Panel discussion: New workplaces
Description
Before the pandemic, offices were seen as the centre for productivity and companies competed intensely for prime office space in major urban centres around the world.
However, over the last two years, this perspective started being questioned. Smart working raises, evaluates and revises the approach based on changing conditions, attitudes and regulations changing the way of working itself.
Organisations must also use this moment to break from the inertia of the past by dispensing with suboptimal old habits and systems. A well-planned return to offices can use this moment to reinvent their role and create a better experience for talent, improve collaboration and productivity, and reduce costs.
Objetives
- Analyse and understand the different types of offices and their advantages and disadvantages
- Discuss the synergy between different working spaces
- Debate problems that arose during the pandemic regarding the working spaces
- Analyse how the industry will move towards future trends
Speakers
- Frank Fischer – Product Marketing at Snyk
- Kris Jes Peterson – Partner SOHO Office Malta
- Joseph Farrugia – Director General Malta Employers Association
- Luca Caruso– Founder at Novanta
Moderator: Markus Behmann
Panel Insight
The labour market and the ‘great resignation’
Many employers, both in Malta and abroad, are facing a tight labour market. The reasons are part demographic, part a result of economic forces (such as inflation), part a shift in life priorities.
In this post-pandemic environment, companies are facing what is being dubbed as the ‘great resignation’. Workers are prioritising better work conditions, higher benefits, better corporate culture, and a better work-life balance. As a result, employers are competing to attract and retain skill and talent.
Until not long ago, increasing the female labour participation rate had been one of the main drivers of the increase of the local labour supply. However, it is not projected to keep increasing.
Putting people first: a sound economic decision
Nowadays, a sustainable business has environmental protection, social development and economic development as their main pillars.
Many companies are struggling to find or retain people with the right skills for the jobs that are available, hence they either have to train people internally, or recruit from the outside. This incurs monetary costs and has an impact on productivity. Job retention is, therefore, conducive to higher efficiency. Creating a better work environment gives a company a competitive advantage.
Focusing on people drives the highest return on investment, much more than focusing on energy costs or rental costs. There are currently certifications, such as Fitwel and Well AP, that are working towards regenerative buildings not only in terms of materials, but also in terms of management, health, and well-being.
It must be borne in mind, however, that not all industries have the same potential for implementing changes related to working hours or remote working. Each organisation needs to find its solutions in order to optimise productivity and well-being of their employees. Nevertheless, digitalization can and should be enforced across the board, because it can be easily implemented with sustainable development goals, because it promotes a more flexible economy, and because it improves the quality of life for all.
Achieving enhanced environmental quality within the built environment
Delivering the contemporary workspace people expect will take a combination of building science, health science, and business science.
From the point of view of remote workers that have worked in multiple countries, Maltese offices are lacking in quality. To make people feel better in indoor spaces, employers should closely monitor air quality, daylight levels, thermal comfort, sound comfort, and the materials the office is made of. Movement should be incentivised, and informal spaces prioritised. With the rise of remote work and teleworking, many successful workplaces are adopting a model where the office is valued more as a socialising space than as a productive space.
Digital nomads vs remote workers
The main difference between digital nomads and remote workers is the degree of involvement with both the locale in which they are working and with their employer. Both groups share a need for basic infrastructure (a connection to the internet and power supply being the bare minimum), and both want to have a social network to interact with.
Digital nomads were among the first to exploit the idea of delivering value over the internet by working from any point on Earth. They have a relatively loose relationship to their employer (usually freelancers) and do not have roots with the place they are working from. Nevertheless, they are interested in the local culture, and they have big disposable incomes, which they are willing to spend in order to acquire experiences.
Remote workers are the second iteration of the same concept. They are more rooted in the place they work in, both by virtue of the time they spent in them (which can be years instead of months) and their willingness to invest in the place they are working and living in. Even though companies are aiming towards having consultants instead of fixed employees, some industries shy away from freelancers for privacy and/or security concerns.
Towards a more human-friendly conception of work
Moving forward, work will be different. The automation of many mechanical and monotonous processes through AI will redefine what we expect from human work. Creativity and face-to-face human interaction could be two of the revalued aspects that human work bring to the table.
It has been firmly established that bettering the work environment fosters creativity, which is a quality that many companies are actively looking for. The freedom to be creative also correlates with motivation. Motivated employees do not have to be closely monitored, which generates trust and makes introducing necessary changes easier.
Employees are more creative when they are given the opportunity to learn, to grow, to network. Thinking creatively requires training in the form of experiencing different cultures. different ways of how to approach reality.
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