisations now need to seriously invest in their people. It is not about salary, it is about investing in the workplace model that allows people to work flexibly, including being in the office, working from home or a client site and being exposed to a minimum risk of catching viral dieses.

Employers need to be investing in more stringent cleaning regimes, self service sanitization and disinfectant plus ergonomically approved work from home facilities.

This increase investment in place of increased profits is going to be essential for the next couple of years until the post COVID-19 environment stabilises.

Is Working Outside The Office Three Days A Week A Sustainable Solution?

30 APRIL 2021

The one size fits all model of employees working out of the office three days a week and from home or an alternative location the other two days a week does not work for all job functions.

Some back of house functions can work remotely and virtually for large part of their working week, but there is also the parts of your organisation that need to be on-site as face to face collaboration and meetings are key.

Lets look back pre COVID-19, though the majority of roles were meant to be head office based, many employees were working in an agile manner, working from a combination of locations. Post COVID19 is no different.

Organisations need to understand how their people use to work, use to collaborate, how they are working and collaborating now and look at the impact of these changes to develop job functional policies on flexible working.

Will the Sydney CBD Ever Be The Same?

30 APRIL 2021

There has been commentary from senior State Government Economists on how Central Business District office space in Sydney will not be the same again. It discusses the conversion of commercial buildings to residential similar to that of Hong Kong, New York and London. This is longer term thinking as the lead time on approvals, construction and occupancy is a medium to long term play.

The mixed use development that is more sustainable and visionary approach we discussed on 2 April 2021 should be the longer term objective once conversion of surplus commercial CBD occurs.

However, caution should be adopted, in Sydney in Q1 of 2020 there was a total of 30 million public transport trips to the CBD, while in Q1 2021, this was at 18 million trips, which has bounced back from a low of 8 million trips in the middle of the pandemic.

My prediction is that there is really another 12-18 months to properly gauge the real requirements of organisations for commercial space. We also need to consider that prior to the pandemic occupancy rates in Sydney were in low single digits, with a real shortage of office accommodation under 500 square metres, which was driving rents up by 15-20% on prior year. This was also driven by the number of buildings that had been effected by the Sydney Metro project.

The sustainable development model should be at the forefront of new buildings above or close by to the new Sydney Metro Stations.

Recovery Locally Driven Not Globally Driven.

30 APRIL 2021

After speaking with a number of our global clients, many are seeing a real disconnect between the local requirements of the organisation and that of the decision makers of Crisis Management Teams globally.

We need to remember that the way the pandemic has effected different countries has been significantly different, coupled with the management style of government in terms of border closures domestically and internationally has all had an influence on where we are today.

Sometimes when decisions are made by crisis management teams in Texas, New York or California they are often miles apart from that real experiences of that in Asia-Pacific and even locally in Australia.

Local representatives should not be afraid to speak up and express their concerns on decisions that are opposite to that in the local market. This is not the first time that often regionally during periods of pandemic or economic crisis that parts of a large organisation are marching at different speeds.

Having a regional and local solution will maintain workplace culture, retain and build revenues and put the local business into a far stronger position. Often sometimes a specialist consultant is best to speak to these hard discussions on the global stage, to ensure the right outcomes are delivered locally.

Are You Ready To Take Off Or Not?

 23 APRIL 2021

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, do you feel that things are harder? You are no longer feeling like you are taking off in an Air-Force Jet, but more so like our guy in the photo?

It is important that you speak up about what is making you feel like this guy!

Its about sharing your concerns and why they exist with your peers, your manager, though important, its not just about you, it is about all the people in your team and your organisation. The chances are that you will not be the only one feeling the same way.

If it is not discussed, a solution cannot be developed and implemented. 11% of people feel more isolated and 45% of people are finding collaboration and sharing more difficult since the outbreak of COVID.

Engaging With Employees Is Critical.

23 APRIL 2021

Engaging with your employees is critical to implement a successful return to the office plan, regardless of it being 5 days a week, 3 days a week or just one day per week. For these plans to be successful you really do need to understand what the concerns are of your employees.

