The New Nature of Workplaces

5/2/2022 | By Marella Gimenez

For many years, companies have been focusing on their operations and performance. However, when the pandemic began, both employers and employees started reflecting on the nature of workplaces.

Apart from the pandemic, other factors to consider to understand the modern workplaces we currently have. Through time, we have witnessed the impact of the changing nature of the workforce and the new work trends.

As the workplace evolves, it is essential to know the modern workplace trends. It will serve as the key to creating a healthy office environment for employers and employees. We will also share some predictions on the future of workplaces this year and in the next years to come.

What is a Workplace?

Our perception of a workplace has been focused on its physical structure. It should have meeting and coworking areas to be considered a workplace or an office. Some will say it should also have pantries and lounges.

The physical attributes of a workplace vary across companies and industries. However, all the technological advancements and new trends in the workplace gave way for modern workplaces to emerge.

Modern workplaces are now beyond their physical structure. It now encompasses technological, physical, and psychological conditions that aim to facilitate a healthy work environment for everyone. This new workplace is arranged with the intent to boost productivity and efficiency.

Furthermore, modern workplaces are accompanied by the changing nature of the workforce. Modern offices are designed to promote activity-based working. Activity-based working allows employees to choose a space to work during the day. It opposes the traditional office setup, wherein every employee has their desks or workstations.

Teams in the modern workplace can now enjoy the flexibility in the office. The design enabled employees to be more efficient and productive since they could choose how, when, and where to work. Apart from working independently, the modern workplace also promotes collaboration between teams!

Embracing Change

Our environment is constantly changing through time. However, this pandemic helped highlight the significant changes that need to be done in our workplace. Like our past experiences, embracing change is essential to thriving in this modern world.

The nature of workplaces has changed since the pandemic began. It affected companies from their operations to their culture. Employees had to learn how to navigate technology, and employers managed their teams remotely.

Given the public’s health threat, people were forced to work remotely. Apart from the virus that we are all avoiding, people also struggle with mental, physical, and emotional health. Some of the struggles are workplace stress, anxiety, and burnout, which negatively affect productivity and performance.

With all these challenges and the changing nature of the workforce, business leaders had to help their employees. Leaders began to think and act beyond work and productivity. Companies found ways to support their employees. Companies began changing their workplace policies to prioritize employee wellness.

Some initiatives that promote employee wellness are flexible working hours, professional mental health consultations, fitness activities, etc. Implementing flexible working hours is one of the significant work policies that companies are looking into. It is to acknowledge every employee’s unique lifestyle.

Today's emerging work environment emphasizes companies and their staff to be sensible and empathetic. It is something that every employee needs during these trying times. Those behaviors are essential in creating a professional and positive workplace.

New Nature of Workplaces

The new nature of workplaces is heavily dependent on our experiences in this pandemic. It includes qualities that will enable businesses to thrive and meet the demands of the talent or workforce.

Here are some points regarding the work environment trends you may want to implement in your organization or company.

• More Flexible

As mentioned earlier, flexibility is becoming part of the modern workplace culture and systems. Becky Frankiewicz, the President of ManpowerGroup North America, once said that companies need to focus more on results than employee attendance.
Apart from the flexible working hours discussed earlier, flexibility in shifts and working days will also support employees. Although some companies already implemented it before the pandemic, other businesses are slowly shifting to it.

• Remote

Concerning work flexibility, remote working is also part of today's modern workplace trends. The truth is that many people struggled to transition from a traditional work setup to remote work. Some of the primary concerns are the availability of office spaces and access to technology.

Moreover, many people have seen remote working as the 'new normal' setup. Since they implemented lockdowns and quarantine protocols, companies had to work remotely. However, after spending months in remote working, we are experiencing a "creativity crisis" because of the lack of interpersonal collaboration. It has been affecting the employees' productivity at work.

Remote working also has its fair share of advantages. It helps increase job opportunities, diversifies the workforce, creates unique HR practices and strategies, and enables flexible work. These benefits are what companies are looking into, contributing to the emerging work environment.

• Technologically Advanced

Having a modern digital workplace is essential for remote work to be practical. Technology helps facilitate a collaborative environment, even if your company is working remotely. It also makes operations more efficient, especially in tracking sales and performance.

A technologically advanced company brings benefits like better communication, improved efficiency, and an enhanced workforce. It also enables them to keep up with their competitors in the market. Lastly, you can use technology to reach out to your market, and even attract customers!

