From workplace to lifestyle
The Future of Work and Its Impact on the Work Environment: Tips for Organizational Success
The future of work is changing, and with it, the work environment. Do you want your organization to be even more successful? Follow these tips!
Organizations often determine their strategy based on developments at the micro and meso levels. They consider market conditions, the competitive landscape, customer needs, and financial capabilities. But where does the need of their most important asset—their staff—fit in? This is often underrepresented. It's quite odd when you consider that the staff, the knowledge, and the heart of the organization represent the greatest value, right?
At present, radical changes are happening in the realm of personnel and labor. People are increasingly seeking a certain form of autonomy, meaning, and identity. How do I want to live, work, and communicate? What suits me? What type of organization do I want to work for, or would I rather be my own boss? This, combined with broader developments such as globalization and digitalization, raises numerous interesting and relevant questions for your organization.
In this blog, I present a vision on the future of work, the impact on the work environment, and the possible consequences for the real estate sector.
1. The future of work
You cannot escape it unless it is spoken or written about. Tightness on the labor market, a war for talent, robotization & digitalization, need to increase productivity, young people looking for sustainable companies.So on and on. But how do you, as an organization, ensure that you are interesting enough for young people, generations Y & Z, to retain them?
You do this by delving deeper into this target group. What keeps them busy, what do they find important. Especially when you consider that in 2020 30% of the working population consists of millennials (generation Y: born between 1980 and 2000), the vast majority of whom will work flexibly. According to predictions of the world economic forum In fact, freelancers will make up the majority of America's workforce by 2027. Will the Netherlands not follow this trend?
''Clients don't come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients” – Richard Branson
# Generation Y & Z, what are they looking for?
Today's and tomorrow's young people attach less and less importance to fixed values and certainties. The 9-to-5 mentality is a thing of the past. Young individuals are driven by freedom, fun, challenges, meaning, diversity, and personal development. It's no longer about hours of attendance and standardized work processes. The status of a company or job plays a lesser role in defining the identity of young people. When choosing education and work, they increasingly question which lifestyle suits them best, which community they want to belong to and be loyal to, how, where, when, and with whom they want to work (autonomy), and whether there is shared interest and vision. Young people are searching for meaning, health, and job satisfaction, redefining the meaning of work. Call them the "happy holics"
Are organizations already adequately responding to the changing needs of generations Y & Z?
# The Work Environment nowadays
This requires customization, as it is closely related to the culture within an organization. Looking at some figures from 2017, it can be stated that this is still insufficiently addressed.
- 87% of employees experience stress, with 33% of them qualifying it as excessive.
- 42% of employees are seeking a new challenge (less loyal).
- 68% productivity per working hour.
What Measures Are Organizations Currently Taking to Address the Changing Needs of Personnel?
Organizations are taking several steps to adapt to the evolving needs of their workforce, aiming to reduce work-related stress. These measures include:
- Technology: Implementing digitalization and smart buildings to enhance process efficiency.
- Well-being & Health: Utilizing WELL certifications and developing HR policies focused on employee well-being.
- Partner Structures: Offering financial rewards and increasing employees' 'control' over their work.
- Training Programs: Facilitating personal (knowledge) development for employees.
Do the Developments Outlined Above Fundamentally Address the Underlying Needs, or Are They Just Treating the Symptoms?
Are these developments effectively addressing the root causes, or are they merely alleviating symptoms without tackling the underlying issues?
# Are we on the right track?
These are all positive developments, but I believe they only address symptoms rather than providing an integrated, long-term solution for the fundamental shift needed: flexibility and meaning in work.
In my opinion, as a result of the fundamental trends outlined, we will increasingly see collaboration within hybrid organizational structures. Knowledge, talent, passion, and innovation will be flexibly brought together depending on the type of task, based on:
- Shared Vision & Interests: Creating vertical, rather than horizontal, dependency relationships between employer and employee.
- Autonomy: Enabling staff to define their own work independently.
- Intrinsic Motivation: Hiring individuals who are curious and eager to learn from each other.
- Connection & Collaboration: Providing staff with a platform to find the best people and partners for the task at hand.
- Taking Risks: Hiring personnel who feel psychologically safe to try out new ideas.
This approach increases productivity, reduces overhead costs, and provides staff with greater enjoyment and satisfaction in their work. However, it also requires a different mindset, behavior, and management—a cultural shift! I will delve into this topic further in a future blog.
2. The work environment of tomorrow
In general terms, it can be stated that there is a shift from a fixed 'static' workplace to a lifestyle environment (destination). As an employer, you no longer offer just a job but rather a meaningful and inspiring environment that aligns with the identity and needs of your staff. When your employees can grow, the value of your organization grows alongside it.
''From workplace to destination, a lifestyle''
What distinguishes a lifestyle environment from a conventional static working environment?
A Community Building: In addition to a mix of diverse workspaces, facilities, art, and events, there is space for meeting and relaxation. A great example of this is the under-construction building twentytwo in London.
The Work Environment as a Destination, a Brand Value: A place with urgency. The place as a connecting factor. A way of living that creates appeal through shared stories and cross-pollination. If you’re not there or are rarely present, you’re not part of the community. An additional 'lifestyle' layer to remain distinctive and attractive. A good example of this is the TQ building in Amsterdam.
From Closed Fortress to Open Access, a Hybrid Living and Working Environment: Opening up the work environment to ‘intrapreneurs’. Bringing the outside world in (e.g., Microsoft Schiphol, Royal Haskoning in Contact Amsterdam). Collaborating to develop new strategies, products, and services. Creating an entrepreneurial culture. Headquarters are disappearing and being replaced by hubs. A mix of buildings and locations focused on the needs of employees. Digital, independent of time and place.
This fundamentally changes the work environment from a relatively 'static' environment to a living organism. An organism that requires continuous attention. Monitoring, adapting, and evolving. An organism where the desires of employees in the community are central, rather than work processes. Employees decide among themselves when, where, how, and with whom they want to work. This encourages enjoyment, a sense of freedom, diversity, challenge, and personal development.
What does this mean concretely for your organization?
Employee happiness! And this, in turn, leads to engagement, lower overhead, greater efficiency and effectiveness, less stress, and more productivity.
If you don't, there’s a chance that the age-old credo will come into play:
''When you snooze you loose''
3. The real estate sector
To remain valuable in the future, the real estate sector will also need to adapt. Traditional systems and role distributions will shift. To continue facilitating this rapidly changing world, the Dutch real estate sector will need to change in terms of systems, behavior, and revenue models.
- From b2b to b2c
- From reactive to procative
- Of thinking of possession according to use (real estate as a service)
- From costs to value thinking
- From asset to adaptive product thinking
- From short term to long term thinking
- From real estate to community management (ownership)
- From capital and power to social meaning
But perhaps even more importantly, the real estate service provider will truly need to step into the shoes of the client. I’m not just referring to the CEO or CFO, but also HR and perhaps even more importantly, the 'employee'. The ability to ask the question behind the question.
Are the established real estate players capable of this? We will see. We certainly are!
We have an eye on your future.
