Rear view series: #1 Tired Office : Tired Thinking
Written in 2008:
Humans, like all creatures, have a symbiotic relationship with their environment. People and their environment determine the quality of each other.
Most office lease periods run for approximately 5 years. At the end of this period a decision needs to be made regarding staying or moving. That choice is governed by the dynamics of the organisation, the state of the economy and availability of suitable space. Often the decision is made to remain and effectively do nothing to the existing facility. Staying put may be a valid decision but doing nothing to the workplace is a very risky strategy.
An outdated workplace brings the risk of:
– Poor attraction and retention
– High turnover of staff (taking your IP)
– Costly recruitment and training (2-3 times salary)
– Erosion of brand position
– Increased sick days
– Low morale
– Poor engagement
– Dysfunctional planning
– Inefficient workflow
– Poor storage
– Reduced communication and collaboration
– Silos
– Old hierarchies
– OH&S and compliance risk
– Low productivity
– Lack of innovation
– Poor products and service
Business moves quickly. Your most successful competitors move even faster. Five years is an eternity in business today. To stand still is to move backwards and lose competitive advantage.
An office environment that was built 5 years ago, was designed to support 5 year old thinking, technologies and workflow. Over the past 5 years your competition has evolved, your clients are demanding more for less, your team is expecting more for less, the competition for high calibre staff has increased yet some organisations believe an old office designed around old thinking, can inspire and support innovation and drive sustainability.
If your business strategies, policies and procedures have evolved, then the environment within which you and your team operate, must be updated to support those changes, now and well into the future.
As your team will be unavoidably affected, it is essential that a collaborative change management process be structured and deployed. The upgrading of a modern workplace needs to be handled by an experienced team who can plan the logistics and risks to ensure minimum disruption and guarantee business continuity throughout the refurbishment process.
What is the cost to upgrade? What is the real cost not to?
Not much has changed in 2018.
The team at Incorp can leverage 30 years of hands-on experience, to provide an appropriate workplace solution with the least fuss, minimal disruption and with absolute certainty. Email the Incorp team now.
Also in the series:
Series #5: Tough times need clever solutions
Series #4: Top 10 office refurbishment tips
Series #3: Downsizing your office space liability
Series #2: Stay or Go?
