Designing for well-being

Hybrid or otherwise, companies ought to be thinking of designing workplaces that promote the well-being of employees

- Jeffrey Pfeffer & Dr. M Muneer

As the second wave of pandemic sweeps the nation with imminent lockdowns, employers have put the hybrid work plans, where part of workers work from home and part from offices, in abeyance. Though various experts predicted the model to take root by mid-2021, it is likely to take more time.

More than two-third of employers want their employees to come to the office at least thrice a week, but more than half the employees prefer working remotely for now, as per another research. Clearly, whether hybrid or otherwise, companies ought to be thinking of designing workplaces that promote the well-being of employees.

There’s more: The instances where companies think they are saving money by cutting costs, but do so in ways that actually increase turnover and decrease engagement and productivity, thereby pursuing myths that backfire. The crisis of 2020 has seen many such instances of canceled commercial leases in the name of hybrid models. There are also pathways to improve human performance that receive too little attention from management in general and human resources professionals in particular. The workplace design – the physical space where people work – fits both criteria.

Today companies relentlessly try to lower their occupancy/ real estate costs, which are often the second or third largest operating expense. Hitherto they did so mostly by using open office plans that decrease the amount of space allocated to each employee. With WFH, they moved to smaller offices or non-prime locations.