Does your workspace match your team’s individual workstyles?

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Mixing it up: The environment we seek when we’re crunching numbers can be very different to the one we want when we’re being creative (iStock)

Fora is a Business Reporter client.

With employee productivity and wellness under the microscope, is your business doing enough to empower your team to create their best work in their own unique way? Enrico Sanna, CEO of Fora, argues that respecting individual workstyles is as important as respect for individual lifestyles.

“How was your day at work?”

It’s a question many of us shrug off with a quick “it was fine” before kicking off our shoes and slumping on the sofa, exhausted. But was it really fine, or was it merely tolerable? As the leader of Fora, which is part of The Office Group and London’s leading premium workspace provider, I am driven to understand what defines a great day’s work.

I have two hats to wear as CEO: one to ensure we’re fulfilling our commitment to provide an extraordinary experience to our 29,000 members; the other as the leader of a business with more than 600 employees, where my priority is to drive success while fostering a working environment where my teams feel inspired, engaged and productive.

Hundreds of progressive businesses across the UK and Germany, from Pangaia to GSK, look to us as more than a landlord: they partner with us as their workspace provider because they know we understand the needs of modern workers. We work with them to create tailored work environments that meet their individual requirements so that they can focus on what’s important – their business’s success.

The common denominator is the clear belief that an office is not just a commodity but a vital element in driving collaboration and connection, sparking innovation and accelerating learning. We talk a lot about the office as a social benefit, which it undoubtedly is, but there is so much more value to a workspace that caters to the individual working needs of employees and gives people the autonomy to work in the way that suits them best.

To help us shape our workspaces, we recently commissioned research from the Institute of Employment Studies, the leading centre for human resources and employment. Its study of 2,000 knowledge workers revealed that for nearly half of British employees (44 per cent), their work environment was hindering their performance, a figure that rises to 51 per cent for employees under the age of 35.

I believe that expectations of what a workplace should deliver have risen, and that’s no bad thing. There’s no doubt that the pandemic shone a spotlight on the role of the workplace and refocused the minds of employers and employees, yet this conversation started well before 2020. Workers have been demanding more from their workspaces for years.

For Fora, there is a clear opportunity to change things for the better. Since our inception, we’ve been shaping the workplace to meet the ever-evolving needs and demands of modern workers, and have long championed the belief that by doing so we are laying the foundations for a more productive and engaged workforce. Our research shows that while 59 per cent of those surveyed regularly use offices, less than half of them believe the facilities and spaces on offer have a positive impact on their output. To me, this highlights a real disconnect between the expectations of employees and employers as to the facilities and amenities they require to thrive.

But let me be clear: creating an effective workplace experience for workers is about more than offering amenities. At Fora, we’ve spent the past 20 years helping employers to respect and support the varied needs and workstyles of their employees, with each of us requiring a range of different spaces in which to focus, collaborate, learn, socialise and rest through the working day and working week. The facilities and environment I look for when I’m focusing on the financial figures at 10am on a Tuesday morning vary wildly from what I look for at the end of the day on a Thursday when I’m bouncing new ideas and concepts off my wider team.

By offering workspaces that empower and flex with the needs of modern workers, we help lay the foundations for a more productive and engaged workforce. We have long recognised that one-size-fits-all approaches are no longer the best way to manage a workplace, and paying attention to individual workstyles and preferences has a meaningful impact on productivity, engagement and wellness. That’s why our newest workspaces, such as our own Chancery House in Holborn, in London, are designed with employee experience at the core, with dedicated areas to support different needs throughout the day, such as a fully equipped gym and roof terraces in which to relax and spend time with colleagues away from the desk.

As employers we must think beyond the desk and conventional office spaces to more dynamic workspaces that accommodate diverse working styles. By providing flexible, personalised and inclusive environments, we can redefine the workplace experience, making work not just fine, but positively enjoyable.

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