This year will be all about fashioning an in-person experience that workforces would not want to miss out on.
The world of work has been continuously transformed over the last two and a half years, with organisations around the world moving away from the traditional “one size fits all” approach.
Many people were expecting in 2021 and last year a massive wave back to the office domestically and around the world. However, that did not materialize as planned. Business leaders have tried to make decisions in an unfamiliar landscape while managing employees who were accustomed to being more flexible about how and where they work.
When it comes to the New Year, the different reasons people come to the office have a ripple effect on the role of the modern workplace.
Whether it is remote-first, hybrid, or back in the office five days a week, companies are implementing lessons from the past nearly three years to develop new workplace strategies, and taking a stance on the right foot forward for their business. And while many organizations are mandating full-time returns (traditional banks, law firms, school administrations, and hotels for example), many companies—large and small, local and global—are experimenting with flexible office space to facilitate hybrid work models. In the past year, Horizons’s bookings for walk-in offering had gone up significantly, as companies, small and large look to equip their employees with greater flexibility and choice over where they work.
The momentum we continue to see around returning to the office is not by accident or coincidence, but an answer to the changing role of the workplace. Over time, the purpose of the office has diversified as a space where individuals and teams can get the most out of their workspace—depending on their needs, work style, or the task they are tackling that day.
While many business leaders see the office as crucial for culture and business success, the majority of employees are returning to the office to work collaboratively and socialize with one another. For managers, many use the workplace to mentor junior team members in person, many of whom have never experienced office culture. In the same breath, workers are also seeking quiet corners in an office, similar to quiet cars on a train, to tackle heads-down tasks that may not be possible to complete at home.
With these emerging work trends, the layout and design of the office is crucial. Heading into 2023, soft seating, conference rooms, space for collaboration, and quiet nooks must be the norm.
The new modern workplace identity impacts commuting trends.The new modern workplace identity affects commuter patterns. Many employees are opting for locations in central Accra that are walking distance to office areas. We are also seeing an increase in the number of workers entering the office midweek, most often on Wednesdays and Thursdays, as hybrid models continue to take shape. With greater flexibility, many are looking to coordinate “office” days with their teams, and younger employees are looking for opportunities to learn face-to-face and socialize with their peers.
Companies that will see the biggest uptick in workers returning to the office in 2023 will be those that are not only open to experimenting with work models and office footprints that cater to evolving employee expectations around flexibility and choice, but are willing to blur the lines between hospitality and workspace through thoughtful design. By embracing new layouts, amenities, and office perks that create a workplace that has “earned” the commute, 2023 will be all about creating an in-person experience that employees do not want to miss out on.