Location Location … Location?

The Business Magazine with Thames Valley 250 sponsors HSBC, accountants Moore Stephens, lawyers Gateley plc, and Henley Business School, invited senior business leaders to Bearwood Lakes Golf Club near Wokingham for this discussion

Workplace location used to be job-related, then flexible and remote working made location less essential, and now, is location that essential to a successful business? Underpinned by worldwide 24/7 internet tech-comms availability, the traditional workplace is increasingly under pressure to adapt to suit the needs of a today’s workforce – wherever and however it wants to work. Or is it?

Journalist John Burbedge reports the highlights ...

Participants

Hannah Dutfield: Business development manager, Henley Business School

Sarah Friend: Partner, Moore Stephens

Ravi Gidar: Director, Gold Care Homes

Aki Stamatis: Chairman, Fourfront Group

David Thomas: Regional managing partner, Vail Williams LLP

Paul de Vince: Commercial partner – Thames Valley office, Gateley plc

Scott Witchalls: Partner, Peter Brett Associates

David Murray: Managing director, The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion

How is today’s workplace changing?

“It’s not just about creating the right working environment; location still matters,” said property agent David Thomas. “We are seeing occupiers looking to change the workplace offering – agile working, breakout spaces, collaboration through layout, etc – but also making sure they are in locations that offer over-and-above a traditional office building with a car park.” Amenities such as in-house ‘coffee-shops’, bike-racks and showers were becoming standard but staff still wanted proximity to pre-work, lunchtime or after-work activity options. Traditional businesses in mediocre town or city locations were struggling to recruit or retain, he added. “It’s more than providing a workplace now. It’s about providing a lifestyle environment.”

Attractive business locations can drive recruitment, stated urban planning and infrastructure developer, Scott Witchalls. When PBA re-styled its Reading head office, its Thames-side location was fundamental. “It is as much what’s around the building, as what’s in it. Employees like busy centres with amenities available on their doorstep.”

David Murray queried whether traditional business sectors were changing their approach to the workplace?

Gateley lawyer Paul de Vince responded: “Law firms aren’t perceived as being at the cutting edge of change, but the reality is that we are moving forward. We may never be ahead of the game, but our whole working style, the division between home and office, has become less polarised.”

Even legal tomes cluttering many firms’ desks might soon disappear into the cloud, he suggested. “We have to respect that people today want to work flexibly, dip in and out, and enjoy their whole life in a better way. We are seeing that in our own offices.”

Banking and legal staff in India work predominantly via mobile phones, noted Ravi Gidar.

Having worked with global partners in Australia, Aki Stamatis revealed: “Some of the most interesting cutting-edge workspaces I’ve seen recently were actually at law firms In Sydney, and these environments have been powerful aids to recruitment for them. Young lawyers will almost spend their lives in these workspaces, because they provide services – food, dry-cleaning, social activities, you name it – that cater for their lifestyles.”

Witchalls: “There is no obligation on employers to offer such services, but we provide these because we value our staff and their requirements highly, and when recruiting it can certainly be a differentiator in attracting new staff.”

Stamatis felt the line between work and home had blurred. “I don’t think work-life balance exists any more; the two are now integrated. The question is: What does all this mean for leases, a building’s longevity, the owners and developers?”

Are out-of-town locations less popular?

Thomas: “No, not for their buildings or leasing; it’s the provision of amenities and services that matters. Out-of-town property landlords or owners who get that right – the food, leisure, childcare facilities etc – will still succeed.” Business parks with diverse property ownerships tended to suffer from lack of co-ordinated investment on amenity/service provision.

Infrastructure serving out-of-town locations was important, noted Witchalls. The 1980s technology boom introduced the car-based American business park model to the Thames Valley. While many larger parks had developed bus or cycling links, car travel was still required to reach several out-of-town locations.

1980s car parking ratios for business parks were around 1:200 sq ft (one car space for every other person), Thomas mentioned.

Today, town-centre premises may provide 1:5,000 sq ft. Hence the urban focus on ease of train, bus and cycle commuting etc.

Stamatis suggested many business park landlords are now adjusting their traditional asset-based property mindsets and developing their hospitality skillsets. “It’s not enough to own the building, make sure the air-conditioning works. They now need to be a concierge and provide hotel-like services.

“Significantly, The Porter Building in Slough recently advertised itself with the line: ‘As long as it’s legal, we’ll find a way to fix it for you’. That’s an interesting strapline for a building; one you wouldn’t have seen 4-5 years ago.”

Develop worklife culture . . . but don’t allow nest building

Modern workspace facilities needed to meet various generational expectations and also harmonise with a staff-accepted worklife culture, Witchalls emphasised. “The building is just a building; if your business culture is wrong, employees won’t enjoy working there.” The workspace design at PBA (a Best Place to Work award-winner) supports collaborative innovation within a fair and open culture.

