Insights from the forefront of future of work thought leadership

Did you know mental illness is the leading cause of sickness absence and long-term work incapacity in Australia? Given that our work plays such a significant role in our lives—we do spend most of our working weekday hours there—it’s crucial we acknowledge its impact on our mental health and wellbeing just as much as we do on the physical side. Aside from reducing absenteeism, focusing on workplace wellness helps employees to feel healthy and valued at work, enabling them to perform their best. Additionally, a healthier workspace attracts new talent and leads to greater retention.

In recent years, there has been significant talk about the benefits of workplace design, which includes activity-based working (ABW) or agile working. But in this post, we will specifically be exploring how ABW can affect employee wellbeing—both mentally and physically. Let’s start with a definition.

What is activity-based working?

Activity-based working understands that employees undertake a variety of activities in their everyday work and therefore require different work settings, supported by the appropriate technology, to perform these tasks efficiently and productively. ABW is about creating spaces to meet the needs of individuals and teams, with an emphasis on empowering employees to make decisions which allow them to work at their full potential.

The wellness benefits of activity-based working

There are many wellbeing advantages of a workplace designed with activity-based working principles:

Sense of agency = happiness

The flexibility of an ABW workspace allows individual working styles to be taken into consideration. Employees are able to choose the space best suited to both their task, their style of working and their mood. Naturally, this licence to choose is linked to a feeling of agency or control for the employee, which is essential to a workplace focused on employee wellbeing.

Work/life balance

A key pillar of ABW is flexibility for employees. They are enabled to choose where and when they work according to their individual working style, preferences, patterns and productivity cadences. As more and more employees prioritise a healthy work/life balance, this flexibility is both attractive and significant to their overall wellbeing.

Healthy eating behaviours

A feature of many ABW workplaces is a communal break out area or eating hub for employees to dine and socialise with colleagues. Paired with a policy of discouraging eating at one’s desk, studies have found ABW encourages healthier eating and increased movement.

Collaboration and networking

Businesses and individuals increasingly understand the significance of interaction and collaboration between employees, and are looking for ways to facilitate strong connections between coworkers. ABW supports employees to work collaboratively through enhanced opportunities for formal and informal knowledge transfer and networking. And while collaboration is good for business, it’s also important for employee wellbeing. Research shows teamwork makes people smarter, more creative, and more successful—and who doesn’t want that?

Aside from the business and productivity benefits of working in a team, having friends at work boosts mood and morale, providing emotional and psychological support to ensure employees are resilient and ready for the challenges of the workplace.

Work the way that works

As we’ve already mentioned, a trademark of activity-based working is the flexibility for employees to choose when and where they get their work done. Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all workplaces, an ABW approach takes into account different personalities, habits, associations, styles and patterns of working. This is especially essential for supporting mental health in what can often be a challenging and stressful space.

An attractive workplace

While salary and benefits aren’t off the radar for younger generations, it does appear that millennials prioritise things like work/life balance and a sense of purpose or meaning in their work. With this focus on workplace wellness, it’s clear that a workspace with variations and choice in the work environment is an attractive option for the next generation of workers.

The wellness downfalls of activity-based working

Installing hot desks or knocking down cubicle walls is not enough to reap the workplace wellness benefits of ABW. This approach requires careful consideration and customisation to ensure that a company’s culture and style of working is reflected. It requires the support and buy-in of all levels of the business—from the C-Suite to the student doing work experience.

Important elements to consider when creating a fluid workplace design include:

• quiet spaces where employees can work distraction-free when required;
• making employees feel connected and ‘at home’ even without a permanent desk, such as encouraging opportunities for social interactions.

The bottom line

No matter the workplace strategy, there will be impacts on workforce wellness. However, designing a workplace that meets your business’ future vision and requirements, instead of focusing on what’s cool and trendy, will always result in better outcomes. ABW is a flexible and dynamic style of working which will support your employees to do their best work and encourage a culture of workplace wellness.

Key takeaways about activity-based working:

• One size does not fit all and operating as if it does will be detrimental to your employees’ wellbeing.
• One in, all in. Employees need to feel supported in their working practices, otherwise they can easily sink back into old habits.
• ABW offers flexibility and support which encourages a healthier workforce, both mentally and physically.
• ABW can offer a highly productive and healthy office environment when aligned with the overall business culture.
• ABW as a workplace strategy will only succeed if it meets your business needs.

Want more? In this deep-dive white paper, Axiom explores how workplace design influences digital transformation across the key areas of talent, diversity, innovation and technology. We look at the steps to achieving your own digital transformation and we emphasise the importance of having an ongoing workplace strategy as you move forward.

