The workspace transformation journey: Identifying gaps and opportunities

The return to the office is a moving target for today’s office stakeholders. From workspace providers to occupiers and their employees, change seems to be the only constant. With this undercurrent permeating the office market combined with a push towards hybrid and flexible working, delivering an effective workspace solution that solves both current and evolving needs of the workforce is critical. The urgency for employers is palpable as the race for talent continues to be a top priority for organizations. Research conducted by Microsoft suggest that 41% of employees are considering changing jobs.

How can space providers help their occupiers satisfy all the requirements that keep their employees happy and productive in the workspace? While there’s no right answer to this, investments in workplace transformation have become a top priority. In fact, according to research conducted by global market advisory firm, IDC*, 42% of occupier organizations say this is a top tech investment.

Workspace transformation initiatives should be continuous, in line with constantly evolving market dynamics. Rather than focusing on one isolated component of the workspace it’s more productive and effective to take a holistic approach to transformation initiatives. For example, having the highest level of security across workspaces is absolutely critical. But it shouldn’t be made so secure that it becomes burdensome and cause friction in the user experience.

But how are workspace providers and even their occupiers to know where to focus their initiatives – and more importantly, investments – when striving for a best-in-class workspace? IDC’s latest Infobrief identifies a framework and corresponding building blocks to help workspace providers pinpoint which levers to focus on when deploying such spaces.

A comprehensive framework, with a focus on flexible workspace, consists of the following elements:

• Flexible space management, analysis and reporting
• Marketing sales and billing
• Digital infrastructure
• User Experience
• Security

And the building blocks are:

• Purpose-driven workspace
• Technology Excellence
• Seamless journeys through workspaces
• Consistent experiences
• World class service delivery
• Measurability

It’s not about concentrating on one of the framework components or improving a single building block in isolation. Instead, it’s about taking a uniform approach to all components to deliver the right outcomes. This, in effect, is the way to define the workspace transformation journey. The most effective approach to achieve best in class is through managing and aligning the building blocks to the framework, with a holistic focus on technology as the component that binds them all together.

*IDC Future Enterprise and Resilience Survey, 2021