“The future is something to embrace,” said De Vince while stressing the need to balance home and remote working with valuable face-to-face meetings. “Having an office space where you collaborate with colleagues is so important. Like today’s Roundtable, discussion shares knowledge and awareness, and good ideas come out.”

Witchalls: “There’s a lot more business willingness to be open-minded about flexible working and shared space, but employees still tend to cluster so be mindful against areas becoming their little bit of personalised real estate within the building.”  Such ‘nesting’ can undermine an agile workplace. Innovation thrives on cross-discipline collaborative teams, rather than people sitting at their same desks every day.

Stamatis posed the question: “What is an office?” suggesting it varied according to the business – it could be a space to perform a function, or hold a forum, collaborate or simply chat over concerns.

“It’s very difficult to be prescriptive about office space. It’s simply what the culture of that company needs to perform its business well.”  But, he saw no possibility of ‘the virtual office’ becoming the only reality.

What do businesses actually need? Maybe a user manual …

Thomas highlighted that companies need to carefully research the true nature and needs of their business before embarking on workspace change. Poor use of space – eg work-distraction within open-plan environments – could actually harm staff performance.  “Workplace re-design is not just about saying ‘We are going to go agile’.”

Stamatis agreed: “As designers we are increasingly asking clients ‘Why do you want to do this? What is your cultural drive, your creative objective?’  The quantitative approach of ‘how many people in how big a space’ is now being replaced by this objective approach to workspace use.”

Having created the redesigned workspace there was also the need to manage the cultural change and induct staff into the new usages of their workspace.

... co-working collaboration, or a shed-load of privacy?

Many companies embrace co-working as an asset for potential rapid scale-up plus the interchange of ideas and contacts, mentioned Sarah Friend: “But it depends on whether a business wants to buy into that collaborative environment; some just want their own space and privacy.”

Witchalls: “We embrace and encourage co-working because it helps make our people more open-minded and innovative.”

Stamatis revealed that some major corporates engage with a co-working provider like WeWork to provide flexible space for partner projects or satellite businesses. “The co-working model is exploding in London. You get the serendipity business opportunity and tech-enabled community culture at the same time. It’s incubation and clubhouse style is set to stay and grow.”

Friend: “Smaller businesses can gain this attractive workstyle environment and add-on facilities that they couldn’t afford to provide for staff on their own.”

The Thames Valley already has co-working environments, not least in the new Thames Valley Science Park, said Thomas. “You can see this rolling out and regional hubs growing all over the UK, because people don’t always want to be sitting alone doing business in their garden shed.”

The cultured approach: Make sure you look under the kilt

Murray mentioned international organisations that impose corporate-branded workplace cultures. Was this OK?

Well-designed workspaces simply reflect the business culture, said Stamatis. The cookie-cutter approach to multi-site workspaces wasn’t necessarily wrong, but enlightened businesses are now more nuanced about natural differences between international workplaces.

Successful businesses control their own destiny and embed their own cultures, said Witchalls, both objectives being achieved over time through staff engagement. “At PBA, we see engagement across all levels as the model for our success, so we ask everyone what they want from their workspace, not just managers.”

Stamatis: “Company culture starts at the top, but when we get asked to design workspaces, there’s always a discovery phase when we talk to all staff, and ‘look under the kilt’ to discover the business dynamics and what is actually needed.”

Thomas revealed how Vail Williams had revised its top-down culture and company values by involving all staff in consultative working groups. The result was four agreed company values, now well publicised and embedded throughout the firm.

De Vince queried if employees actually applied value messages within their everyday work.

Thomas:“The more awareness, the more you see it happening. Everyone needs to live and breathe the values to make them valid, but they are definitely now part of our business ‘language’.”

“Has business culture become more important in recent years?” asked Murray.

Hannah Dutfield: “Very much so. Talking to clients about their training requirements, the word ‘culture’ comes up all the time. It’s integrated into all our leadership programmes, and a big topic that will definitely grow.”

Diverse recruitment challenges

Generational shift needed to be considered – young staff might look to have 3-4 jobs within five years. “It’s not that they are less loyal, just more willing to move around. They have a much more dynamic approach to their workstyle,” noted Witchalls.

Stamatis agreed: “I have only ever had two jobs, and my son, aged 24, sees that as a really dull career. He is likely to do a dozen jobs. We have to accept that the gig economy is here.”

Care home director Gidar revealed staff recruitment as his company’s biggest problem. With several generations, nationalities and cultures already involved within his sector, various strategies had to be used to attract recruits – including wage levels, job interest, career paths, work environment and diversity. Retention also needed careful consideration, so ‘team-fit’ was of key importance.