Did you know that a majority of the world’s population (58%) spend one-third of their adult life at work?

If you do the math, it makes sense that wellbeing in the workplace is so important. After all, if your workforce is spending so much time at the office, making sure everyone is well-looked after means better productivity, performance and happiness at work, which then translates to improved revenue and retention.

Strong leaders acknowledge today’s ever-evolving workplaces, and are always looking for ways to shake up the traditional office space, factoring their people into the commercial design.

That’s why last week, we hosted a lunch and learn on the ROI of workplace wellness and discussed how to produce the best results for businesses through workplace wellness with a panel of experts:

• Dr Debra Villar, Director at Complete Corporate Wellness, a company that provides health and wellness programs for the corporate sector.
• Jack Noonan, Vice President Australia & New Zealand at International WELL Building Institute, which is leading the movement to promote health and wellness in buildings and communities everywhere through their cutting-edge WELL Building Standard™.
• Annelie Xenofontos, Senior Workplace Strategist at Axiom Workplaces, who leads the strategic thinking process that creates intelligent workplace design outcomes for our clients.

So, how do you produce maximum productivity and performance in your people? Here are some of the insights our panel of experts shared:

What are three things organisations can change to encourage workplace wellbeing?

Workplace wellbeing goes hand in hand with a solid culture in the business. It’s not as easy as just getting a massage therapist in for a few days, as Villar explains.

The key elements needed for a successful wellness program are:

• Leadership buy-in: It’s imperative that the leaders of a business are on board and driving wellness initiatives. HR leaders and managers then need to promote it around the business. It’s also a good idea to have a ‘wellness champion’ on-site to continually ensure that programs are carried out on the daily, and that employees have a point of contact if they are unsure of how to make the most of these initiatives.
• Holistic mindset: A wellness program shouldn’t just be aesthetic, it needs to cover all the bases – nutrition, a healthy mindset at work, and continual learning.
• Measurable data: No matter how your business defines ROI, you need to be able to measure data around participation rates, performance and productivity so that you can manage all pre- and post wellness initiatives and see real ROI. Villar recommends that organisations embarking on wellness improvements use just one provider to keep things constant. For example, if you’re getting a new office fitout to include a communal space for yoga classes, your chosen workplace design partner is best-placed to help you measure against the relevant metrics before and after the fitout.

What are some easy ways to improve the quality of your environment?

The first step to doing this is to ‘use data to understand where you’re at first,’ says Noonan; without knowing where you stand currently, you won’t know how much you need to improve. This includes tangible elements such as the building itself, and intangible elements like HR policies around issues like mental health.

Then, it’s about changing mindsets. How can we change the question around wellness to be less about ‘how can we do less harm’, to ‘how can we do more good?’.

Instead of focusing solely on minimising harm (with things like asbestos, poor lighting, and poor ventilation), Noonan says that businesses should also speak to occupants to learn what they actually want, and invest in people and HR policies. Combine these elements, and organisations can see a huge return on investment.

It’s not news that changing our environment can make an impact on staff wellbeing. But with a new project, businesses are usually thinking solely about the cost of the fitout – when in fact, 90% of the cost of your business goes to your people, according to Noonan. So investing in the fitout is part of investing in your people, and if you see improved staff performance, attraction and retention, then there’s your ROI.

Noonan also reports that some commercial fitouts pay for themselves through ROI in less than 3 months.

From a physical standpoint, what changes should business leaders implement in order to improve wellness in the workplace?

Over 50% of Australians have at least one prominent chronic condition, yet most organisations say that they have no budget for wellness initiatives. If you consider the cost of absenteeism (currently at $44 billion per year across Australian companies), it’s easy to see how a wellness program will pay for itself in the short- to mid-term.

Additionally, you don’t need a big budget to start implementing wellness-led activities in your business, even small things can make a big impact. For example, encouraging employees to take meetings outdoors, creating a walking club, providing healthy snacks in the kitchen and encouraging people to stand up and walk around every 15 minutes.

Noonan also encourages creating a supportive environment; allowing people to come and chat to you if they have an issue about their health. He also revealed that more than a third (39%) of potentially preventable hospitalisations are due to chronic diseases; however, only 1.5% of health spending goes to the prevention of chronic diseases. He opines that in relation to our buildings, there are so many ways to design our workspaces that can encourage physical activity and prevent chronic diseases. An example is to prominently feature staircases instead of elevators in a building design; if you make wellness easily accessible and inviting, people will want to take part.

How can organisations collect and use data to help them continually improve their wellness programs?

