The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the workplace almost overnight through the introduction of remote working. After two years of social distancing, there was little expectation that employees would return to offices no questions asked, with most industries having settled on a mandated “hybrid model” instead.
For those with caring duties or long commutes, this brings obvious benefits, as long as you have the resources. Not just that, but given this cohort of employees are generally older, the chances are that they will have worked for some time already, maybe having even built families.
For younger generations though, the repercussions of hybrid working are not yet clear – and we may even see a reversal to normal office working in the next couple of years, as long as businesses can meet their expectations.
Why? It comes back to the topic of community. Human beings are built to create relationships. It doesn’t take a mathematician to tell us that we spend a lot of time at work, so whether we realise it or not, the workplace is a critical avenue for doing this.
The inclination to make “work friends” is grounded in real psychology – our need for social support. Having worked alongside my fellow Portico Director of Operations, Hanna Barrett for 5 years, I understand this power all too well.
So-called “water-cooler” moments – the random run-in you’d have with Lucy from HR, or George from IT in the office – were once the main-stay of workplace culture, and gave people an opportunity to share light-hearted discussions about the best places to have lunch, TV recommendations, or the summer party.
They might seem nondescript, but these chance encounters do boost morale, according to Catherine Heaney, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford who researches the relationship between work and health. And try as we might, this camaraderie is not something that can easily be repeated on Zoom, as we learned during the many pub quizzes of the pandemic.
Critically, work friends are not only good for employees, they’re good for business, too. Fascinatingly, data from Gallup shows that having a best friend at work is strongly linked to business outcomes, including improvements in profitability, safety, inventory control, and employee retention, for instance.
In short – it’s in a company’s best interest to encourage their staff to be pals.
While it seems inconceivable, Gen Z is now at least 27, with many of them well on the career ladder. They might be adults, but let’s not forget how difficult it was to leave home for the first time and move to a new location. In that kind of situation, making friends at work becomes a lifeline.
Already, they have proven that workplace relationships matter to them, with 63% admitting they have a best friend at their job, and need them for support and enjoyment, and stress relief. A third said they’d be happy to date someone from their workplace, showing just how familiar they’re prepared to be with their teammates.
Given they’ll make up 27% of the workforce by next year, this desire to create or be part of a community is likely to pull them back to the office very soon.
But just like in all other areas of life, this is not a generation that’s prepared to settle for a mediocre experience, even at work.
In the past few years, expectations around the speed of response, video quality, and the ability to shift between different technology platforms, have raised the bar for workplaces. Being able to provide high-quality facilities to ensure modern workdays run seamlessly, is paramount.
Offices will need to be sustainably run, and be able to demonstrate so. They’ll need to be able to create inspiration through their appearance and design, and perhaps most importantly, be accessible to everyone.
It’s this realisation that’s driving the office renaissance we see in major cities like London, Liverpool, and Manchester. Far from the dirty word it was in COVID, the “office” is once again becoming a major area of investment for professional service industries and others.
Alongside it, the guest services sector, a division of the hospitality industry, will thrive.
It is impossible to develop a company culture without those face-to-face moments, and this is why a lot of companies are investing in turning their workplace into a crossroads for collaboration, exploration, and innovation – with new roles like ‘head of culture’ being introduced. This is where the role of guest services coming front and centre, the teams responsible for creating a sense of community and creating multi-faceted service offers, from community events to charity runs. WeWork might be a thing of the past, but the hotelification of offices will return with a vengeance, and indeed already is.