Friend: “We (Moore Stephens) aim to represent diverse clients, who typically buy into a relationship with us and our knowledge. So, it is really important that our organisation can offer a diverse range of people to build those close relationships appropriately.”

A recent Henley Business School survey revealed the need for diverse workplaces, noted Dutfield. Differing generations still value different workplace aspects. “So, we see the turnover of individuals who may be tech savvy, or talented in other ways, but don’t find the workplace offering that suits them.”

Will workplaces change as millenials become managers?

Stamatis: “If only I had a crystal ball. Career, aspiration and money mean different things for that generation – working for a worthwhile business with a value-culture is often key.” Companies will need to fit to millennial mindsets.

Workplaces will reflect the work flexibilities and lifestyles of that generation, or risk valued young managers moving on because they sense there is a disconnect; that they don’t fit.

Friend: “Are business leaders more aware of this need to focus on culture, employee engagement and wellbeing?”

“Yes, definitely,” answered Stamatis. Businesses are recognising they need to get off the back-foot and provide tangible answers for millenials.  Employment contract packages will become more diverse, more important to employee retention. Expect more work sabbatical requests, he ventured.

Friend highlighted that businesses need to be successful in ways that are not just work-orientated. Hence good CSR programmes bring a company’s value-culture to external audiences, while ‘rewarding’ employees through their achievement of worthwhile community support.

De Vince noted that work was no longer just a money provider. The intertwining of work with employee lifestyles was creating more enjoyable workplaces, breaking down barriers and unnecessary formalities. “Take business dress-codes. In a few years time, no-one will wear ties.”

Technology is a great help . . . but can you pass the gravy?

Pace of change was the biggest working life difference, stated Gidar. “What used to happen within 20 years now happens in 3-5 years.”  Technology advances were enabling change, and younger digitally-aware staff often drove it. He knew of one new recruit briefed on a company’s computer systems in his first month, who was suggesting system improvements to senior staff within the next.

Within his head office, mobile and laptop technology had blurred work-life but enabled necessary 24/7 staff contact. “With everything on a server, there’s no need for paperwork. We all log-in from anywhere, it’s so much easier.”

Murray questioned if visual tech-comms such as videocams would become the future for remote workers and multi-site international organisations.

Gold Care Homes holds regular managerial meetings via Skype, said Gidar. “We want our managers in our care homes, not head office.” Videocams could help enhance residents’ lifestyles through better awareness of their needs, but personal permissions would be required.

Although some remote workers might find videocams in the home intrusive, Friend recalled a company with global employees that held its Christmas office party by Skype, with dinners and presents personally delivered to individual workplaces.

“How did they pass the gravy?” quipped Witchalls.

Stamatis queried where the work-life privacy line would be drawn. Effectively, as technology advances, workers could become totally trackable.

Legal disclaimers could overcome such privacy problems, De Vince mentioned. “In terms of live access it probably comes down to personal feelings, and whether it helps make communication work better for you and your company.”

Maybe it’s a generational thing wondered Stamatis. The youth of today seems to have no qualms about sharing details of its personal lifestyle on social media.

Friend felt videocams might also reveal workstyle differences within multi-site organisations. Careful implementation would be needed to avoid problematic internal comparisons.

Automation, robots . . . and a new type of Fax

Murray suggested an upcoming conflict between humanity and technology.

“It‘s already happening,” stated Thomas, noting the wealth of online information available in the property sector – via Google Earth and Street View, planning and ownership records etc. “We are not yet capitalising through greater productivity on what is already there.”

Murray: “With automation, robotics, and AI (artificial intelligence) advancing, what will we need humans for in some workplaces – maybe just creative thinking and emotional intelligence?”

Stamatis mentioned the development of robotic pets for improving elderly wellbeing. “These robots have sensors for data collection – motion and smoke detection, for instance – and they look like something between a cat and a fox.”  (“A new type of ‘Fax’ then,” murmured a Roundtabler.)

Gidar highlighted that certain personal functions in care homes definitely required the human touch, and bedside sensors already existed to alert staff of residents’ issues and needs.

The issue with productivity was that technology advancements had raised management and regulatory expectations. “It is all about prevention and outcomes for us, ultimately saving money for the NHS.” The volume and sophistication of information available was simply taking more time to process.

Automatic data sensors were now installed in ‘smart buildings’ Stamatis noted “You can make a building intelligent in that sense, but what do you do with the information? The human skill is being able to analyse it.”

Thomas mentioned 3D-printing of buildings; Murray queried if robotic construction of homes could be achieved.

Witchalls: “In years to come I guess all manual tasks will be done by robotic machines.”

Highlighting modular home manufacture, Stamatis quoted William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.”