There are a few ways to measure your wellness programs:

• Participation rates: How many people take part in your wellness initiatives? If the number isn’t too high, it could indicate that the programs aren’t relevant or difficult to access.
• Health data and outcomes: If the wellness program is customised to the health needs of employees (through needs testing and health risk assessments), then metrics against employee health can be used, e.g. absenteeism due to falling ill with the common cold.
• Satisfaction measures: For example, how happy the team is with services, worker’s compensation, sick days, stress leave and other data from HR.

In talking about data, it’s important to note that with certain programs, you might see immediate change, but no sustainable difference in the company. For example, after a physical challenge intended to promote health, you may see staff losing weight – but what about their health in the long-run? Noonan says that it’s important to also consider wellness initiatives that take into account long-term health and wellbeing, and that’s also how you retain staff for longer.

Want to learn more about wellness in the workplace?

Download our eBook, The fundamentals of wellness and wellbeing in workplace design, which discusses the seven principles of designing for wellness and wellbeing at work, including agility in the work environment, the impact of technology and the demands of a multi-generational workforce.

And don’t forget to stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog, where we cover the experts’ discussion on industry trends relating to workplace wellness! Subscribe to our blog below to make sure you don’t miss out.

With the so-called Silent Generation and Baby Boomers delaying retirement, Gen Z workers just starting to enter the workforce, and Gen X-ers and Millennials also in the mix, today’s workplaces are more diverse than ever before. But a diverse workforce also means that there are often conflicting preferences.

Millennials, for example, prefer to blur the lines behind home and work, favouring residential looks for their office spaces that evoke the comforts of their living spaces. Baby Boomers, however, have reported feeling uncomfortable about this trend, preferring more delineated lines between home and work.

This difference in preferences of course has important implications for your next office fitout. After all, the last thing you want is to have invested all that time, money and energy into an office relocation, only to find productivity and employee satisfaction plummeting as a result.

But how exactly do you keep everyone happy and achieve maximum ROI from the new office fitout?

Here are our top 5 tips for designing for a multigenerational workforce.

Focus on functionality

Forget the ping-pong table and beanbag chairs for a second, and ask yourself, ‘What is it that employees actually need to be able to do over the course of the working day?’

Is it a creative agency that needs a space dedicated to brainstorming? Is it a finance organisation where people need quiet, private booths for deep concentration?

The tasks your employees need to perform, as well as your company culture, will have a marked effect on the types of zones and features your new office needs.

A large formal conference room with water views, for example, may look terribly impressive – but if most of your employees prefer to collaborate informally and in small groups, this space is going to be underutilised. And an underutilised space is simply a waste of money.

That’s why, at Axiom, we are big proponents of evidence-based design, which configures the design around actual evidence regarding the culture of the organisation and the ways in which your employees prefer to work (as opposed to assumption-based design, where you impose a design that you think will work, and expect your employees to adapt to it).

Find common ground

It can be easy to get hung up on the seemingly irreconcilable differences between generations – for example, younger generations might want more spaces to socialise, while older workers might want private offices that reflect organisational hierarchy.

But there are also many similarities, and these similarities can be the key to designing a workplace that makes everyone comfortable and productive.

Both Baby Boomers and Millennials, for example, want to feel they are doing meaningful work, so finding ways to reflect the company’s mission and its positive initiatives through a workplace redesign can help boost employee satisfaction.

This is precisely what we did when we overhauled our own head office. Our new design showcases our vision and innovation, with our mission statement, ‘Creating thriving workplaces’, visibly emblazoned on the wall as you enter the space.

Most generations also value mentorship and personal connections with their employees, which could be fostered by including more informal socialising spaces or introducing collaborative technologies, to help bring disparate generations together and encourage knowledge sharing and mentorship.

Provide flexibility

You can bridge the gap between generations even further by being clever with how you utilise spaces and what types of furnishings you use in order to make the space as flexible as possible. Indeed, flexibility is a key consideration when it comes to attracting A-grade talent.

Having a variety of spaces, for example, such as quiet spaces; small, informal meeting rooms; collaborative areas; and large gathering areas for town-hall meetings, will ensure that workers of all generations can find the conditions they need to operate at their peak.

You could also use flexible desks that can be configured to standing desks, or movable desks that can be easily wheeled into a variety of configurations to easily transform spaces as needed.

It doesn’t have to be fancy – at Blue Chilli, for example, we used simple stools and stackable crates that could be easily moved around, allowing people to gather informally, socialise or take a coffee break wherever and whenever they saw fit.

