Realestate is at a premium. There is also a huge gap between contemporary fitted out spaces to offices that haven't been touched since the 90’s. It is important to choose the right space that will take you right through your growth projections. The biggest position we get faced with by business owners is that of where do they put their new staff about to start! So let’s get the basics right to help you save money by maximising your spatial parameters to best accommodate your growth.
Growth projections allowed for when purchasing furniture shows systems that can adapt to growth quicker than being on the defence.
Headcount for the past, present and and the future. You probably started your business with humble beginnings, two to five people in the office. Things were easier back then. Fast forward ten years and you have a hustling culture with 20 staff and no signs of slowing, potentially a business acquisition on the way. It is a priority for us to understand your growth spurts and at what year cycle they tend to happen. At the moment our bread and butter design brief is to provide growth plans with ghost desks to ensure that their situation can flex and grow as their numbers do. This assists forecasting of extending leases or acquiring space at the right time, for the right amount of time.
Saving money is also about retaining staff. 82 percent of the respondents to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends survey said they believe that culture is a potential competitive advantage. Yet 87 percent of HR leaders consider employee retention is a primary concern (Kronos and Future Workplace's 2017 research) So how can an interior designer help with this? We know that is an issue yet very few workplaces are implementing workplace culture strategies to keep their A player staff members.
With workspace interiors we have an opportunity to make a positive impact on the overall office culture well being by providing a series of spaces that accompany varied needs. Spaces for people to interact, communicate and collaborate. By successful space planning and 3D modelling interior culture we can provide an overall look that will help retain staff with the cost of replacements after turnover at $15,000 per person for an employee earning a median salary of $45,000 a year (Work Institute’s 2017 Retention Report).
Furniture that flexes with you is really an important investment. When you get into space planning mode it is important to do an inventory of non negotiable furniture that you want to reuse, and then a list of drop in pieces that you would like to keep if we can work them into your new plan. About 70% of offices that we go, need desks to be downsized. Meterage is best utilised as we don't need 1800 long desks anymore (except for a few. The standard that we see is 1400 or 1600 for most lines of work, 1200 for laptop or phone based positions. When purchasing furniture make sure you get a system that can be easily reconfigurable. For example currently it might be a four person pod but in one year you can expand that to a six person pod by adding a few components and new tops. Meeting furniture is also another way to save money. Create a few informal meeting spots acoustically treated to keep the boardroom congestion low, and the need for building another seperate one.