The Eptura 2024 Workplace Index report explores the state of
the hybrid workplace and the technology planned to enhance operations over the
next year. Key findings from the report unveiled that the top three
technologies expected to roll out in the next 12 months are data analytics,
integrated workplace solutions and collaboration software.
These
technologies are being prioritized for upcoming tech investments as hybrid
plans are implemented for companies. Meg Swanson, CMO, Eptura, dives
into this report and the takeaways for supervisors, building owners and
facility managers. They must take into consideration that siloed functions and
incomplete data remain the biggest obstacles for optimizing physical asset
operations. Read the below Q&A to review Swanson’s insights:
What are the trends for teams’ hybrid workdays and how is that impacting
operational leadership?
The Eptura
2024 Workplace Index report found that operational leaders
project an average of 3%-8% in expected incremental revenue from employees
working effectively in the office. These findings are represented through
companies that lead through employee-led versus top-down governance, which
demonstrates the highest levels of collaboration across offices and companies
that we work with. As the data indicates, Tuesday through Thursday remain the
most popular days for in-office attendance, as the mid-week mountain trend
persists across all industries. However, we are seeing anomalies that are
interesting. For example, we have a customer that on Fridays, it’s
bring-your-dog-to-workday. It’s a big company that has taken three floors of
the building designated for dogs. They’ve seen a huge spike in people
connecting and moving projects forward that are organic and fast–paced – much
more than those weekly Zoom calls because they can be creative and relaxed in
these unstructured collaborative times.
We also have
companies that avoid working Tuesdays through Thursdays as traffic is typically
higher those days, especially in cities. As a result, one company is having
employees come in on Mondays and Fridays. Overall, every company is finding its
rhythm by watching the data, listening to employees and coordinating with the
facility management team. Coordinating with the facility is integral because
communicating how many employees are coming in on each days will help them
improve energy savings (more on that later).
How is data analytics assisting with effective automation practices?
The
front-of-office experience is becoming more automated. So, we’re seeing an
increase in how to make sure that visitors can still safely enter without the
presence of a person being there to greet them. We have to balance that
technology with where those visitors come in and can easily find their parking
and complete other visitation requirements.
One of the
challenges that we see are silos in companies and conflicting priorities.
Anything that’s related to the office needs to be integrated with the HR system
and automated. We encourage anybody running facilities or running real estate
to just lay out the vision of what you want that experience to look like in
2025 or 2026. If HR doesn’t agree, then that whole vision of the seamless
experience of coming into the office can’t be fulfilled. A lot of companies
have technology, but they really have to look at how all the pieces talk to
each other and integrate so they work towards creating the optimal automated
experience.
How can companies design office spaces that coincide with the varying
needs of the hybrid worker?
Office spaces
are not one size fits all. It’s important to understand the neurodiversity of
your staff and the levels that they’re at in their career, because, if you put
everyone on an open floor plan, that layout might not work for a team, say,
working on mergers and acquisitions. It’s about communicating with the facility
and interior design team about the makeup of the teams, their job titles and
the type of work that gets done. This will inspire more of the flexible office
designs we see, where there are movable walls or movable furniture that teams
can rearrange to suit their needs. And these spaces are not just to suit
in-office workers. With every space that’s designed, the question to ask is, “how
would this connect with a remote worker?” Because the reality is that we are in
a permanent state where we global teams need to stay connected.
What are the biggest obstacles for managing hybrid workspaces and how
can companies avoid these uptime costs?
The Eptura
2024 Workplace Index report finds that the biggest obstacles to optimizing
physical asset operations are siloed functions and incomplete data. Of those
obstacles, we find that reactive work orders take double the time to complete
than structured preventive maintenance plans. Preventive maintenance plans such
as fixed services are a huge driver for streamlining planning because it
improves efficiency and reduces costs for unexpected system failures. For
example, if an HVAC unit usually is serviced every six months, companies can make
it a habit to plan these appointments to get ahead of any updates that need to
be completed.
Preventive
maintenance is not only a process that improves productivity — it helps improve
sustainability procedures. Implementing certain floors to be “offline” on days
where less people go in will help companies take back these savings and unify
corporate sustainability goals. Communicating effectively with facility
management is integral for building owners as varying hybrid schedules persist.
Dictating a point of contact for safety and security issues is essential, as
data analytics and automation continue to take shape in the workplace.