When the world gives birth to a new workplace

For many employees, returning to the office seems more difficult than incarceration itself. In fact, after months of working remotely, many French employees have found their way back to the office. More sensitive to noise, they will have to change their habits again. Focus on these new considerations arising from confinement.

About the need to make a sound space “for yourself”

In a Slack/OpinionWay survey published on August 31, 38% of employees said they would rather change employers than go back to 100% face-to-face… from now on, the office wants to be flexible, both in terms of working hours and in offices. In addition, there are nomads and interbreeding of communal spaces. Tangible consequences of these new needs for employees and managers: misuse of meeting rooms, cost of departments to install secret space, phone booths, environmental impact in case of change of office tenant or department head, etc. It accelerated sharply with the health crisis and successive postpartum cases. Returning to the office also promises a difficult awakening. Companies must now do something to motivate their forces. How do you motivate teams to actually return to the office when the designated workspace is less comfortable than the one installed at home? How do you deal with hearing sensitivity after months of working remotely? How do you recreate the comfort of home in the office when last year’s challenge was the principle of bringing the comfort of the office home? In this unprecedented configuration, companies must also demonstrate the ability to adapt and offer solutions that can re-establish social bonds while maintaining the calm and tranquility of working remotely.

Towards a return to the closed office?

In addition to the massive development of remote work, the pandemic has made it possible to maintain the flexible office proposal offered to employees. Although this option is still neglected – only 4% of respondents agree to work in a flexible office in the future – this option is still offered in companies. Open spaces as we know them even today seem to be called into question. Furthermore, the survey highlights that 37% of meeting rooms are monopolized by… one person. This proves once again that the need for detachment, calm and serenity is very present in the works.

So companies are now forced to do a thorough review of employee integration on site, including of course employee loyalty issues. As remote work has given the nomads a place of prominence, what innovative offers will companies be willing to offer to employees to retain their talent?

At the heart of this hybrid organization, the office will remain the unifying core in a future of work that will be collaborative. This is why bubbles need to be offered for employees to isolate themselves, focus and recharge their batteries, in the immediate vicinity of the common spaces.