What’s Your Office Strategy?

Office premises tend to be a large cost for many business. With the technology and connectivity of today’s world, do you really need space (and desks) for every employee?   

 Technology has given rise to the remote worker. Agile approaches to work ensure that many firms now offer employees the opportunity to work from home or on the road, as appropriate. This is something we offer for flexibility to our team at Murray Associates too.

 Many of us in business tend to have a mix of traditional “full time staff” combined with those who work part time, compressed hours, flexible start / finish times, remotely or on a contract basis. This more flexible workforce means that we have an opportunity to adapt our premises strategy.

 The office strategy employed by you depends on the type of business that you operate and the expectations of your customers.

 As the workforce becomes dominated by generation Y and generation Z employees, the demand for flexibility is only likely to increase. These generations demand new ways of working such as the opportunity for remote working and the option to work where and when suits their lifestyle.

 As such, businesses will need to deploy more capital on technology and devices which allow agile working and less on premises and physical office infrastructure.

 This gives firms an opportunity to take a fresh look at their premises strategy. You may no longer need a large office where everyone has a desk.

 Perhaps you need a few meeting rooms for face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects but maybe that is all. This opens up a new world of opportunities for businesses.

 If you are taking on more office space for your firm, it’s worth keeping these recent trends in mind. Perhaps it’s worth having a break clause which applies every 2-3 years in case your employees become increasingly agile / remote. In that case you would need less office space in the medium to long term and you may wish to move to  smaller premises (and make cost savings!).