As associate principal and interior designer for architecture firm Cincinnati-based GBBN, Latto works with many clients who are trying to create spaces that can be magnets for employees in the hybrid era.
Latto and her firm have found that language bridges space and strategy, making it pivotal for employers to consider the totality of their approach to the Covid-19 era office.1. Do you have the right layout? But, when her firm talks with clients and their employees, Latto said workers often say one thing they liked about working from home was the ability to focus and have privacy when they need it.
"We talked to one client that had 250,000 square feet of office space and, when we went out to meet with them, they had four cars in the parking lot," Burke said."They said, 'We're having difficulty getting people back in because we just had our most profitable year, and people are asking what's the argument for having us in?'"
Burke said employers are also using design to encourage social interaction and to entice workers back with components like gyms, yoga rooms and other dedicated spaces. Companies would require employees to return to the office for a certain number of days a week, but many workers were being greeted by mostly empty offices. , founder of CTC Productivity, said “connect days,” which are dedicated days when an entire department or an entire company will be in the office, are often an effective solution.
"No news is perceived as bad news. What's happening quite often is, when you're not there, our minds just assume the worst," Lehman said.