Designing in an ongoing pandemic is challenging. This time has shown us that flexibility is paramount in any space. Get back into the office with these three workspace alterations.
1. Spatial Division Made Beautiful
Support distancing measures and make directional paths simpler to follow with physical barriers; use planters or open shelving to add some aesthetic value. Layer your branding into your space with custom signage that clearly marks directional paths or open work areas.
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2. All-Around Protection
Install division screens or wrap-around workbooths to provide spatial workstation protection for your employees. Made from either acrylic or PET felt, division screens should be at least 24″H and wrap 3-ways around to provide optimal protection for your employees.
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3. A Different View On Ancillary
Ancillary areas can still be an incredible asset for employee collaboration with some minor adjustments made. Make employees comfortable in breakout spaces furnished with pieces designed with distancing protocols in mind.
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COVID-19 SERVICES
Get back to work safely with our COVID-19 services. Retrofit your current space using technology-backed tools and best-in-class product solutions.
We are in difficult, trying times. Over the last few weeks, throughout the country, we have seen widespread unrest. All of the communities where Empire is a part of have been affected by the recent events. While we are opposed to any form of violence, our nation cannot turn a “blind eye” to intolerance, injustice and inequity, to any person, or group of people. As an industry leader, it is important to address this, and to clearly state: we are committed to the principle that each individual is entitled to humanity, safety, liberty, and security.
Empire is extremely proud of our diverse population of employees, made up of people from many backgrounds, races and ethnicities. This rich diversity makes us better as individuals and as a company. This diversity also assists us in every aspect of how we think and perform. Diversity makes us more innovative, and hopefully, helps us all embrace our differences for a common good.
While we are listening with open ears to the truths being communicated, we aren’t sitting idly by on the sidelines. Empire is committed to being part of the long overdue change in our country. This week we introduced our “90-day Charity Support Program,” in which we have identified certain charities to match employee donations dollar for dollar. We are proud to partner with these great organizations that serve a diverse community and are well known and respected.
Empire’s donations, combined with the donations of its employees, could lead to considerable monies donated to the respective charities, and Empire and its employees will be able to help support these important causes in a much-needed time in our nation’s history.
The charities in Empire’s Charity Program are as follows:
2. United Way
We will consolidate all donations and make the matching donations on August 31, 2020.
Beyond the charity contributions, Empire has been committed to and will continue to uphold our equal opportunity employer status promoting diversity and inclusion within our own workplace.
It is our sincere hope and prayer that the universal outcry from these events will bring about tangible changes that will create a more just and inclusive society.
We wish everyone good health and safety during these trying times.
The Empire Management Team
What lies ahead in the upcoming months is uncertain at best. However, we are confident in the fact that we will all eventually be back to work in our offices–at some point. Once government mandates and restrictions start lifting, companies and employees may need to rethink the way they work in the office.
Over the past several years, workplace design has promoted a more collaborative setting with lower physical barriers to achieve a more dynamic work environment. In preparing for a workplace post-COVID-19, our clients are beginning to discuss how to retrofit these types of open-plan offices to protect employees during this fluid time, even if it’s just a short-term strategy. A complete overhaul may not be necessary, but adding a few additional protective pieces and rethinking the layout of the space along with establishing new protocols may help keep everyone safe and healthy while returning to work.
Here are some things we are already starting to see.
In the months ahead, there will certainly be even more expertise around these topics, and some lessons learned once they are put into practice. Below are some insightful thought leadership pieces created by some of our favorite industry partners.
What Happens When We Return to the Workplace
By Gensler
How Leaders are Responding to Covid Workplace Disruption
By Gallup
Training rooms in corporate workplaces can look very different. Seeing what solutions others have been successful in implementing can help in planning what’s right for your space and corporate culture.
First, we’ll look at what driving the need for change is across organizations.
In our exploration, we found the way our corporate clients are implementing training rooms and team project spaces varies depending on the company and the type of work they specialize in.
Some lean more towards a hands-on maker space, others need solutions for viewing digital media, and some favor more discussion and lecture-based learning. Some are more casual and others more formal—reflecting the uniqueness of their corporate cultures.
Our education clients are incorporating new strategies and solutions to better support today’s way of learning as well as to better equip students entering the workplace.
What we see:
FLEXIBILITY
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
TIERED SEATING
OPEN, MULTI-PURPOSE SPACES
PERMANENT, FIXED SPACES
Many of our manufacturer partners put a great deal of resources behind research on this topic. Steelcase Education, for one, has invested a great deal in researching the parallels between higher education classroom learning environments and corporate learning environments.
Entire product lines have been introduced that reflect their deep understanding on the matter of training and education whether that takes place in the classroom or the workplace.
More information on any of the above products can be seen at: www.steelcase.com. For a full listing of our manufacturer partners, please download our full line list here.
In the business world as we know it today, 43% of all US employees work remotely. This can’t come to a huge surprise as we all know handfuls of people who don’t report to an office every day. Reports claim that when employers offer a variety of work settings, there is a 12% increase in employee satisfaction.
In our audit within the legal industry, we found that many of our legal clients reflect a wide range of workplace strategies and layout/product choices, and not necessarily all have jumped on the bandwagon with regard to this new way of working.
While some are edging more towards a future-thinking workplace, others are still very traditional in their mindset. We do expect to see many more firms start to explore alternate strategies as their current leases expire and they prepare for the influx of the next generation of attorneys. While most leases are 10-15 years, that means most companies today are planning for the workplace needs of 2030 and beyond.