It is critical that there is a diverse section of the business represented - HR, Real Estate, Facilities, Legal, and the individual business groups from single contributors, team leaders and representatives from the Senior Leadership Team.

Safe Work Australia has a diverse checklist that organisations should consider regarding cleaning, site access and circulation, insurance impacts, social distancing, sanitization, just to name a few headline items.

However, be aware this only covers the initial site readiness and employee consultation piece. This needs to be coupled with a targeted and robust communication plan with medium to long term messaging on how the organisation plans to assess what their real workplace needs going forward will be and the timing around those needs.

Holding Position Will Do More Harm Than Good.

23 APRIL 2021

With Job Keeper ending a month ago many CFO’s and CEOs are considering as the roll out of the vaccination program is slower than expected that taking a holding position of allowing people to continue to work from home is OK for the short term.

I however challenge this. There is feedback coming back from a variety of clients revealing that quality collaboration and sharing is being missed with virtual collaboration being far from dynamic or insightful but being more structured.

The activities to measure the uptake of people returning to the office and feeling safe about it is key. This needs to be embedded before any utilisation studies can be conducted and then mapped against business requirements around facilities, headcount growth or contraction and on-site teaming and collaboration requirements.

In the following 12 months this could equate to anywhere between 75% to 100% of your gross real estate cost after making good or hand back costs, small works modifications that could be off set against incentives negotiated in today’s dollars or forecasted for lease renewal in 12-24 months’ time.

Also is the holding position having an impact on your organisation’s innovation? and impacting revenues, while also restricting in maintaining or creating your organisations position as a leader in its field. Do not forget a 15% saving in real estate cost should not come at a cost of an 25% decline in revenue or brand recognition.

Being pro-active now, is what will really deliver the cost savings and make your organisation stand out from the pack.

Landlord Building Spec Fitout Space.

23 APRIL 2021

Landlords are now going back to market with spec fit out that is being well accepted in the market, from clients that just wish to move into space and not have to do any fit out works.

If you are going to negotiate your lease terms based on the spec fit out model, make sure your business requirements have been properly examined by an experienced workplace strategist, so you get 110% value from your negotiated deal.

It is even more important when spec fit outs are existing. Modifications can be requested of building owners and still be rolled into your incentive or annual real estate leasing costs.

Average CFO Tenure.

23 APRIL 2021

Do you ever wonder why sometimes the short- and medium-term gains are seen to be more palatable than the 5- or 10-year plans? This puts it into context, with the information supplied by Spencer Stuart.

The average tenure of ASX 100 CFOs is five years, and the majority (52%) have been in their position for less than five years. Roughly one-quarter (26%) have held the job for between five and 10 years.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of ASX 100 CFOs are serving as group CFO for the first time. As expected, proven group CFO experience was more prevalent in external hires than internal appointments. 

The overall percentage of externally appointed CFOs and internally promoted CFOs is virtually identical: 51 percent are external, while 49 percent are internal. Those percentages mask notable differences by industry, however: 78 percent of CFOs in technology, media and telecommunications and 60 percent of industrial CFOs were brought in from outside the company, but only 39 percent of CFOs in the financial services sector and 31 percent in consumer goods were external appointments.

Sixty-four percent of all ASX 100 CFOs have held the position of divisional or regional CFO prior to their current position, indicating that previous experience working directly with business leaders is highly valued. Other backgrounds for ASX 100 CFOs include:

• 59% have worked in professional services

• 38% have experience in group finance

• 36% have worked as group CFO

• 12% have treasury experience

• 8% have worked in investor relations

What Spaces Are Being Used And By Whom? A Place Observation.

16 APRIL 2021

This week I was in the CBD of Sydney and observed several interesting things, so many people out exercising at about 6am in Hyde Park, the Botanical Gardens, the Domain and other city open spaces. Why? Is it because of the increased number of CBD residents with so many people still working from home?

