Creating Places to Belong
Over the last year, our research, insights, conversations with customers, and even a reflection on our own journey around what it takes to create an equitable, inclusive, flexible, and safe workplace have led to our point of view on Creating Places to Belong. We’ve developed this campaign to share the value of connecting to a greater purpose and supporting individual needs.
We know that creating a place where employees feel like they belong is more than providing a workspace. It’s about connecting to a greater purpose and supporting individual needs. It’s about balancing hybrid work, prioritizing flexibility, supporting overall health and well-being, and focusing on inclusion and belonging. It takes all of these elements working together to create a thriving work environment.
"As employers, we know that we are providing something much more than a workspace. We are really providing places for people to belong."
Kourtney Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Kimball International
The Elements of Creating Places to Belong
Balancing Hybrid Environments
Employees feel empowered to choose how and where they work. By offering a hybrid workspace, you can effectively support a mix of remote and in-office employees, enabling them to efficiently transition between spaces. The balance between collaboration and focusin both physical and digital environments is critical for a successful workplace.
Prioritizing Flexibility
What’s perfect for me today, isn’t perfect for me tomorrow. What’s perfect for you, isn’t perfect for your coworker. So, the only “perfect” scenario is to design a space that can easily shift and evolve.
Focusing on Inclusion and Belonging
Now, more than ever, there is a large emphasis on company values and how physical spaces represent a company’s culture. Yes, safety protocols are important, but in addition to those tangible changes, employees crave for the workplace to be a place of community, connectivity, and shared purpose. In a time of unprecedented change, office culture, dynamics, and inclusivity are must-haves.
Supporting Health and Well-Being
It’s clear that employees are the foundation for every business. Organizations that put their peoples’ health, safety, and overall needs front and center will emerge faster, stronger, and more resilient. Employees expect a human-centered approach that intensely focuses on wellness. Safety, mental well-being, and physical health are all top priorities that need to be addressed to mitigate burnout.
Balancing Hybrid Environments
Employees feel empowered to choose how and where they work. By offering a hybrid workspace, you can effectively support a mix of remote and in-office employees, enabling them to effectively transition between spaces. The balance between collaboration and focus in both physical and digital environments is critical for a successful workplace.
Through our research and the workplace insights we gathered, one thing was very clear. The right spaces create connections. Whether the task at hand is collaborative or more of a solo situation, a mix of environments can support users how and where they need to be supported.
Prioritizing Flexibility
What’s perfect for you today, isn’t perfect for you tomorrow. And, what’s perfect for you, isn’t perfect for your coworker. So, the only “perfect” scenario is to design a space that can easily shift and evolve.
Organizations that flex to their employee’s changing needs will have the advantage. Being able to shift, grow, and resize spaces will give employers the ultimate return by providing employees with a choice in where to work during an average day.
By prioritizing flexibility, you create a balanced environment that easily transitions to accommodate the purpose at hand. A flexible environment is one that is intentionally designed to change and adapt to the unknown future.
Focusing on Inclusion and Belonging
Now, more than ever, there is a large emphasis on company values and how physical spaces represent a company’s culture. Yes, safety protocols are important, but in addition to those tangible changes, employees crave for the workplace to be a place of community, connectivity, and shared purpose. In a time of unprecedented change, office culture, dynamics and inclusivity are must-haves.
Supporting Health and Well-Being
Organizations that put their peoples’ health, safety, and overall needs front and center will emerge faster, stronger, and more resilient. Employees expect a human-centered approach that intensely focuses on wellness. Safety, mental well-being, and physical health are all top priorities that need to be addressed to mitigate burnout.
With time, employees will continue to gain comfort and confidence in their workspaces. However, it is necessary for employers to consistently reexamine work functions, flexibility expectations, and employee well-being to effectively provide an optimum experience.
With a focus on employee wellness, companies are retrofitting their physical offices as well as providing virtual solutions that support employees, wherever they work.
Creating Places to Belong
in Health
Creating a place where patients, families, and caregivers feel like they belong is more than providing a patient room, waiting space, or workstation. It’s about connecting to a greater purpose and supporting individual needs. It’s about balancing hybrid environments, prioritizing flexibility, supporting inclusion and belonging, and focusing on overall health and well-being.
Creating Places to Belong
in Health
Creating Places to Belong in Education
Creating a place where students, faculty, and staff feel like they belong is more than providing study spaces, cafés, or administrative offices. It’s about connecting to a greater purpose and supporting individual needs. It’s about balancing hybrid environments, prioritizing flexibility, supporting inclusion and belonging, and focusing on overall health and well-being.
LEARN MOREThroughout this journey, our employee well-being has been the key driver to all of the changes and processes that we’ve implemented. Just like you, our employees’ health and peace of mind is the fundamental goal in transforming spaces.
Creating Places to Belong
An Interactive Playbook
A collection of tools, insights, personal stories, conversations, and inspiration.
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