CBRE has estimated that 29 million square feet of law firm lease space is set to expire in the next 5 years. (Half of these lease expirations are in New York, Houston, Chicago & Washington D.C.)
In the legal industry specifically:
While we know workplace planning is in a constant state of flux, we find it’s interesting to look at some of the nuances with regards to specific verticals while also comparing them to some of the macroeconomic drivers for change.
From our viewpoint, we see many shifts starting to happen. Some mirror what we see currently happening in other industries, and some are different due to the unique needs and habits of legal workplaces.
FLEXIBILITY
STANDARDS CHANGING
SMART LAYOUT
WELLNESS
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
In a world where it appears the norm is inching closer towards remote working, legal firms are sticking to the philosophy of creating a place that people want to come to because they can’t get the tools, technology and peer-to-peer interaction anywhere else.
SOURCES
Gallup State of the American Workplace Report 2017
BISNOW: Law Firms Are ‘Future-Proofing’ The Workplace To Remain Competitive
BISNOW: Goodbye Dark And Dreary, Hello Open, Well-Lit Law Office
CBRE 2017 US Law Firm Trends Report
BISNOW: Law Firms Are ‘Future-Proofing’ The Workplace To Remain Competitive / CBRE 2017 US Law Firm Trends Report
With 73 years of experience, we have helped clients navigate through the complex decisions they face with planning and managing their national and global footprint. One of the most consistently successful strategies we have experienced is the implementation of a furniture standards program.
In this post, we outline some of the benefits and reasons why you should consider implementing a similar program.
BRAND IN THE WORKPLACE Developing a furniture standards program can help align facilities worldwide with a consistent branded environment and ‘look and feel’ within each facility.
Consistency Across The Globe: From North Carolina to Asia-Pacific, a consistent experience within all locations can be vital. However, each location should be adjusted to accommodate for local cultural differences that may exist within each country.
Culture & Employee Engagement: Aligning brand and culture with workplace design allows the employees to live and breathe the brand and be better aligned to the corporate mission. A recognizable branded interior can further enhance employee brand evangelism through sharing and pride.
PLACE WINS TOP TALENT Well-executed standards can aid in planning and designing workspaces that enable better collaboration, concentration, experimentation and learning.
Place Matters, People Matter: Employees today want a workplace that provides choice and control over where and how they work. Standards can help enforce various workplace strategies across all locations.
Talent Competition: Companies are looking at their workplaces to provide their employees more reasons to come to the office vs. work remotely, to choose their company over another and to be motivated and inspired to work effectively and innovate.
SAVINGS WITH FLEX Today’s workspaces need an ecosystem of spaces designed to adapt and evolve over time, optimizing real estate while fostering higher levels of employee engagement.
Adaptable, Flexible Spaces: Create zones designed to accommodate and anticipate changing organizational and employee needs. This flexibility reduces the need to move or add real estate when current space is outgrown and can be standardized across all locations.
Define A Spec: Establish a benchmark for best practices globally across the company. Partner with a single source supplier to benefit from volume discounts and streamlined processes which ultimately speeds up a project’s life cycle and saves the company money.
STRATEGY FOR DRIVING SAVINGS A standards program combined with a detailed reuse strategy ensures complete accountability over assets and the related environmental impact.
Asset Management Is Key: Developing a clear asset management strategy can be crucial for lengthening the life cycle of your product investments while also reducing waste.
Shared Kit-Of-Parts: Consider products that employ a similar kit-of-parts which can be redeployed as locations expand or are consolidated.
KEYS FOR BUILDING STANDARDS Furniture standards documents can vary depending on the brand and objective, but overall we’ve seen success when implementing these key features.
A Unifying Brand & Culture Statement: Scripting a clear and concise statement about how the desired aesthetic, design and products relate back to your brand can help to directly align your space with your culture.
Detailed Product/Typical Info: Give as much detail as necessary when listing each product and typical. This can include: manufacturer, model, finish/fabric, dimensions, pricing and a clear image or rendering of the product.
Range Of Products Per Area: As the standards are built out, consider adding a range of products approved for each area or product type at a variety of price ranges. Picturing them side-by-side in a grid format allows for easy comparison.
An idea born from the rise of third places and brought to life in boutique hotel lobbies and co-working spaces across the world, it seems resimercial design is here to stay. It’s a thought that workers can be more relaxed, enhance their social interactions, and produce more inspired work as a result of these refreshing, comfortable spaces.
Recognizing the opportunity in the blending of these worlds, many residential brands have started entering the commercial space in recent years—either by acquisition or new venture –and the results have changed the face of the modern workspace as we know it.
Over the years, Empire has purchased from and partnered with many consumer/retail furniture and accessories companies on behalf of our clients to help them achieve the style and aesthetic they desired. Now with the strategic alignment of contract manufacturers with these decidedly residential brands, it proves the driving desire to make the workplace a bit more warm and cozy and a little less sterile feeling.
Resimercial style can look very different stylistically and really should fit for the individual culture of the company; however, we have seen it is often described as warm, comfortable, inviting & approachable, featuring natural elements & a connection to the outside, with carefully curated textures and patterns. The adjusted layout implications mean multiple places to work, meet, take a call, or grab a coffee. Kitchen islands for gathering are a must as are soft seating sofas and lounge chairs. Then factor in the incredible in-house amenities such as on-campus baristas, chefs, and fully stocked kitchens, and it’s hard to work comfortably from anywhere else.
The right mix of resimercial design is different depending on the company and the functionality of the work at hand; however, we’ve seen some pretty innovative ideas from some of our own clients, and we can’t wait to see what type of inspired work comes out of these spaces.
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