PEOPLE | WORKPLACE SPECIAL
something many have missed over the last few years . “ With hybrid working in place , interaction among workers dwindled and can be a challenge when it comes to keeping the culture of the company alive ,” says Christine .
And the numbers back this up . More than half of employees who left their job in the past six months say they lacked a sense of belonging , a recent McKinsey survey found . It ’ s an ongoing concern for business leaders who fear hybrid / remote working can lead to loss of culture , connectivity , and cohesion , and ultimately , a loss of top talent .
For business leaders , employee mental health and physical wellbeing is now firmly on the corporate agenda , says Tim Armstrong , Global Head of Occupier Strategy and Solutions at Knight Frank , and “ many have come to value the social importance of the office above and beyond providing a physical space for work . It has expanded beyond the traditional notion of being just a place for work .”
While Tim acknowledges that hybrid working is a global trend that is here to stay , he believes the office will remain important for companies to promote collaboration and communication of ideas between employees .
“ Physical collaboration and social interactions are fundamental to the creation , curation , and sustenance of a corporate culture ; it ’ s what distinguishes the function of the office from remote settings . That ’ s not to say that working from home cannot be collaborative – it can , but the ease of that collaborative effort is improved with physical proximity , and stunted by the unnatural form of video calls , which have also shown to further marginalise minorities .”
Christine concurs , adding that when communications are virtualised , taskoriented exchanges and brainstorming activities might be limited as people may find it hard to visualise , especially visual
Second-floor workspace at Google ’ s Bay View shows how thousands of Googlers can be in a connected space with individual team neighbourhoods
learners , and it can be more difficult to gauge colleague ’ s responses during discussions .
Collaborating in a physical setting not only facilitates brainstorming , explains Christine , it also “ allows people to be engaged in spontaneous exchanges and minor decisions ” preventing problems such as the ostracisation of employees from bigger conversations and more important decisions .
64 September 2022