Working environment – does it matter?

I subscribe to a number of different news feeds. And it seems that almost every week, at least one of them will have an article on what it is like to work at Facebook/Google/Apple or some other trendy tech company. It’s difficult to grasp how workers at the aforementioned ever get any productive work done. They must be so busy playing foozeball, eating their company provided snacks, or exercising at the company provided exercise centre. All in an ultra modern, architect designed campus. Whilst the point of the articles may be to illustrate the benefits  or perks bestowed on employees of these high flying tech businesses, it’s also telling us that competition for talent is such that a major part of attracting and retaining , plus getting the best out of, employees, is providing a work environment that assists those ends.

At the other end of the scale I recall learning William Blake’s poem “Jerusalem” during my mis-spent schooldays. The lines most memorable of course are:

And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these dark Satanic mills?

It may not be that all factories at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution were “satanic”. But working conditions were certainly dark, dismal and dangerous.

And then we read Dickens, and his descriptions of workplaces in Victorian England. Things  had not improved dramatically from the times that Blake describes.

Indeed even in the 1960’s when I started out working in factories, there were still many working environments which were intimidating, gloomy and grubby. And the attitude to the workforce was much more stick than carrot.

Now, of course, the workplace, and employment market, are very different. There is competition for talent in most vocations. Employers are having to consider what they need to do to either retain or attract employees with skills. And it is not just about money. As we are constantly being told, millennials have priorities higher than money.

An important part of any package presented to employees is the physical environment of the workplace. For most, somewhere between 8 and 12 hours a day will be spent at work. There is significant evidence that our surroundings contribute greatly to the condition of the human spirit – and therefore to attitude and productivity. Having a workplace which uplifts and encourages must add to the bottom line of any business – if simply by enabling a business to attract and retain better talent.

So, what elements contribute to a more conducive workplace – and what are often lacking?

Whilst the media may focus on the quality and working environment in offices, what about the very many workers who don’t work in offices? Employers are finding that the attracting and retaining staff in non-office jobs is just as important, and the working environment is a major part of that.

Over the past several years standards have been raised significantly in many industrial environments – but unfortunately it is still possible to find the dark, the grubby, and the positively unfriendly work environments. Most significantly, these are very often with smaller businesses, and often ones that are not performing well. Whether that is a “chicken”, or an “egg” situation is debateable. Does a business perform badly because it doesn’t care about it’s work environment, and therefore does not attract or retain quality staff? Or is it as Buddha said “How you do one thing is how you do everything”?

For our part we would rather work with quality businesses, who want to work in a positive physical environment, and respect the building they operate from. Which means that no matter how large or small the potential tenant, before we agree to lease them a building, we are going to want to see the premises they currently operate from. If they don’t look after their current premises, what indication is there that they will look after ours?

Our rule of thumb when refurbishing a building is that we want to produce an environment that we would be happy to work in. Older buildings are not necessarily less of a practical or attractive workplace. But, standards have changed over the years, and some buildings have been upgraded and others have not. And bringing buildings up to contemporary standards has a cost – but also significant benefits. Obviously the greatest differences between standard of facility, and therefore attractiveness of working environment, will be in offices, lunchrooms and toilet facilities. Paint, lighting and layout, along with air-conditioning and quality of furniture can make a significant difference.

The opposite side of that equation is that there deserves to be a significant difference in value between properties that have been refurbished, and those that have not. Unfortunately, often that value is not recognised by inexperienced industrial investors. But increasingly employers, who are the tenants, are recognising that there is a value in quality, and are prepared to pay for it.