Creating a Workplace Experience That’s Worth the Commute

With hybrid work becoming the new normal, crafting an outstanding in-office experience is essential for attracting and retaining top talent. This expandead view builds on the Forbes article discussing the rise of the Chief Workplace Experience Officer role. 

According to our research, 92% of employees prefer a hybrid arrangement with three or fewer days per week in the office. As employees divide their time between home and the workplace, the experiences and environments you provide on-site take on heightened importance. 

A positive workplace experience encompasses all the physical, technological, cultural, and human elements that shape an employee’s perceptions and attitudes toward your organisation during their time in the office. When done well, it can enhance employee engagement, productivity, well-being, and retention. 

The employee workplace experience refers to every interaction, touchpoint, and immersive impression an employee has with your company—from recruitment and onboarding to their daily work experiences to their professional development and even off-boarding. It’s the sum total of these encounters, both physical and emotional, that moulds how employees view your organisation. 

In the office context, key aspects include workspace design, collaboration areas, amenities, workplace policies, workplace technology, and cultural elements like management philosophies and workplace services/programmes. 

1. Define Objectives and Audiences: Outline your objectives, priorities, and target audiences based on your culture, employee needs, and strategic goals. What kind of distinctive office experience do you want to create? 
2. Conduct Research: Use surveys, focus groups, and workplace analytics to deeply understand employee needs, wants, pain points, and preferences related to the office. 
3. Audit Existing Spaces: Review all existing office spaces, amenities, technology, protocols, and workforce policies to identify gaps and areas for enhancement. 
4. Design Employee Journeys: Create branded employee journeys and multi-sensory experiences aligned with your objectives, considering elements like visuals, acoustics, comfort, technology, workplace services, and emotional resonance. 
5. Implement Changes: Reconfigure spaces, upgrade amenities, launch new programmes, improve protocols, and train employees and managers accordingly. 
6. Capture Data and Feedback: Continuously gather real-world data and feedback to measure the impacts on employee satisfaction, engagement, productivity, well-being, and retention metrics. 
7. Evolve and Optimise: Adapt and enhance the experience over time based on changing needs and measured performance. 

As workplace experience becomes a bigger focus, some companies are appointing Chief Workplace Experience Officers to holistically own the complete workplace strategy. 

This emerging C-suite role is responsible for defining the desired workplace experience, leading cross-functional teams to design integrated solutions, ensuring consistently excellent workplace experience delivery across all touchpoints, and continuously enhancing the experience over time. 

A Chief Workplace Experience Officer has a comprehensive view across real estate, technology, HR, operations, and other domains that intersect with the employee’s workplace experience. They provide cohesive experience leadership, management, and governance. 

For many organisations, this centralised approach enables tighter coordination and accountability compared to disparate groups each only influencing certain aspects of the experience.