There is a stereotype that improving employee experience within a workplace requires increasing costs. Companies often attempt this approach in practice but it rarely actually works for a few obvious reasons when you step back and think about it. Cost and experience are related but it follows a curve. The more you spend, the more likely you accidentally overcomplicate the experience ironically making it worse by going overboard. It is relatively easy to have a better overall experience for employees at an annual cost of $9,000 per person versus $18,000 per person.
Why is this true?
- The single biggest real estate cost goes to the lease taken. More often than not, businesses take FAR more space than they actually need sinking their costs into unnecessary space that does not benefit anyone at all. Rightsizing the amount of space required is hard. It requires understanding who uses the site, teaching business leaders how their teams actually work, balancing trade-offs among types of space, and managing risk associated with the growth/retraction of the employee population into the future.
- Reducing the unit cost of services on-site is a classic procurement tactic to reduce costs. Why spend $2 per day per person on coffee when you can spend $1.50? The answer should be obvious, better coffee and tea options are a Top 3 way to improve the in-office experience! Yet, too often, we let it be a procurement “cost improvement” area instead. The same easily goes for additional cleaning, catering, and on-site event amenities.
- TECHNOLOGY! Employees want office technology that is at least as good as what they have at home, if not better. Too often, the in-office technology experience is lacking because of the cost associated with making it better. Often, the cost to upgrade technology in the office is higher than necessary due to legacy decisions leading to a world where the office tools feel 10 years old. The best coffee, furniture, and amenities in the world will never overcome bad technology in the workplace.
- Pick good furniture and do not pack employees shoulder to shoulder. I have seen way too many examples of workplaces that tried to reduce square footage while keeping a high desk count by shoving 4-foot desks together in tight lines. No one, and I mean no one, likes this type of design. Everyone lives with it because they have to, but it is an experience killer. In this configuration, people never end up using all the desks because they do not want to be that close all day to others. Simply removing some desks to give more space would be greatly appreciated while also improving site useability and occupancy (while reducing capital costs!).
- Chairs are always noticed. If you buy cheap chairs, your employees will assume every other part of the office is similarly cheap (and they will usually be right). You do not have to have $1,000 chairs, but they should be well-built, ergonomic, comfortable, fully adjustable, and not fabric. If you get good chairs, your employees will be happier. Good chairs also save you money over time because they will last longer.
These are just five experience areas that are most obvious from a workplace standpoint. Do them right and you will likely be lowering your cost from where it is today while also significantly and noticeably improving the experience for the average employee. I am not going to say any of these are easy to pull off in any given project, they are all surprisingly difficult involving coordination across teams and functions.
You do not have to have sensors or desk booking or employee apps or things like that to improve in these areas. They may help you make better decisions by having better data, but you can get to a 60% to 80% knowledge base without them by taking the time to look and focus.