The Workplace You Need Now

7The Human Experience in the Corporate Office

“Authentic brands don’t emerge from marketing cubicles or advertising agencies. They emanate from everything the company does.”

Howard Schultz, