Adapting to Different Employees in the Workforce, Part 1: Office Design and Amenities

By striking a balance, the right office design can help companies retain and attract talent from every generation.

Conventional wisdom holds that you can’t please everyone. But when it comes to creating office space that appeals to top talent from four very different generations, there’s an exception to that rule.

Millennials are flooding the workforce, claiming 56 million spots in the 2017 labor force. This is followed closely by Generation X at 53 million, while Baby Boomers dropped to 41 million positions.

And as the oldest Generation Zers march toward college graduation, companies are realizing that attracting and retaining top talent from this diverse labor pool requires a new way of doing business – and that includes adaptive office design.

The generation gap

BABY BOOMERS

Who They Are: The oldest Baby Boomers reached 65 in 2011, and the youngest will arrive there by 2029. Boomers have a strong work ethic and they thrive on security and team meetings that provide value. They love friendly competition, and they hate distractions or disconnection.

Their Dream Design: Baby Boomers rank the quality of meeting rooms and acoustic privacy as the most important components of a workplace, according to a study by Knoll Workplace Research. They want quiet offices that can be luxurious but prioritize functional and efficient workspaces.

They prefer to meet in person, so collaborative office spaces and modular workstations are successful. Boomers tend to separate their work and personal lives, so the trend toward office space with an overtly residential feel can fall outside their comfort zone.

GENERATION X

Who They Are: Born between 1965 and 1978, Gen Xers are also hard workers and have most likely dedicated a good chunk of their career to the same industry or company. They love innovative technology, but they also remember a world before the Internet, and some offline work can get their creative juices flowing. They value face time and believe the highest positions are earned by years of hard work, experience, and expertise.

Their Dream Design: A safe environment and an engaging workplace are most important to Generation X, and they rank acoustic privacy as least important, the Knoll study reports. They are most comfortable somewhere between the traditional layouts preferred by Boomers and the unstructured, whimsical working world of the Millennials.

Gen X can adapt to open office designs but are most productive when they also have dedicated space for individual work and quiet reflection.

MILLENNIALS

Who They Are: Millennials (1981-1996) crave social connection. They are used to working in teams and want to make friends with people at work. They are all about work-life balance – they are just as likely to work from a coffee shop as an office or stop for a ping pong break in the middle of the workday.

Although they have been criticized for their tendency to job hop and their less-than-stellar personal communication skills, they have a can-do attitude at work. Confident and positive, they want to be challenged and will not tolerate boredom. Since they’ve been raised in a high-tech world, learning new technology and embracing flexibility is second nature.

Their Dream Design: Millennials want their company’s office to benefit the greater good. Think water features, solar panels, green technology, and paperless work. They rank an engaging workplace as most important to them, and this tech-savvy crowd says rooms for face-to-face meetings are least important the Knoll study reports.

Millennials take the concept of open office space to another level with communal tables, bright and bold designs, fun amenities, and conference rooms that are anything but traditional. Don’t be surprised if they request minimalist commuter workspaces so they can work virtually – or if you assign them a cubicle but more often find them stationed with their laptop in the employee lounge. Because they blend their work and private lives, they thrive in workspaces that feel like “home” – complete with comfy living areas and fully-stocked kitchens.

GENERATION Z

Who They Are: Born between 1995 and 2010 and raised during an economic recession, Gen Z values structure, order, and stability. They’ve grown up with social media as a constant presence and a mobile device always in their hands, and they tend to expect instant gratification.

They can multitask like no other generation, often bouncing between five screens at a time. But that makes for notoriously short attention spans, and office space with too many distractions might make it hard for them to focus. They are also independent and competitive, and while they appreciate collaboration, they also want to be judged on their own merits.

Their Dream Design: Generation Z is used to college environments that are collaborative, flexible, and technology-driven. While they like the predictability of knowing exactly what to expect in each space, they are most productive when they are given the flexibility to move around.

Inspire them to achieve their best with a variety of workspaces that accommodate their ever-changing needs – solo workstations, mobile workstations like desks with wheels, small team rooms, large conference rooms, relaxed community areas, and lounge areas.

The one-size-fits-all solution

Before the 1960s there was the bullpen – a cramped, frequently noisy, open office space where companies stuffed as many workers as they could into rows of desks. By the 1970s, cubicle farms had emerged, dividing formerly open-office plans into quiet, partitioned spaces that managers ran from closed-door offices.

In the 1980s, ultimate success meant moving into a private corner office. In recent years, a new emphasis on collaboration and non-hierarchical spaces has managers and their staff working side-by-side and sent the office pendulum swinging back toward wide open spaces.

But companies are realizing that expecting Millennials to thrive in the old cubicle environment – or forcing Baby Boomers to function in unstructured spaces – is like trying to jam a USB cord into an Ethernet receptacle (I am tired of square pegs and round holes).

At the same time, there is a growing pushback against offices that are too open. An Inc. magazine report asserts that open office space causes a 15 percent drop in productivity, and 31 percent of employees say they have to leave the office to focus on assignments.

The age of flexible workspace is dawning – and the best age-neutral office design will offer a variety of options that workers can choose from based on their needs and work styles. The newest trend is toward offices that are “landscaped” – still open, but sprinkled with some enclosed offices, lots of formal and informal meeting spaces, homey, social gathering areas, and small amenity spaces like coffee nooks. Employees can shape their day to fit their needs, ensuring they are comfortable.

Study after study shows that employees who enjoy the environment they are part of will be more engaged, productive, and happy at work – which leads to stronger loyalty. Job candidates are also more likely to choose companies where they can picture themselves thriving. In fact, more than 40 percent say they would reconsider a job offer if they didn’t like the office space.

When it comes to office design, you really can please everyone, and the result can be an engaged workforce.

To learn more about how to improve your company’s sourcing, the candidate selecting, and onboarding processes, contact Karp HR Solutions today for a free consultation.