'People love the space: they're happy, they're smiling'
While no single organization seems to have cracked the code on the perfect mix of hybrid and in-person, some employers are looking to creative workspaces as the best enticement.
For one bank located in downtown Toronto, they eyed what was being termed the “resi-mercial office” layout as the ideal solution.
The term was coined by the architects of HomeEquity Bank’s new space in the Royal Bank Tower, where employees moved in on Aug. 1.
“The design incorporates both the comforts of home as well as what you would expect in a convenient office,” says Sherry Dondo, senior vice president and CHRO at HomeEquity Bank in Toronto.
“We’ve really tried to focus on a blend of living-room spaces; we’ve got a library which is a quiet zone with soft seating and reclining comfortable lounge chairs. We have a variety of different kinds of workplace spaces where people can work and feel the comforts of home but still have the more traditional workspaces as well.”
The new location, which is on the 35th floor, hopes to offer employees the best of both worlds, according to Dondo.
“We’re really focused on creating an inviting space where people feel like it’s a destination for them to come to work, and they really feel like the benefits that they were getting from working at home in terms of comfortability and privacy, we could replicate some of that in our workplace.”
There are no permanent desks and a variety of different collaboration and private workspaces, she says; there are also 17 different meeting rooms for employees to use.
“I see people right now in one of our collaboration areas overlooking the lake, which is just such a stunning feel and I’m looking around, and we’ve got people sitting in comfy lounge chairs with a little laptop table, and they’re looking out the window; they’ve got other people sitting at the high-top collaboration tables, and other people are sitting at more traditional desks.”
“It’s kind of fun to see how people are taking advantage of the different zones and types of spaces that we have to offer,” says Dondo.
Those employers who are forcing workers back in permanently are having a tough time retaining them, found a survey.
Finding the right space
For HomeEquity Bank, design process was helped by COVID when space in a prime location suddenly presented itself, according to Dondo.
“We were so thrilled to find the Royal Bank Plaza, this iconic building, right in the transit hub. When we found this space, we gobbled it up and one of the things we love about it is we have an internal staircase so we can walk between the floors really quite easily, which is also lovely.”
This allowed the company to really have a full say in how it was designed.
“The space was down to the cement so we had the luxury of building it out exactly to our specifications,” says Dondo.
While it’s still early days for the organization, the employees are similarly feeling great about their new space.
“We haven’t yet done our post move-in survey — that will be done later in September — but the informal feedback has been amazing. People love the space: they’re happy, they’re smiling, they’re taking advantage of all the things that we’ve offered.”
Downtown office space is more available than ever before, according to another report.
Better collaboration places sorely needed
Canon Canada was an early adopter when it came to redesigned office space. Back in 2011, the company “outgrew its space” in Mississauga, Ont. and began looking for a new facility, eventually settling in neighbouring Brampton, Ont. according to one of its senior HR leaders.
“We outgrew the space and we decided we really wanted to change the space that employees had to do their job. We really wanted to focus on an overall employee experience: we wanted to make sure that we had lots of collaboration, gathering, meeting spaces,” says Lisa Guy, director, organizational effectiveness, talent management and corporate communications human resources at Canon Canada.
When planning the new design, the company set up various “task teams” to give the workforce the opportunity to chime in.
“We felt as a company that we needed, as well as collaboration spaces that we didn’t currently have, more meeting spaces to get people in front of each other, more personable locations or areas,” says Steve Czegel, manager of facilities, Canon Canada.
But midway through the process, the work was halted to get more employee feedback.
“After we had the architectural designs, the company did take a pause to allow employees on a variety of task teams to contribute, to figure out, have we missed anything? Is this going to allow employees to do what they need to do? How’s the experience? We did take a pause to get all that feedback; there was probably about eight to 10 task teams, employees, management, and it was very much, regardless of your title, we wanted to hear feedback,” says Guy.
Since completion in 2016, the response has been positive, she says.
“We get great feedback in terms of the space; it allows employees to not only obviously do their job, there’s a lot of natural light, it’s inviting, there’s a lot of greenery but it also allows them other things while they’re at work. We have a fitness centre, we have a reflection room. In behind the building, we have a great stormwater pond that you can go walking around at lunch.”
