Has the pandemic and working from home fundamentally changed businesses’ workplace strategy and culture? In considering the future of office working, we talk to Steve Henigan of Henigan Consulting Group (HCG), a workplace strategy and change management consultancy, about work trends as we learn to live with Covid, and his own office search.

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Post-pandemic workplace strategies for big businesses have regularly made the headlines in the last six months. A survey of the 50 biggest companies by the BBC found that almost all would have staff working at least some of the time from home. This amounts to over 1million workers.

In the business dominated City of London, the City of London Corporation has announced plans to create at least 1,500 new homes in the Square Mile post-pandemic, converting and redeveloping redundant office space.

Throughout the pandemic, Steve, who set up HCG three and a half years ago, has hosted workshops with his clients to gauge their views on how and where they will work as life takes on some semblance of normality. Clients are now thinking about their workplace(s)and not just their workplace – the office.

Three different approaches to workplace strategy

He says businesses fall into three main categories: Those reviewing real estate requirements with a focus on cost-cutting, those reviewing with a focus on staff needs and those who don’t want to rush into anything yet.

Regardless Steve believes it will be the bottom line that wins, particularly for corporates: “I don't believe there's any commercially minded organisation in the world, who hasn't or isn't going to take advantage of the cost saving/avoidance opportunity here.”

While some high-profile bosses such as Goldman Sachs CEO David Soloman have publicly rejected working from home, referring to it as an “aberration”, flexible working as a workplace strategy and trend pre-dates the pandemic.

Steve says the pandemic has forced a rethink about how office space is used, along with how the digital workplace – video calls and emails, is appropriately used. His clients recognise the fatigue surrounding the digital workplace, and that organisational culture is something that is still largely centred around the office.

Making time in the office count

“A key message coming out is to make the office time count, that it should be about interaction and collaboration. Offices need to work really hard to support interaction, both the space and the workplace culture,” he says.

This doesn’t just mean open-plan offices and hot-desking but areas dedicated to collaborative work as well as quieter zones for more focused work.

Video calls will be a legacy of working from home during lockdown .If dedicated spaces cannot be created to support this activity, Steve’s advice is to develop the protocols and behaviours for where and how they should take place.

The flow of people working in and out of the office over the course of the week is another challenge for businesses.  How do you ensure the office isn’t empty or overflowing on certain days. But even more important, where people can sit.

“There's a concern that if somebody comes into the office, will they be able to find a desk and will that desk be with the team that they've come in to spend time with,” he says. “If you spend time and money commuting but can't sit with the team you want to collaborate with, then arguably, you might as well just have stayed at home.”

Some businesses may have to determine which days people can be in the office. It is something Steve has grappled with for his own business. In the past year, he’s been searching for new offices for HCG (see below)

Huge test for workplace strategy

The next 12-18 months will be a huge test for businesses, which is why 44% of those at HCG’s workshops are deferring decisions until they see how working patterns settle. (Read Henigan’s Return to the office report here.)

He believes that while the pendulum will settle not too far from where it was before the Covid crisis, there has been a cultural shift.

“You had the senior management who would spend five days a week,15 hours a day sat in their office in the city, going out for lunch, going out for dinners and couldn't see any other way of working.

“Lo and behold, that same person is now sitting in their country house where they’ve got an office looking out across the swimming pool and garden thinking: Oh, this isn't actually quite so bad,” he says.

“As vaccination levels increase and confidence grows, clients will be looking to redefine their workplace offering. As part of this, we will be helping them to create high-performing space(s) and simultaneously shape their organisational culture so it flows through all settings.”

Has Henigan’s own workplace strategy changed during the pandemic?

During lockdown, Steve has been looking for a new London office for HCG with the help of Metric. Has the pandemic changed his workplace strategy?

Before lockdown, they had an office and a flexible workplace approach. This meant staff generally coming together in the offices for two core days a week but otherwise working where and how they and their clients wanted.

“How everybody is talking about working in the future is how we worked as an organisation pre-COVID,” he says.

Working with Metric, HCG have created a new home in London’s Shoreditch, blending the benefits of both private space and shared work settings.  

Why the office is important

Lockdown only emphasised the importance of time his team spend in the office, not just as a place to sit and work at a screen but a place that supports a variety of work and the social elements.

He says: “The challenge, while working remotely, has been to maintain the collaboration, learning and development, particularly with a growing young team, although, they've been brilliant.”

So, has that influenced his choice of new office space for when COVID restrictions are lifted?

“I am forever telling my clients they should be putting their staff-wellbeing before the bottom line, and I'm practising what I preach,” he says. “Metric has really helped us on the journey to finding a new space that is inspiring rather than functional.”

As a result, he opted for serviced offices that cost “a little bit more money than I wanted” but offered what he and his team need and more. The extra expense has gone on bigger, airier workspace with lots of natural light, good communal facilities, lots of meeting rooms and outdoor space.  Space for video calls is the most notable new addition.

Crucially there is enough room for everyone to be in the office together. “I feel, culturally, it's important that nobody has to book desk space, and that everybody feels on any day of the week, at any time they can come into our office and there'll be somewhere with the team they can work,” he says.

However, seeing the reaction from staff when the new space was presented has made the extra cost worth it, he believes.

Post-pandemic flexible working: What to consider

• How you make the best use of the time people spend in the office.

• A strategy to iron out the peaks and troughs of office use

• How many desks you need and enable teams to sit together.

• Rules around how space is used, e.g. where video calls can be taken

• The balance of digital vs. in person working and improving mental wellbeing, which has been impacted by working solely from home for so long