Living in the 21st century means that the company's employees are primarily tech-savvy people. Hence, it gives automation or technology a significant role in modern workplaces. Technology is not only used in work, but also in your personal life. It makes technology a vital tool in today’s society.

• Data-Driven

Making impulsive decisions and strategies with or without the pandemic will not help your company thrive. Being data-driven will allow you to have a deeper understanding of a situation before coming up with an action plan.

Teams in the modern workplace have an advantage in accessing reliable data. With technology, you can access reliable data and develop an interpretation that could help in decision-making.

This pandemic emphasized the importance of data-driven strategies and decisions. As we live in an uncertain world, we need to be more careful in creating plans for today and in the future.

• Talent-Focused

Apart from creating a modern workplace environment, companies also need to give attention to the changing nature of the workforce.

Being a talent-focused organization is the key to achieving a company's mission. It isn't easy to achieve something if you do not have the right people in the correct positions.

Talent-focused organizations focus on creating effective hiring, development, and retention practices. Investing in talent is helpful for your company both in the short term and long term. Hence, they say that being a talent-focused company is more sustainable.

• Values a Healthy Work-Life Balance

If you look for modern workplace examples, you will see that many companies are striving to have a healthy work-life balance. Work-life balance allows a person to manage their time so that they have enough time for work and personal matters.

A work-life balance improves an employee's health since it lessens work-related stress and burnout. It is beneficial for working parents since they can juggle work and family duties.

For people looking for a job, it is essential to ask about how a company promotes work-life balance. You can also observe your workplace and see the situation of your colleagues.

• Collaborative and Communicative

Facilitating collaboration and communication is essential in improving the nature of workplaces. Although many of us are working remotely, there are still many ways to encourage collaboration and communication. It emphasizes that companies should not limit collaboration between employees.

To ensure that valuable information is available to everyone, you can use tools that enable you to share files with your colleagues. You can also use video conferencing for meetings, incredibly for remote or hybrid working.

What can we continue to expect?

We expect to see lasting and new modern workplace trends as we go through this pandemic. Although we are unsure when the pandemic will end, several post-pandemic work environment trends will transform traditional work.

1. We are embracing the hybrid work model. The hybrid work model mixes traditional office setup and remote working. Some employees will spend less time in the office and more time in remote working, depending on their role.

Studies show that the hybrid work setup improves employees’ well-being and increases productivity. However, if your company decides to adopt this model, it is crucial to have clear policies and processes for successful implementation.

2. Collaborative spaces will take over traditional cubicle setups. Having an ample amount of working space may help boost productivity and efficiency in your workplace. It has been one of the influential work environment trends since more companies began implementing this.

Companies that will adopt the hybrid work model could hire foreign employees. Since remote working is allowed, they won't spend on big office spaces. This trend will change how commercial real estate is done!

3. We are facilitating a more connected office culture. The lack of interpersonal collaboration is one of the significant problems in remote working. Companies and HR are striving to solve this problem.

With hybrid working, employees can work in the office for several days, allowing them to conduct physical meetings. It will enable them to build relationships and get to know their colleagues more!

Conclusions

Having a healthy workplace has a substantial impact on your workforce. A successful company values profit and the welfare of its employees.

The nature of workplaces is constantly changing, especially during this pandemic. It challenged the ability of companies to accept and embrace change. It changed the structure of an office and the way we work. These changes affected employees' welfare and productivity, encouraging leaders to provide support.

The trends and predictions on the post-pandemic work environment enlighten business leaders in leading the company forward.

Hence, we invite you to move forward with us. KMC is here to help you find workplaces for your company. We are the largest coworking and staff leasing service provider in the Philippines. We will assist you in Metro Manila, Cebu, Clark, and Iloilo.

We offer serviced and enterprise offices. Our serviced offices include coworking spaces and private and virtual offices. On the other hand, our enterprise offices include customized private offices, customized office floors, and business continuity planning. With our workplaces, we are ready to assist small and big companies.

If you are interested in growing your business with us, don't hesitate to contact us. Call us at (02) 8779 6540 loc. 1110 or +63 917 825 9948. You can also send your inquiries through this link. You can also ask us about the quarantine protocols in Luzon through our KMC Health Hotline (02) 8779 6540 loc. 1111.