Back to work

BY WILLIAM WILLIAMS

ashville o ce employees, like their counterparts nationwide, have a new level of freedom regarding where they do their work.

And that exibility — granted by companies working on putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror — has created a challenge for their superiors. Many of the folks overseeing operations at medium-size and large businesses are having to justify paying rent on o ce space that is not being su ciently used due to remote work.

So what to do?

O er pickleball, beer, dog accommodations and hybrid work schedule policies.

But will it work? Indeed, the bosses are facing a challenge.

Christopher Goggin, co-managing director and principal of the local o ce of global design rm Gensler, says before the COVID-19 pandemic, the workplace was “on a trajectory toward diversifying experience to match the dynamic nature of work.

“Now, these expectations have been amplied and o ce workers want a more diverse mix of experiences — so much so, that according to our recent U.S. Workplace Survey data results, the majority (83 percent) reported that they would be more willing to return to the o ce more regularly if their ideal experiences were met,” he says. e survey results also showed, Goggin says, that workers returning to the o ce rate the space e ectiveness well for working with others in-person, learning and socializing; in contrast, ratings of workplace e ectiveness for working alone and working with others virtually are at an all-time low. e workplace seemingly is failing for the key work activity that makes up the main chunk of an employees’ schedule — working alone (which is about 35 percent of a typical work week, Goggin says).

However, delivering those experiences can be di cult.

“Younger generations have a clear preference for hospitality-infused experiences, while older workers prefer a blend of business-like and hospitality-focused work experiences,” Goggin notes.

“Workers said that 69 percent of working alone requires a high level of concentration, and providing the right physical work environment — which minimizes noise, distractions and interruptions — is important to keep people focused on their work and working at their best,” he says.

Goggin says that both Gensler (which encourages at-o ce work) and the company’s clients want work spaces for which attention has been paid to aesthetics, furnishings, acoustics, lighting and even scents.

“ rough technology integration for enhanced experience and continual assessment, we can measure the success of the design and make re nements over time,” he explains. “Sensors, IoT (Internet of ings) and other smart property technologies and apps can create far more curated experiences for tenants, while providing developers the data and insights they need to design better spaces.”

Goggin says the functionality provided by an individual’s private o ce is still necessary for some workers but adds that, in the hybrid workplace in which a reasonable proportion of the workforce is not in the o ce at any given time, private o ces are more likely to be of a smaller footprint than seen in the past, with the o ces removed from the exterior windows and furnished to function just as well as a huddle room for two to four people as an individual’s o ce.

“Work lounges incorporating food and beverage options rather than traditional dedicated ‘break rooms’ are designed to extend their use throughout the day as legitimate workplace venues to choose if you don’t feel the need for a more typical desk environment,” he says. “ e idea of providing individual choice in where to work is a key component of workplace design.” e e ort to lure workers back to the o ce seemingly is seeing some strides. According to a recent U.S. Department of Labor report, about 72.5 percent of businesses said their employees teleworked rarely if ever in 2022. at mark is up from 60.1 percent in 2021. e survey showed about 21 million more workers on-site full time in 2022 compared with the gure of the previous calendar year. e week was designed to not only enhance our team members’ professional learning — with over 100 courses o ered and 3,300 CPE hours credited — but also to build relationships with one another.” e July 2022 event “helped to rekindle many of the old relationships, while bringing new people into the fold,” she adds.

Michelle Endres, chief people o cer at Brentwood-based professional services rm LBMC, says, “Nothing replaces being together.

“Our larger meeting room space is used frequently, and our open pod space is often abuzz with team members catching up with one another,” Endres notes. “With the intentionality for connectedness the post-COVID era brings, we have purposely built time to connect with one another in our learning sessions. We even started a learning week that brought our business together to hear from our CEO and other executive leaders on yearly results and our focus on the future.

Endres says the changes the pandemic thrust upon LBMC gave company leaders time to understand the importance of an inclusive work environment.

“We created additional business resource groups … that include Women in Network (WIN), Pride (our LBGTQ+ group), PEACE (People Embracing and Advocating for Cultural Equity), Vets, Young Professionals and Remote Team Members. ese groups have hit a stride in providing a voice and connectivity for people with the same diverse interests.” e Nashville o ce of Birmingham-based law rm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings has adopted a hybrid work model that allows for remote work and exible schedules, says Lauren Jacques, the rm’s Nashville managing partner.

“ is approach has been positively received by employees and has helped the rm retain its talent post-pandemic,” she notes. “Our lawyers have always been treated as autonomous professionals with good judgment about how to best serve our clients’ needs and each other; nothing has changed with that important tenet of our culture post-pandemic.”

Bradley is preparing to move from Roundabout Plaza in Midtown to mixed-use building One22One in e Gulch.

“Our new space, for example, will have el- ements of ‘resimercial’ design (a combination of residential and commercial) that brings some of the comforts of working from home into a functional, collaborative o ce environment,” Jacques says.

“A lot of our employees enjoy working in the o ce even more now [than prior to the pandemic] because they appreciate in-person interactions with colleagues and value the culture we’ve established as a rm, especially after many of us felt so isolated and disconnected from one another during the pandemic,” she adds.

Gensler’s Goggin says there is no perfect approach to a workplace design and, as such, no ideal mix of amenities.

“So much depends on the location of the o ce building itself within the greater urban context and how that supports the o ce,” he notes. “Being part of an urban [area] with walkable amenities is an experience multiplier and builds synergies not possible in an isolated location. Access to exterior venues and the ability to easily get outdoors or bring the outdoors in is critical no matter where the project is located.”

Flexibility and communication are key, Goggin stresses.

“De ne expectations, provide permissions where new ways of working are realized and make the space people friendly,” he says. “Provide programming for social spaces to encourage engagement and interaction. In a exible, hybrid environment, the workplace should be functional, simple to use, convenient in layout and location, and provide a logically predictable user interface.”