Facilities managers play a crucial role in addressing their organisation’s challenges during the transition to hybrid working, supporting vital business functions. Offering a collection of research and resources, The IWFM and Ricoh have collaborated since 2019 on the Creating better workplaces’ hub to help businesses optimise for the future.

The rise of workplace transformation

Over the last 18 months, the IWFM carried out three separate surveys, researching attitudes toward hybrid working, surveying a group of 2,000 UK office workers:

• Most office workers believed they were equally or more productive at home than at the office and said they would prefer to work from home. 
• While the outlook was optimistic for home working, half felt their employer needed to do more to support hybrid working.
• Office workers missed some office elements, such as meeting colleagues face-to-face.

How can facilities managers optimise transformation for a hybrid workplace?

This research paints a compelling picture for facilities managers. The office no longer needs to be a building, and facilities departments can respond to this shift proactively. Collaborating with HR, IT, and senior leadership to maximise employee satisfaction, productivity and transformation.

Offices can become more fluid, acting as a hybrid space to unify people. A destination where people want to go to imagine, create and work collaboratively. The UK workforce is eager for change.

How does transformation work? 

Facilities managers must review the entire workplace experience and culture in partnership with other business areas. Therefore enabling people to do their best work from any location. With unique insights into working environments, facilities management professionals are best placed to devise and realise the necessary changes. Gathering support from the wider business, including its employees, and combining it with insight to achieve the desired results.

Key questions for facilities professionals to consider when considering transformation

Help your organisation understand and navigate the space, process, technology and cultural matters that create people-centred workplaces. In short, here are some key questions that must be considered: 

• What does the future of your workplace look like from a technological perspective? 
• What could future changes in working practices mean for the spaces your organisation inhabits?
• How can your culture be shifted to facilitate transformation?
• What are the human and organisational impacts of workplace change?
• How do you communicate the value of the workspace?

Discover the Creating Better Workplaces hub

No matter your organisation’s hybrid working strategy, your workplace and facilities professional is the lynchpin who can help unite your key teams in forging your workplace strategy. And the journey to transformation does not mean avoiding risk. While many businesses move to a hybrid working, facilities professionals have to reach a long-term solution. In addition, embracing the culture and people with an agile test and learn approach. 

To help you and encourage your broader organisation to get on board, discover the ‘Creating better workplaces’ hub at the IWFM website. The hub includes eight guidance notes and a variety of other resources, including webinars and reports, which can help you transition to a hybrid model of working. Some resources require IWFM membership to access..

Further reading for facilities management on transformation

Please visit our On-demand Facilities Management webinar to learn more about our Work Together, Anywhere approach. Read our latest business article on building a better workplace in partnership with IWFM.

The post Guidance and advice to help facilities lead hybrid working policies appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Digitisation is happening at a pace never seen before. McKinsey estimates that 10 years’ worth of technology adoption took place in just the last three years. All the while SMBs have been fighting some of the most challenging conditions seen by modern business. A potent mix of global health, economic, and social issues, as well as rising brand disloyalty among consumers. Trust is hard to come by, and many SMBs have been relying on digital transformation projects to deliver more.

So, what should digital print businesses do to help their SMB clients? They must help them make the most of their recent investments and take a longer-term, more consultative look at print with the needs of the future workplace in mind.

Digital Services Partnerships should be leading the revolution

In September 2020 Goldman Sachs found that 73% of small businesses saw development of their digital capabilities as a top priority. A year on, digital adoption shows no signs of slowing down. Technology and digital services are driving transformation that unlocks efficiency, facilitates agility and flexibility, accelerates growth, and creates accuracy. 

There’s growing evidence that SMBs that embraced technology were better able to weather recent economic and social challenges. And that’s mirrored by customers, with 88% of consumers surveyed by McKinsey expecting to see companies accelerating digital initiatives. Therefore as a result, around one in three SMB leaders said that the pandemic had brought forward their digitisation efforts or sped-up existing tech projects. In conclusion, growing SMBs are investing more in technology, and digital print technology resellers should seize this opportunity.

What Ricoh digital print partners can do to support SMB recovery and growth

SMB leaders are making technology investment decisions based on delivery value at the speed of need. Here’s how you can tap into that desire for short-term change as well as preparing clients for future challenges:

• Adding new services and solutions to your existing offering immediately creates new reasons to talk, especially with existing clients. As a reseller, you only need to understand the service or solution not deliver it. Freeing you up to provide useful advice and achieve quick wins.
• As part of Ricoh’s existing business partner network, you can look beyond reselling print devices and open up conversations about a range of broader document solutions and digital services to support your clients’ future workplace, including DocuWare and Workplace Services like Ricoh Spaces.
• Talk about Ricoh’s journey. A decade ago, we began a transformation from purely print to a full Digital Services company designed to support organisations across most of their functions. That includes IT, HR and the workplace, business processes, and communications – as well as our existing print services. Partnering with Ricoh is part of that journey; we help resellers grow their businesses by creating opportunities to deliver more to clients.

