Why and how companies are making longer-term bets on the office

While the pandemic led many companies to see where to consolidate their real estate footprint, Conductor signed a lease doubling its real estate.

Why?

"As much as it might be nice to save the money, I want to save our soul first,” Conductor CEO Seth Besmertnik told the New York Times. “I want to do the right thing for the company in the long term.”

Not everyone will, wants to, or should expand their real estate portfolios. But even for those companies looking to reduce their portfolios, eschewing offices altogether is off the table. There is a consensus among both employees and employers that the office serves a valuable purpose.

Research agrees.

A 2022 study in Nature revealed that virtual communication inhibits creativity. Researchers from MIT found that remote work has impacted weak social ties, "which help foster new ideas."

‍Related reading: Weak Social ties and the workplace‍

Besmertnik's hunch seems logical: investing in the office is an investment in the long-term health of a company.

But there is good reason to maintain some semblance of hybrid work for the long term. Many employees report less stress at work. Parents find it easier to balance work with child care. Employees of color say it reduces microaggressions and cliques.

A hybrid workplace strategy empowers you to "do the right thing for the company" while also doing the right thing for your employees.

But with a hybrid workplace strategy comes the need to reassess your relationship with your physical spaces, all while not compromising on the overall employee experience.

Fortune 500 customers we've worked with follow a similar 4-step process to answering key questions, including:

• Do we have the right amount of space?
• Do we have the right type of space?
• What spaces create the best experiences?

The four steps, which we break down in detail in our free ebook, the 4-step playbook building an ROI-driven workplace, are:

1. See where you can consolidate
2. Know what space types people use
3. Discover which designs create a better experience
4. Measure the impact of your decisions and adapt

To compensate for the incomplete data of other solutions, like badge swipes, our Fortune 500 customers turned to Density sensors across key buildings in their portfolios to unlock utilization data at the building and floor levels.

That utilization data allowed them to measure the modern workplace and create an ROI-driven workplace strategy.

Workplace leaders betting on their real estate are doing so believing that it will ultimately help them better serve customers, attract talent and remain competitive in a challenging post-pandemic business climate.

The most successful companies will be those that embrace the uncertainty of today, take a strategic approach to their office space, and stay agile to adapt to changing market conditions. By taking these steps now, you can ensure you are prepared for the future.