Compare this to the deserted feeling that hung over the City North West precinct of Kent Street and Barangaroo in the afternoon at 3pm so many cafes, restaurants, food courts and bars still closed giving an empty eerie feeling.

The long road to the new normal is only going to be prolonged with serious consequences if collectively we do not come to grips with how to live and work in the post COVID world. This can only be achieved by employers and employees working together.

Roaring 20’s Again?

9 APRIL 2021

The 1920’s was the era of great technology change with the commercialization of the motor vehicle, radio and silent movies, post a pandemic of unseen proportions and the growth of fascism across the globe.

Post pandemic it was the decade of the party, the booming stock market and the trying new and exciting things like air travel, with the first commercial passenger plane designed and commissioned into service. The economy in the developed world doubled and no dream was too big.

Then we all know what happened next the Great Depression and the 1930’s was a decade of reset and recovery.

Are we walking down the same track again?

Is it the decade, where after a year or more of wearing masks, social distancing and greater isolation we want to be let out of the cage, where we would like to share a dessert with family and friends, not feel like you need a mega-phone to have a simple conversation?

Does the growth in the stock market in the 2020’s and the strong residential housing market reflect the true economy with unemployment, insolvencies and a weak commercial and retail property sector really reflect the position of the economy. The reference to financial bail outs in the billions is now so old school and is replaced by bail outs in the trillions.

As a reference the Australian funding to weather the GFC was $52 billion, to date the COVID-19 response in Australia is circa $83 billion, while in the USA their response to the GFC was $700 billion and to COVID19 a total of 6 trillion dollars, 2 trillion more than the cost of fighting World War 2.

The roaring 20’s both in this century and in last will see significant, not incremental changes to the way we work and where we work.

The decision makers of organisations need to have a real strategy, short, medium and long term. This will have consequences for organisations’ profitability, growth and long-term viability as an employer and organisation of choice. It will also have an impact on the commercial office sectors and residential housing markets specifically in Sydney and Melbourne.

How Technology Is Changing How We Are All Working?

9 APRIL 2021

This week I was speaking with a leader in medical research and the topic came up about how technology has changed the way medical research is being conducted.

The advancements in equipment and software have created an increase in the speed and volume of data points that are collected. This has meant more work being carried out in the traditional office environment instead of on the traditional laboratory bench. These changes in the way research are now conducted will lead to significant changes in future laboratory design.

This will also influence the workplace design for other industries outside of medical research and where people can work from and should be considered as a part of the post COVID-19 workplace.

Real Concerns On Opportunities Being Lost Due To Working From Home

9 APRIL 2021

In the last fortnight I have had senior management across a variety of industries raise concern that working from home is having an impact on the level and quality of collaboration within organisations that are working on solving or delivery of project work.

The inability to be able to collaborate in a manner that is dynamic instead of being planned by having an arranged virtual call, or on-line chat, many leaders are finding it is having an impact on sharing thoughts, solving problems and creating the most innovative solution for the project at hand.

One leader advised that though this cost has not been quantified he was expecting that the cost to their organisation maybe as high as 20% of their gross annual revenue, so the cost saving of reducing space or not embarking on a post COVID19 safe return to work program is insignificant in comparison.

This will be an interesting to watch this space. Some leaders are also concerned how this reduction in spontaneous collaboration may see some organisations no longer lead their industry and return to being “just an alternative” to be considered by customers for their area of expertise.

Red Tape Forcing Employees To Meet In The Park.

9 APRIL 2021

After speaking with several clients this week who revealed that they and their peers considered that there is “so much red tape” to return to the office, that it was just simpler to meet their colleagues in a café or in a local park to collaborate on current work tasks face to face rather than return to the office.

This was fact was flushed out in our first Workplace Survey for 2021, when respondents clearly indicated that they were meeting in public spaces to collaborate face to face, as they were experiencing virtual meeting fatigue or found it less effective.

