SHORT
CUT
RETHINKING WORKPLACE STRATEGY
How to manage the growing paradigm shift to a new way of working
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BUILDING
TOMORROW
Flexible working solutions for office jobs have been fiercely discussed over recent years ; however , companies have regularly declined their employees ’ desire for more flexibility as simply “ not practicable .”
As Covid-19 continues to disrupt the business world , forcing companies to enable remote working , this longstanding conviction is increasingly fading away and leaving room for a new paradigm . Today , corporations must rethink their way of working and their workplace strategies to comply with the thinking of a new generation . “ People now prefer a more activitybased approach to work and would like to come to the office when it suits them ,” says Carsten Scheunemann , Head of Workforce & Delivery Excellence at NTT Data , a multinational IT service provider . 1 Tomorrow ’ s talents put an emphasis on saving commuting time and using office space for socializing activities . This has also been reflected in empirical studies ’ findings that 70 % of surveyed employees prefer a hybrid working model ( i . e ., a combination of office and remote work ), whereas merely 18 % prefer pure office work and 12 % pure remote work . 2 If companies want to keep up in the everlasting war for talent , they must realize that workplace strategy has become an important pillar of corporate strategy and an essential building block for employee attraction and retention .
Designing a new workplace strategy
A company ’ s way of working is deeply embedded in its existing structures , processes and culture , and changing it therefore poses a significant challenge . A successful shift to modern working depends on an integrated workplace strategy with four key pillars : leadership , footprint strategy , office layouts , and infrastructure . Only the skilled combination of these four pillars will enable successful implementation and lead to higher employee satisfaction , talent attraction and flexibility .
WORKPLACE STRATEGY : 4 KEY PILLARS
LEADERSHIP
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
Source : goetzpartners
NEW WORKPLACE STRATEGY
1 2 3 4
TALENT ATTRACTION
FOOTPRINT STRATEGY
ADVANTAGES
FLEXIBILITY
OFFICE LAYOUTS
DIGITAL CAPABILITIES
SUSTAINABILITY
INFRA- STRUCTURE
COST EFFICIENCY
1 . Leadership
A new workplace strategy will not only change where work is being done , but also how : A transition from rigid organizational structures , processes and rules to more agile , self-managed and multidisciplinary teams can be observed . Therefore , the starting point of any workplace strategy must be leadership and the question of how managers conceive their roles . The new workplace strategy will only be successful if managers become everyday orchestrators of a flexible and dynamic organizational system that is built on trust and unleashes autonomy and initiative .
2 . Footprint strategy
Next , the key element of any workplace strategy is the question : “ Where to play ?” Depending on the company ’ s business model , suitable footprint strategies vary in their physical presence and flexibility , but a trend toward “ asset-light ” real estate strategies with more flexible footprints could be seen across all industries even before Covid-19 .
Even though many companies with a historically grown ( e . g ., due to M & A processes ) footprint do not have a footprint strategy at all , one can generally distinguish three evolutionary footprint strategies .
In a traditional location footprint , companies aim to be present on the ground , and employees are expected to be in the office most of the time . Therefore , their footprints are characterized by large headquarters and a number of regional locations depending on customers ’ and suppliers ’ proximity . However , in the last decade , companies have increasingly moved toward flexible location footprints characterized by a strategic presence at attractive locations and more flexible contract design . This ensures swift adaptability to changing demands of employees and allows companies to respond to increasing busi-
1 ) goetzpartners expert interview . 2021 . 2 ) Colliers . 2020 . Exploring the post-COVID-19 Workplace .