By Víctor Feingold, President of Contract Workplaces

When many companies in Latin America still resisted incorporating new trends in their work spaces -where the allocation of positions according to hierarchies was maintained and employees were condemned to occupy the same place throughout the working day, with fixed hours- like a tsunami came the pandemic and confinement. From one day to the next we were forced to drastically change the way we work by incorporating teleworking and virtual teams into our daily routine.

Today we are invited to consider the future of work as a zero-sum game, with people who stopped going to the office to do their tasks from home. However, this would mean no more than exchanging one set of problems for others.

Clearly, there are many benefits when it comes with working from home: flexible hours, a better balance between work and personal life, the elimination of downtime and travel costs, vehicle decongestion, less environmental pollution in cities, and savings in clothing and meals together with the possibility of working concentrated without being interrupted.

But we also know that most people do not have the ideal space in their home: reduced space, lack of ergonomics in furniture, connectivity problems and permanent distractions with a family, pets and housework.

And while many of these drawbacks could have some kind of palliative, the truth is that there are other secondary effects associated with teleworking such as isolation, sedentary lifestyle, loss of social capital of work teams and the sense of belonging to the organizational community that are more difficult to manage.

On the other hand, no one is unaware that -thought technology implementation- today the boundaries between the spheres of family, work, friends and leisure are blurred, and that there is a kind 24 hours a day of availability that not only makes us work longer but they are also the perfect breeding ground for anxiety and stress. Recent research and surveys agree that people overwhelmingly prefer to go back to the office, but would like to see significant changes.

During confinement, both companies and employees became digitally “literate” and learned new ways of relating and working that were not on the near horizon. It’s time to capitalize on what we learned by doing.

After the extreme experience we have had in 2020 we should re-evaluate the world we have created and think about how we should do it better. But it would be a bad idea to go from one extreme to the other: a good balance will be the key.

Today, companies have the opportunity (and the need) to adopt a more agile work culture that not only includes more flexible work policies, but also revalues ​​the connections between people and provides the best spaces to share experiences that facilitate the collaborative work and innovation. It is in these ecosystems, through the rules of coexistence and the ethics of each organization, where the ferment is generated from which the sense of belonging, the idea of ​​purpose, commitment and corporate identity emerge.

But we can´t ignore the fact that it is a dynamic process that requires continuous effort. In any type of organization, culture will develop spontaneously, either by action or omission. If the process is not paid attention, as time passes it will evolve on its own with the risk of leaving the progress of this strategic attribute to chance.

The workspace can be an excellent management tool for companies, but only insofar as it is aligned with their culture and identity, is safe, dynamic, flexible, healthy and stimulating. And fortunately, neurosciences today provide us with an invaluable amount of scientific information that allows us to adopt a variety of options when designing the best offices. We have the necessary knowledge and evidence on the best way to distribute the space, manage the lighting and views to the outside, and define the textures, patterns, shapes and colors that we will use to create a work environment that more effectively promotes physical and mental´s people well-being. This will result in greater satisfaction and, therefore, higher productivity.

It is a “small” investment (compared to salaries) that quickly capitalizes on measurable results.

The arrival of the new generations to the labor market has also meant a change of course in workplace strategies. Today, young talents who yearn to integrate Income + Passion + Purpose + Lifestyle, have definitively broken with the mandate of looking for a stable job. However, in these times -so fickle, unpredictable and uncertain- companies urgently need to attract and retain the best talent to successfully surf markets that are increasingly changing and fragmented, with workgroups available stimulated, versatile and empowered.

This is where the office begins to play a key role: it is the place (our place) that identifies us as a team and brings us together face to face.

The truth is that the times that run will demand more and more flexibility in terms of investment, terms and the amount of surface to be used by companies. This is why the Corporate Real Estate will need to adapt quickly to this demand with new formats and products under the threat of an increase in vacancies and a fall in rental prices.

As has happened in other industries where the important thing is the use of the good and not the possession of it (Uber, Airbnb, Software, Coliving, etc.), in this “new normal”, which is nothing more than the deepening of trends that were already underway, a large percentage of the real estate stock will change to Office as a Service (OaaS). Flexible work will also require flexible spaces.