How companies are rethinking the purpose of their workplace to drive better business outcomes

Adaptability has always been a critical skill for workplace leaders, but in the last few years, it’s become absolutely essential. In the current economy, where accounting for every dollar matters, executives want to ensure the workplace is still worth their investment. This means workplace leaders must reevaluate the purpose of the physical workplace and prove—without question—that it drives value for their business.

In the final post of our workplace utilization and data series, we’ll share a few ways companies across different industries have evolved their workplace strategies to meet their business’s needs.

We’ll also dive into the technologies they depend on to guide their success and the practical steps you can take to make similar changes at your company. Let’s get started.

Miss the previous two posts in the series? Check them out below:

• Learn how to understand your occupancy and optimize your space with workplace data
• Discover essential strategies to ensure your data is accurate and actionable

The workplace as a lever for enhancing business efficiency and cost savings

Operational efficiency is even more important in today’s challenging economic climate. Many companies see the workplace as a critical lever they can pull to achieve cost savings, larger profit margins, and sustained competitiveness.

Take the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, where R&D teams work side by side in labs, handling sensitive materials and running critical experiments. To help them do their best work, it’s essential to design spaces that support innovation, protect employee safety, and meet strict regulatory standards.

The first step to improving workplace efficiency is replacing outdated, disconnected systems with a unified workplace platform. With a single source of truth for occupancy and space usage data, workplace leaders can make smarter, faster decisions. The right platform also streamlines visitor documentation and integrates with access control systems, while keeping things easy for employees and guests.

Here are a few scenarios that show how a workplace platform helps pharmaceutical companies maintain a secure, compliant environment—all while keeping work moving.

• When a visitor arrives, they complete a streamlined registration process through the workplace platform. The system automatically triggers country-specific security protocols, replacing what would otherwise be a complex, manual task with real-time, automated checks.
• The platform then logs the visit electronically, keeping a record of the visit. In the event of a security breach or compliance audit, such as one by the FDA and OSHA, they can provide detailed visitor logs. This not only saves admins time, but also ensures the company isn’t hit with financial penalties for failing to meet regulatory requirements.
• A company is developing a new proprietary drug and wants to uplevel its security. To safeguard both their information and employees, the company leverages its access control system, seamlessly integrated with the workplace platform, to ensure only authorized individuals can gain entry to specific areas within the workplace.
• In a different context, imagine a lab worker is looking for specialized equipment. Using their company’s employee-friendly workplace platform, they’re able to easily find and book their equipment without any unnecessary hurdles.

Workplace data can also help companies save on taxes. One tech company discovered they were being overtaxed based on outdated assumptions—that 500 employees were onsite five days a week. In reality, their data showed only about 200 employees were coming in two to four times a week. With accurate occupancy records from their workplace platform, they were able to challenge the assessment and significantly reduce their monthly tax bill.

The workplace as a hub for connection and culture

Many companies are leveraging the workplace to cultivate connection and company culture. For industries where employees are able to do their jobs remotely, such as the technology and professional services industries, establishing a great hybrid workplace experience encourages people to come into the workplace. In fact, a recent Gartner survey reveals that 45% of hybrid employees cite workplace amenities as a motivator to work onsite. That’s followed by 40% who say face time with their coworkers is a motivating factor.

Workplace leaders in these industries need access to accurate occupancy data to optimize their space and create areas for employees to collaborate and connect. This is critical to building company culture, which helps reduce churn, attract top talent, and directly impact the business’s bottom line. Access to accurate occupancy data also empowers workplace managers and executives to make informed decisions about whether or not to upgrade to a larger space or renovate existing space.

For example, with insight into who’s onsite and when, many have adopted hybrid schedules designed to stagger when teams and departments come into the workplace. This helps the workplace strike a balance between too many and too few people onsite at once, creating an environment more conducive to building company culture. Despite the importance of workplace data, more than half (54%) of companies have lacked the data they needed to make a critical workplace decision. If employers invest in this data, they can tap into smarter decision-making that can improve their space, encourage employees to return onsite, and reap the full benefits of the workplace.

The workplace as a space to drive client relationship building

Nurturing client relationships is now a strategic function of the workplace for many industries, including professional services. According to a recent report, the top reasons clients give for ending their relationship with a firm include “poor delivery of service” and “lack of an innovative approach.” To avoid appearing outdated and losing clients to more forward-thinking competitors, many firms are meticulously reevaluating their visitor experience from start to finish.

We want our clients to come to our studios and, when they can, to spend the whole day here, working side-by-side with their teams. - Brent Turner, SVP of Solutions at Cramer.

As one example, the professional services company Cramer leverages the workplace for more than just hosting client meetings. “We want our clients to come to our studios and, when they can, to spend the whole day here, working side-by-side with their teams,” said Brent Turner, SVP of Solutions. For Cramer, building a strong client relationship starts the moment their guests arrive. That begins in their lobby, which is designed to create a lasting impression—from the welcome clients receive at the front desk to the swift and streamlined check-in process.

The workplace as a bridge to a unified workplace experience

Finally, some companies are leveraging the workplace to create a unified experience for employees and visitors alike, beginning in the lobby. In a global age where people often visit different offices for meetings and special events, companies need to offer a consistently excellent experience regardless of which location a person is visiting.

To accomplish this, companies use their workplace platform to give employees easy access across locations. And the smooth experience doesn’t stop at the front desk. Employees can also use their workplace solution to navigate the workplace with ease.

A unified workplace platform also ensures guests can enjoy a seamless experience at any location. Hosts simply have to register their guests ahead of their visit. Once they do, admins are notified to approve the guest. From there, the guest is sent a visitor badge straight to their phone or email, which they can use for a hassle-free entrance to the workplace.

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The workplace continues to play a significant role in business. However, to fully capitalize on its potential, companies must leverage it strategically. With the right workplace strategy—and the technology to support it—leaders can create a space that’s vital to business success.

We hope this blog series taught you something new about the role workplace data can play in driving business growth. If you missed them, check out our previous two posts and our latest report: Without accurate data, the physical workplace won’t survive.