Prioritise employee buy-in

A successful multigenerational workplace depends largely on employee buy-in, which is why it’s important to communicate regularly with employees not just before an office fitout, but also after, to help make the integration into a new space as smooth as possible.

Having clarity around how new spaces should be used, for example, can help ensure that employees understand their purpose and use them appropriately, and that there is no anxiety or conflict arising from misunderstandings or different expectations.

Training is also important – after all, there’s no point investing money in the latest cutting-edge technologies if employees don’t know how to use it.

All these measures can help staff adapt quickly to their new environment, to ensure you start reaping the goals of the fitout as soon as possible.

Get an outside perspective!

When contemplating an office fitout, it can be difficult to wade through all the data, as well as people’s many opinions, all on your own. It can be helpful, therefore, to have an outside perspective from an expert to provide a neutral, evidence-based view.

At Axiom, we have extensive experience designing for multigenerational workforces, so if you want an office fitout that has everyone – no matter what age they are – looking forward to going to work, we can help! Contact us today for a free consultation.

You have a niggling feeling. It’s been bothering you for some time. Your work colleagues are getting snippier every day. There’s a bruise on your leg from when you accidentally bumped into that desk (had it always been there?). You’ve just had to push back yet another meeting because the meeting room was booked until next Tuesday.

Is it time for a new office space?

An office redesign or relocation takes time, resources and planning, so you want to make sure you’re making the right decision if you’re considering a refurbishment or move. So here are 5 tell-tale signs your business may be ready for a new space.

1. You’re crammed in like sardines

You probably thought it was no big deal when management decided to move the rows of desks just a few inches, so they could fit another row in – but now you can’t even move your chair back without bumping into the person behind you.

This might seem like just a minor annoyance – but lots of minor annoyances across lots of employees can quickly add up to major problems for your business.

Here are a few ways you can tell if the office space is overcrowded:

• OH&S incidents are on the rise: When space is overcrowded, people bump into desks, equipment and even each other more often. This could potentially lead to a rise in the amount of sick leave taken.
• There are more employee complaints and workplace conflict: Like bickering siblings who have been sitting in the backseat for too long, forcing employees into each other’s personal space can quickly make tensions rise and tempers flare. This can even lead to more absenteeism and a fall in productivity.
• Full and booked-up meeting rooms: Are meetings often delayed because employees have to find extra chairs to squeeze around the conference table? Are the meeting rooms constantly booked up, forcing employees to delay meetings in order to find an available slot? Do a sizable portion of your employees have to stand when you have company-wide conferences? These indications certainly point to overcrowding – and all that precious time lost finding seats and rebooking meetings is time that could have been spent putting value back into your business.

2. Your employees have nowhere to relax

When businesses try to squeeze employees into every nook and cranny, often one of the first spaces that gets encroached upon is breakout areas. Not only does this mean there are often lines to use the microwave and coffee machine, it also means that more employees resort to eating lunch at their desks, which is not so great for workplace morale.

Studies have shown that when people eat together, work performance actually improves, and people are also more altruistic and helpful to boot.

But you simply can’t reap any of these benefits if people don’t have anywhere to hang out together.

3. Your company culture needs a revamp

Sometimes the problem is not the lack of office space – it’s a lagging company culture.

You may, for example, have accommodated for new employees by leasing out another floor in your building. Your employees now have all the space they need – but collaboration has taken a steep nose-dive, because employees no longer interact organically like they once did.

Or you may have just undergone a period of massive turnover, which has perhaps brought in some new values and ways of working, or even introduced some bad habits.

Or the company has naturally grown and branched into new markets or new products, but in the midst of all that, your company culture has fallen by the wayside.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to be proactive. A strong company culture is the bedrock of a healthy company – it unifies employees behind a cohesive identity, and helps to validate those values that characterise your business. It also helps attract and retain top talent, while contributing to a clearer brand identity in the mind of your clients.

The physical environment can have a marked effect on company culture. If, for example, creativity was an important value in your company, you could encourage this by introducing brainstorming rooms with more of a casual set-up, and whiteboards on the walls, so people can take down their ideas.

A office redesign, therefore, might be the perfect opportunity to revive and enhance the positive aspects of your company culture – and perhaps even mitigate some of those not-so-positive ones.

4. The paperwork mountains are starting to take over

Growing piles of paperwork on people’s desks are another sign your office space might be in dire need of an upgrade.

It might seem innocuous, but if people don’t have anywhere to store documents, then messy desks won’t be the only issue – documents will get misplaced, more errors will be made, and employees will waste more time searching for the information they need. And your clients will likely be the ones who suffer.