The workplace is changing. Help your clients adapt

Accelerated digital adoption among SMBs is here to stay. Ricoh UK CEO Phil Keoghan recently wrote about how hybrid working is less a challenge and more an opportunity as we embrace this ‘new normal’. Working together anywhere requires a holistic, people-focused approach, and Digital Services Partnerships are uniquely placed to guide clients through the technology they’ll need, and how to embed it across the business for recovery and growth.

Together, we can help SMBs navigate how employees use existing technology, what’s working currently, and what they could do to improve.

The post How SMBs can unlock recovery and growth through digital services partnerships appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

In this post, I want to take these thoughts further by focusing on the office. Specifically, how workplace transformation can be the catalyst for positive and proactive change. Acting as the springboard to help your organisation and its people realise a better, more productive, and profitable future.

As we continue to respond to changes in our working lives, most organisations are now focused on how they get their employees back to work safely and efficiently. But is bringing them back to the same workplace they left many months ago really going to give you, or your employees, the best opportunity for the future?

Reverting back to a predominately office-based culture may well be a backward step for your business. Consider the fundamental changes which have occurred. The extensive use of cloud platforms, full-time remote working, the digitisation of workflows, and processes. These new technologies and ways of working should be enhanced further, not regressed.

Bringing employees back to business

Likewise, the daily working lives of employees has changed significantly. Many have reevaluated their priorities and found a new work/life balance. Adopting an entirely new, more agile way of working. With 73% of employees expecting more flexible working options in the future.

On the other hand, some have found the past few months less attractive. As many as 68% of employees miss face-to-face chats. This disconnection from conversations, camaraderie, and social interactions have left some feeling isolated.

So, reverting back to a one-dimensional workplace could make your business culture less attractive to talent. As well as slowing processes and potentially leaving you behind the competition.

Why now is the right time for workplace transformation

Disruption can be a catalyst to realise positive change. It’s also an exciting time for business leaders to shape how they want to take their businesses forward.

So now is a great time to consider a workplace transformation project. Transforming your office into a smart and safe workplace that enhances efficiency, optimises processes, and builds a strong culture for all. No matter their working style or needs.

Why workplace transformation will make your office space more valuable

The workplace has always been a valuable asset. But it’s also a costly one. So, taking this opportunity to reimagine how you use it makes sense.

It’s a great environment in which to bring people together to collaborate, inspire, share, and create IP. Digitising processes and workflows will bring more efficiency, improve security, enable the automation of repeatable tasks, and create flexibility.

But it’s a poor place to try and house all your employees all of the time, week after week. That’s expensive, demoralising and limiting for employees.

But now isn’t the time to make a knee-jerk decision. Many businesses have already closed offices or are currently considering a vast reduction in floor space. But before making radical decisions its good practice to have considered all the implications – our workplace transformation guide offers some great ideas and advice.

Realise the true value of your office

The future workplace needs to be a central hub for creativity and inspiration. A seamless digital environment where your employees come to immerse, connect, collaborate, and be productive.

Equally, the workplace needs to extend seamlessly beyond the physical office. Enabling individuals to be equally productive and connected whilst on the move or working remotely. Basically, anywhere an employee feels comfortable working. Whether that be at home, in a café or indeed in the office.

Successful business workplaces must fully meet the needs of employees, customers, security, the environment, and well-being.

The importance of face-to-face interactions

The most valuable aspect of the existing workplace is people-to-people interactions. This is when the real value is added, either in the form of inspiration and innovation or simply through collaboration and face-to-face interactions.

Whilst remote collaboration has, by and large, enabled organisations to continue with ‘business as usual’, the limitations of screen conversations can sometimes remove the rich, immersive experiences of face-to-face sessions. So, an ability to leverage both creates an ideal balance for any business.

Transform workplace experiences

As many as 49% of employees are currently concerned about social distancing if they return to work. So, to meet the needs of all employees, the workplace needs to be both smart and safe.

‘Smart’ to provide the right employee experience.  Support with the right blend of technologies, working practices, and processes. Delivering a consistent employee experience no matter where they are.

‘Safe’ by addressing the anxiety that your people may currently be feeling.  Adapt your workspaces to prioritise wellbeing without compromising the experience.

Making decisions about the best approach for workplace transformation can be a complex project. Requiring input and leadership across many areas of your business. Operations, IT, HR, Legal, and Finance will all have a key role to play. So, having a project leader who has a broad yet objective view will be vital.

Our experience suggests that Facilities Managers, working with an experienced business partner, are ideally suited to this task.

Getting started with workplace transformation

Our latest guide ‘Reimagine your workplace’ explores why now is the perfect opportunity to rethink your workplace. In this workplace transformation guide you’ll discover:

• Core thoughts and considerations for the future
• How to create a smart and safe workplace
• Tools and processes for seamless remote working
• Technology will enable better process automation
• Infrastructure and cloud technology for digital transformation

If you would like more advice on workplace transformation or help with an existing project, please get in touch.

The post Realise the true value of your office with a workplace transformation project appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.