This raises a few new concerns, such as what are the psychological challenges that are stopping people returning to the office to meet face to face. The security around discussions in public places, also voice conference calls. All parties should be concerned about this trend and investigate ways how the issues can be resolved.

It can be argued that many people consider meeting outdoors safer during the shoulder of the COVID19 peak until the vaccination program is rolled out across the wider community, we also must consider the upcoming winter season.

Organisations need to understand how to resolve the perception of “red tape” for collaboration to reoccur on site and how these thoughts may influence workplace design going forward.

Thanks Cortano - The 365 Assistant Says More Focus Time Required

9 APRIL 2021

For organisations that are using 365 and Microsoft teams, daily reports and recommendations are being generated by individual user profiles that quantify the amount time being absorbed each day by virtual team meetings and in some cases has been providing suggestions that people should consider booking more time for focus work and provides recommendations on daily time slots to best achieve this.

Check out these reports if you receive them. It only takes a couple of minutes and can assist in keeping the balance of focus time, virtual meeting and face to face meeting time allocations relevant.

Impact of Jobkeeper Coming To An End

2 APRIL 2021

Since Job Keeper came to an end in March, there has been concern about what an organisations needs are in terms of their office space requirements. Not just because of the impact of flexible working but more importantly where their organisations headcount will end up, considering the end of Job Keeper and where certain organisations are in terms of their performance in what could best be described as a two-speed economy.

This has seen delays in the commencement of several workplace projects, leaving the post COVID19 status quo in place, until confidence returns into a wider number of industries throughout the economy.

It is important to remember that even in managing the change of having employees return to the office will not occur overnight and therefore the change management program and the recovery of the economy should be able to occur concurrently.

Sustainability In The Workplace

2 APRIL 2021

Recent studies by Cambridge University reveals an interesting statistic that building, and construction is responsible for nearly 40% of C02 emissions according to the UN Environmental Program – 2019 Global Status Report for Building and Construction.

Post COVID19 it is proposed that commercial office space is set to double between now and 2060 with the traditional thinking that commercial developments will not contribute towards zero net omissions. Overcoming this will require collaborative working practices not just within an organisation but also practice disciplines including project planning, financing, design & construction, facilities management and property management, which would contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Fragmented workplaces contribute significantly to the inefficiencies in this sector and the workplace strategy and change management investment will minimize these inefficiencies and increase development utilisation and add real value to the standard architecture and engineering services as we know them today.

Your workplace strategy and change investment will therefore have a reoccurring cost saving to your organisation for decades. Financiers and clients are now looking at your sustainability plans and assessing the financial risk by your Organisational plans for the short, medium and longer terms.

A Global Pandemic Provides An Opportunity To Reset Workplace Culture

2 APRIL 2021

The COVID-19 Pandemic has provided an opportunity for many organisations to revisit their workplace culture.

There often needs to be a catalyst to commence a workplace culture audit review, but we are encouraging our clients to assess what they believe is important for them culturally in their organisation as they begin to work with their employees on returning to the office and the development of the business workplace strategy assessment.

This exercise does not only re-educate employees on what the core organisational culture objectives are, it can also deal with issues such as work from home policy, new flexible working philosophies but also to understand from their employees where they believe improvement can be made by either employers or employees or both, embedding a leading workplace culture.

Flexible Working Is Not Hybrid Working

2 APRIL 2021

Over the past few weeks there have been articles discussing hybrid working. What is hybrid working? It has been defined as working from home and working from the office. This is not the solution; flexible working is the solution, going forward.

The days gone by us have seen workplace solutions being referred to as either Agile Working or Activity Based Working, we see these now as being superseded and replaced with Flexible Working. It is what it is, flexible working.

Flexible working will see the office remain as the HQ for face-to-face collaboration, a tool to attract and retain talent, coupled with the ability of employees to work from smaller satellite offices but retain connection to the organisations culture and objectives, working from home, or from client site and a variety of other locations without having any negative impact on organisation culture, productivity or innovation.

Watch this space and see how flexible working with be the new Agile Working of the 2021, 2022 and possibly beyond.

Burn Out From Working From Home

26 MARCH 2021

The short-term impact of working from home, with increased productivity appears to have begun to slip away.

Feedback from many employees that there is a sense of exhaustion and burnout as the way people work, though there is less commuting, is this now having a more negative impact? Research reveals that the productivity levels of some people working from home has slipped by up to 22%, with this part of the workforce now feeling more isolated than ever.

One of the largest fatigue issues has been “zoom fatigue” which is a result of overstimulation, with extra eye strain from computer, monitor and smartphone, everyone now appears to be a lot closer than our experiences pre-COVID when we were meeting predominately face to face.

With more virtual meetings we are also looking at ourselves a lot more, providing a new level of insecurity on how we may be perceived by others. Remember most of the workplace had little or no training on virtual meeting protocols.

Another major influence contributing the “zoom fatigue” is as people schedule these meetings in back-to-back, the ability for them to reset and think specifically about the topic and action items of the next meeting, that has traditionally occurred when walking from one meeting to another now does not exist.

Many people are seeing their daily steps reduce to 25-35% of the pre-COVID levels – 10,000 steps a day to 2,500 – 3,500 steps per day.

Remember, friends and family traditionally enjoyed more intimate social distancing limitations of 1.2 metres. Compare to virtual meetings where people are less than half a metre away, we now have peers and work colleagues a lot closer and family and close friends further away than what we are use too.

Hesitation On Return- To-Office Programmes As Job Keeper Ends

26 MARCH 2021

Over the last week or so several returns to the office programs have been deferred or placed on hold due to hesitation on what the impact of the end of Job Keeper will have on the economy and further increase in unemployment, which is forecasted to be between a further 100,000 and 150,000 people.

Further reductions in headcount will see the need for further reduction in the amount of space required by organisations for their office space requirements in the short to medium term.

Where To From The Cut & Burn Of Office Space in 2020?

26 MARCH 2021

During 2020 many organisations took the cut and burn approach to their office workplace footprint in order to reduce costs during the significant reduction or obliteration of their revenues for many organisations as the COVID pandemic took hold.

The need to provide rationale in making these decisions was not required as in many cases offices were completely vacant or were accommodating significantly reduced headcount (say 10-15% of the pre-pandemic headcount.

So now many organisations are starting to think about if they have enough space to house their workforce as they begin to consider their employees returning to the office.

Now that we seem to be moving out of survival mode into a period of rebuilding towards the new normal, this is when the determination of exactly what space would be required over the next 12-24 months is ever so important. It will be influenced significantly by the organisations policy mix of working from home or attending the office, coupled with what employees prefer to do, along with any further viral outbreaks over the winter months and when the vaccination program has touched most of the population.

Private Sector Lead Recovery

19 MARCH 2021

Our recent workplace survey revealed there were less than 50% of people working back in the office, with the majority of those being in the office only 3 days a week, it is questionable how the Commonwealth Governments’ hopes that a public sector led recovery will materialise.

Until we have the bulk of people working back in the office, there will be no retail recovery in the CBD, as there are less customers to support the CBD or campus cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, bars, shoe stores, clothing retailers and others that depend on the pre-work, lunchtime and post-work spending.

Recent discussions in Sydney with hoteliers and café owners revealed that the uplift in trade in the hotel industry in the inner suburbs of Sydney during the day has been marginal, while late afternoon and evenings are returning close to pre COVID levels. For the cafes’, the feedback is that sales are up in the morning and lunch periods but not every day, with many people getting their coffee fix or lunch at home, because that is where they are working from.

So, for the economic recovery to be led by either the public or private sector, organisations need to be able to get their workforce back into the office. This is at least 4-6 months away from being achieved across the broader economy, specifically in Sydney and Melbourne.

Physical Distancing In The Workplace

19 MARCH 2021

One of the biggest challenges facing employees on returning to the office, is complying with physical distancing. The recent workplace survey results found that only 41% of employees thought that their office would comply with government social distancing regulations.

Many workplaces have had to now reduce capacity in meeting rooms, rooms that use to seat 6 people now only seat 4 people.

Workplaces with workstations under 1800mm long will not meet the physical distancing requirements of 1 person per 4m2  and some not even meeting the 1.5 metre distance between persons. Parts of some workplaces will now be uninhabitable until they are modified to meet the new social distancing requirements.

Physical distancing is creating new challenges for many people, not just in the workplace but in all parts of individual lives – I often refer it to as “learning to chew gum and walk at the same time”.

We are recommending to our clients that the workplace from an occupancy perspective should be occupied using 1 person every 4m2 and spacing of 1.5 metres as regulations have required during peak pandemic periods.

If you maintain this standard, then your employees will not have any changes to deal with should there be a further viral outbreak in the community. Consistency means less chance of people getting confused on how to use the workplace during either peak, shoulder or low risk pandemic periods.

The Commute To Work Is A Real Challenge

19 MARCH 2021

There was coverage in The Age Newspaper about how the road networks are carrying significantly higher volumes of cars as people are staying off public transport.

There are a few reasons for this, the first is people do not perceive public transport as being safe. It should be noted however that the capacity of public transport – buses, trains, trams and ferries have been reduced by approximately two thirds.

This capacity issue presents a greater risk to commuters, as it potentially makes the commute to work or home longer as the bus, ferry or tram reach maximum capacity and cannot stop to pick up the same numbers as in the past. 

This has been physically observed outside our office, where there are now longer ques of traffic between 4.30pm and 5.30pm particularly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as more employees are driving to the office.

Design Review For Physical Distancing Compliance

19 MARCH 2021

Make sure you have an expert conduct your physical distancing assessments. It is key to ensure you maximise your number of occupants post the COVID19 outbreak.

For global organisations ensure that the right unit of measure is used, say square meters not square feet, particularly when the advice is coming from regional hubs or head office which are located outside of Australia.

Something so simple, can reduce your seating capacity to only a third of what you can accommodate under the new physical distancing regime.

Make sure you have an expert conduct your physical distancing assessments. It is key to ensure you maximise your number of occupants post the COVID19 outbreak.

For global organisations ensure that the right unit of measure is used, say square meters not square feet, particularly when the advice is coming from regional hubs or head office which are located outside of Australia.

Something so simple, can reduce your seating capacity to only a third of what you can accommodate under the new physical distancing regime.

Workplace Experience Podcast

12 MARCH 2021

Check out the podcasts for bite size bites on workplace trends, challenges and updates.

Now at Episode 10 the Workplace Experience Podcast is available at:

• Apple Podcast

• Google Podcast

• Spotify

So far there has been great topical discussions specially around the importance of:

• Workplace Strategy

• The value of engaging Workplace Change Management experts

• Physical Distancing Reviews for return of employees to the office

• The growing importance and value of Workplace Standards and Guidelines

• Workplace Design

• Integrated Project Delivery

Workplace Culture Audits

12 MARCH 2021

The week commenced with the appointment of the Australian Human Rights Commissioner to head the Workplace Culture Audit for the workplace at Australian Parliament House.

If you think a workplace culture audit journey will be easy, close this update now.

Our clients undertake a workplace cultural audit for a variety of reasons. Normally the catalyst is often the result of a negative event.

Just remember one thing: “the cost of doing nothing is significantly greater than making the wrong decision”.

The findings of most workplace cultural audits maybe like “ripping off the band aid”.

There are many aspects to a workplace culture audit. They can include:

HR

Built Environment

Workplace Process

Equity Considerations

Change

Remember – don’t put off today, what we could do tomorrow.

Check out the Workplace Experience podcast on Workplace Cultural Audits for more information.

Substance Over Spin

12 MARCH 2021

This week I’ve been speaking with a number of clients who are most concerned about engaging with their workforce, to understand what their concerns are about returning to the office, post COVID19.

