The intensifying race to find and keep talent in an increasingly competitive digital business environment have enabled employees to reshape the workplace in their image, including access to a flexible work environment and schedule, overall health and well-being programs, childcare, meal services, and sustainability initiatives.
And the latest data show that employers now see that these investments are critical to their workers’ business performances.
These are among the findings from new “future of work” research, conducted by JLL and Harvard Business Review, which previewed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last January.
A poll of 342 executives found that 83% agree that an attractive and flexible work environment is essential to attract and retain the talent they need to innovate and deliver business value in a competitive digital business environment and tight labor market.
More than half of the organizations these executives represent (57%) rate “human experience” as a top priority. “When we talk about human experience in the workplace, it’s really a recognition that, first and foremost employees are human beings with full lives beyond work that encompass friends, families, and varied interests, passions, and commitments,” states the authors of this research report. “So human experience efforts focus on improving how fluidly workers can integrate all of these pieces of the puzzle.”
This thinking is in line with a recent story in the New York Times that examined how wellness initiatives were ramping up in workplaces across the country. Corporate Wellness Magazine’s website also recently ran an article about how offices are merging tech and design for workplace wellness.
Over the past two years, almost one-third (32%) of JLL/Harvard survey respondents adjusted workplace design as a means to enhance the employee’s experience on the job. Another 31% adjusted workplace policies to accommodate flexible work schedules and working remotely.
And 53% of organizations plan to invest in human experience over the next two years. In that effort, more organizations are seeking their employees’ feedback and changes regarding workplace changes.
Already, more than half (53%) of respondents provide workers with the digital technology they need to work remotely or on a flexible schedule. And more than two-fifths of respondents have been customizing tis technology to employee preferences, by providing options to accommodate different people’s work styles and preferences.
A strong majority of respondents also place as a top priority the development of programs to support their employees’ health and well-being. For example, 35% of organizations are providing workplace amenities such as childcare and meal services, and 24% of organizations offer onsite recreation equipment.
Employee demand is also driving sustainability initiatives, say 55% of the organizations polled.
These efforts often result in more effective recruitment and retention. Because of their human experience initiatives, 36% of organizations report greater success retaining talent, 44% report improved employee morale, and 34% report improved productivity.
The research also found that:
•43% of organizations provide an appealing physical environment that fosters professional collaboration.
•42% offer new health and wellness benefits at little or no cost to employees.
•44% providing employees with opportunities, such as volunteer programs, to make meaningful social contributions unrelated to work.
The benefits from human experience initiatives include:
•greater brand image and recognition (29% of organizations polled).
•greater innovation (28%).
•greater visibility in the market and community (28%).
•greater customer satisfaction (27%).
•better relationships with suppliers and partners (21%).
•greater profitability (17%).
Related Stories
| Aug 25, 2014
Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos
Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.
| Aug 19, 2014
Goettsch Partners unveils design for mega mixed-use development in Shenzhen [slideshow]
The overall design concept is of a complex of textured buildings that would differentiate from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.
| Aug 18, 2014
From icon to breadbasket: Gehry building to be turned into Whole Foods
The Howard Hughes Corporation, in association with architecture firm Cho Benn Holback + Associates, plans to turn the building—at least the majority of it—into a Whole Foods.
| Aug 18, 2014
SPARK’s newly unveiled mixed-use development references China's flowing hillscape
Architecture firm SPARK recently finished a design for a new development in Shenzhen. The 770,700 square-foot mixed-use structure's design mimics the hilly landscape of the site's locale.
| Aug 14, 2014
How workplace design can empower employees, businesses
Focusing on recent work at Follett and Zurich, CannonDesign’ Meg Osman reveals the power of research, strategy, change management, and measurement to transform businesses for the better.
| Aug 12, 2014
Shading prototype could allow new levels of environmental control for skyscraper occupants
Developed by architects at NBBJ, Sunbreak uses a unique three-hinged shade that morphs from an opaque shutter to an abstract set of vertical blinds to an awning, depending on what is needed.
| Aug 11, 2014
The Endless City: Skyscraper concept connects all floors with dual ramps
Rather than superimposing one floor on top of another, London-based SURE Architecture proposes two endless ramps, rising gradually with a low gradient from the ground floor to the sky.
| Aug 8, 2014
First look: China's latest office development will take the shape of binary code
The Window of Guangzhou project will consist of three towers forming the number sequence "001."
| Aug 8, 2014
Government Sector Giants: Public-sector construction slow, but stirring [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Improving energy performance of existing properties through targeted upgrades and large-scale reconstruction continues to be a federal priority, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 7, 2014
Office Sector Giants: ‘Flex’ reigns supreme in hot office construction market [2014 BD+C Giants 300 Report]
The adage “doing more with less” has become a byword for many businesses since the Great Recession, and clients are trying to maximize every precious inch, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.