Sure, you could get some more filing cabinets – but these will take up even more valuable real estate, making the office feel more crowded than ever.

When considering an office redesign, therefore, it’s worth putting some careful thought into not just how much space your employees need, but also how much space your documentation requires, particularly if you work in a paper-intensive industry that requires extensive record-keeping.

5. The location is not so hot

It might not be the office space that is the problem, but rather where it is. Maybe you moved the office there several years ago, having been told it was an area on the way up, but things didn’t quite pan out that way.

Or maybe you opted for a location a bit further from the action, because, at the time, you couldn’t afford the exorbitant city rents, and now you can.

Or maybe the location was at the epicentre of the industry once upon a time, but, over the years, businesses – and your clients – started moving elsewhere.

Being in a good location can have lots of benefits to your business – it can put you in closer proximity to your clients, it can help attract and retain top talent, and it may even save you a lot money if, for example, you manage to get into an up-and-coming neighbourhood before the rent hikes start.

Yes, an office redesign or relocation is a lot of work – but staying in an office space you’ve well and truly outgrown will be far more frustrating and costly in the long run.

If you’re relating to one (or more) of the above signs and think an office redesign might be the answer, we’d be happy to talk about your options. After all, understanding what solutions make the most sense for your business is the first step to creating a refurbishment or relocation plan that stays on schedule.

In a workplace, ‘ownership’ can mean different things: taking responsibility of your work, physically owning a space in decorating your workspace, and the power you have in making decisions. For us, ownership is about all of these things. It’s about feeling valued in the work environment and like an integral part of the team.

But why is feeling like you own your job important?

When we go to work, we don’t want to feel like we are imposters in an unfamiliar environment. Studies have shown that employees who feel estranged from the work environment can feel the need to “surface act”, leading to attention diverted from their tasks and responsibilities.

This affects the organisation negatively as it reduces employee engagement and productivity levels – therefore, the mental wellbeing of the employee is impacted because they feel a lack of connection to their workplace. However, there are some employee engagement strategies to rectify this. On a wider scale, combating this could be as simple as changing the floor plan of your office to encourage wellbeing at work. There are methods to create a more connected workplace by doing away with the traditional cubicle-style office and implementing a more modern open plan office.

On a smaller scale, employers should make conscious effort to allow their employees a sense of control. For instance, allowing freedom within an owned space to help boost employee engagement.

Each employee may have a designated station where they carry out the brunt of their work. Allowing employees to decorate and use this space as they want – displaying family pictures, colour-coordinated office supplies and even incorporating plant life – gives them a separate and comfortable space they can feel at ease in and productively carry out their work.

Read more: Marking your territory: why personalisation is important

Alternatively, for offices that employ hot-desking, employees should be encouraged to use their chosen space how they want and when they want. A part of this new concept is Activity Based Working, which allows employees to work on what they want, where they want, when they want.

If employees feel completely responsible for the work they are undertaking, they are more likely to perform excellent-quality work because they have taken more time to research and perfect it, employee satisfaction levels will be higher, and they will demonstrate more initiative concerning tasks.

A study by IFMW Sweden and Leesman surveyed 70,000 employees in 575 workplaces and saw a marked difference in employee engagement when working in an ABW-style office environment compared to those within a traditional one. There was a 22% increase in satisfaction in creative thinking for individuals in a more open work environment, as well as a 27% difference in satisfaction for individual work focused away from the desk.

While ABW might not be the perfect work solution, it certainly allows employees a level of ownership they might not feel within a traditional office layout.

Where these traditional office layouts – cubicles, less natural interaction with colleagues – make communication difficult, modernised offices enhance communication channels and allow for input from team members.

If employees have a say in strategy, projects and other processes that impact on their work, even giving feedback to their managers and bosses, they are more likely to want to own bigger roles and responsibilities in future. Additionally, staff retention is likely to increase as employees feel more valued. A survey by the O.C. Tanner Institute showed that employees who feel undervalued and disempowered by their employers are less likely to be productive and satisfied at work.

With staff turnover rates at an approximate 18%, costing about $1 million per year for companies with 100 employees, the financial situation for organisations is serious for those ignoring employee wellbeing.

If employees feel as if they are unable to communicate with their colleagues and managers freely, this affects the overall satisfaction of the employee because they feel they do not own their job role or projects, despite the effort they spend on them.

Employees should be feeling as if they own their jobs, their space and themselves in the work environment and employers should look at physical design to help implement these behavioural changes.

Axiom designs office workspaces to increase a sense of employee engagement, ownership and productivity. Find out how by contacting us today.