Life is about both hard and easy discussions. If leaders do not have the hard discussions about what really is concerning their people, then it can not be solutioned

Real leaders provide solutions that make their people feel safe, meet their operational and personal requirements.

This is what creates a sustainable workplace both in terms of the built environment and the facilities.

During challenging times just remember people need leadership, leaders that listen, leaders that are not afraid to provide solutions, discuss the solutions and navigate their people so they know they are safe.

“lets turn lemons into lemonade!!”

The Results Are In

12 MARCH 2021 

This week saw the results of the first Workplace Survey for 2021.

Response to Survey

44% were from Sydney, 28% Melbourne, 13% Brisbane, 11% Canberra and the remainder from Regional New South Wales and Regional Tasmania.

36% were Senior Management including CEO’s, 13% were People Managers.

18% came from people who worked in the public sector, 12% in Federal Government, 38% in State and Territory Government, 13% Local Government and 37% for Government Business or Corporations.

There were 52% of responses that worked in the private sector.

30% of people consulted to both the public and private sectors. This was an interesting statistic.

There was representation from the emergency services, facilities management, public administration, system integration, arts and leisure, transport and the commercial property sector.

81% considered themselves to be extraverts and 19% to be introverts.

People Insights

Since COVID-19 outbreak:

80% of respondents have remained on full pay

15% have been on reduced pay

5% have had a Job Keeper windfall.

20% have been a full time PAYG employees for between 5-10 years.

15% have been employed for either 1-2 years, 10-15 years or greater than 20 years.

10% had been employed for 3-5 years or 16-20 years.

more results in Part 2 - next post below

The Results Are In. Part 2

12 MARCH 2021

Work Locations

Prior to COVID-19  73% worked in the office, 21% worked from home regularly though part time with only 4% working from home full time, and 10% of the 73% worked from client sites or other locations outside the office on a as needs basis.

80% of people worked from a CBD office location of which 76% of responses classified their office as reasonably modern (between 4-6 years old)

Prior to COVID-19 only 5% people worked from home 3 days per week, 27% one day per week and 33% less than once a month.

55% considered themselves to have an office based role.

Workstation Size

47% used 1800 long desks, this would contribute towards a possibly complaint social distancing workplace.

What are Employees Looking For:

44% of people were looking for greater change support and education on changes to workflows

28% on cleaning and hygiene facilities and practice

29% on what were the best work settings for specific tasks.

 38% on how to get better results from virtual collaboration.

Trends on Face to Face and Virtual Collaboration

Face to Face collaboration has declined from 94% to 73%.

Over 55% of people now meeting outside the office to maintain sustainable collaboration.

Prior to COVID19 the most popular virtual meeting tool was Microsoft Team, followed by Zoom, and Cisco, Post pandemic there has been over a 20% growth in the use of Zoom and Cisco platforms, with a small decline of less than 5% using Microsoft Teams.

See the remainder of the results in Part 3, which is the next post.

The Results Are In. Part 3

12 MARCH 2021

Since COVID19:

66% believe that collaboration has remained stable

11% believe collaboration has improved

 23% believe collaboration has deteriorated

 28% believe that collaborating with their peers is more difficult

 23% that collaborate with management is more difficult

22% thought it was easier to communicate generally

11% of people felt isolated

16% didn’t see any major change

Working From Home Facilities:

 66% of respondents had a dedicated space to work from home

 34% of people did not have a dedicated space when working from home

47% said that their work from home facility may not comply with ergonomic best practice.

Where to From Here In 2021:

52% of people would prefer to work from the office

 25% a mix of office and work from home (predominately 3 days per week)

8% a mix of locations

15% work from home full time.

 69% of respondents were looking for flexibility to work from home and the office as and when required

While post vaccine roll out:

56% would like to be back in the office full time

25% work from home

19% see their work location patterns to be the same as pre COVID-19 outbreak.