What The Workplace Can Learn From The Boozer.

As drinkers switched from the pub to home – the pub industry had to change. Offering somewhere to go for a drink was no longer enough. These changes led to the birth of destination pubs – each with a compelling and distinct reason to visit. Whether it was a beautiful beer garden, a superb food menu, a must-have view or children’s play facilities – thousands of breweries and landlords started to think more creatively to drive custom.

This renaissance was the result of considering what would actually make customers visit and it led to development of positive and memorable pub experiences that customers could not get by drinking at home.

I mention the pub industry because it’s a powerful example of change – and it’s highly relevant to the renaissance the UK workplace is currently undergoing.

The destination office is a concept we widely discuss in office interior design– for it acknowledges that offices have to become destinations in order to be relevant to employees. That means offering the facilities and experiences that the growing population of hybrid and remote workers just can’t get elsewhere.

In practical terms, it’s unlikely to mean the widespread appearance of office beer gardens (although garden terraces are high on the list of workplace wants, and clubs and bars are becoming more popular!) but offices can learn a thing or two from destination pubs.

Where a gastro-pub is a place you’d seek out to meet friends for a great lunch – the destination office coffee shop is the place you’d choose to catch up with colleagues and interact with your peers.

Destination offices curate the best workplace experiences by offering a number of differing work settings and zones to suit different tasks and needs.

The eight settings of the destination office are:

1. Library –This area acts as the home for an organisation’s knowledge. This might be physical storage for reference materials or a quiet place for study.
2. Forum – A multi-use and adaptable space, designed to help bring organisations together as a whole in townhall gatherings, informal meetings and company social events.
3. The coffee shop – The convivial social heart of an organisation – a place to meet and mingle, forge connections and friendships and quite simply, get a good coffee.
4. The department store – A resource hub, where services such as IT, HR and Facilities Management are easily accessed by employees. It can be a place of trouble-shooting, catching up changing workplace protocols and solving remote IT challenges.
5. Academy – A combination of formal, informal and tech-rich spaces for learning, coaching and mentoring.
6. Park – A space designed with biophilia and health and wellbeing at its heart. Whether inside or outside, these spaces often include free-to-use gyms, yoga studios and calming spaces to chill out and relax.
7. Gallery – This is the showcase space for an organisation, somewhere its vision, values and purpose can be communicated to visitors and co-workers and brought to life.
8. Co-working bureau – This space comprises shared rather than owned flexible work settings that support agility. It is tech-rich and includes a wide variety of areas to support the specifics of how work is done – e.g. team collaboration, private concentrated work and formal and informal meetings.

Destinations offices offer the facilities, which lead to the experiences, that people will travel for. There are compelling reason to do this too – it’s widely recognised that productivity, collaboration and innovation are boosted when people are together physically. After a period of prolonged separation most employers are keen to bring their people back together – even if it’s just a few days each week.

For housing associations striving to encourage employees back to the workplace – even if it is part of hybrid working model – it’s time to view employees as customers. Give them compelling reasons to expend their energy, best efforts and loyalty for your organisation. Give them reasons to visit, make it fun and somewhere to be proud of. Ensure its rich in the amenities that have real value to how work is done.

Get that right and your new destination office will thrive. Then you’ll definitely deserve a pint!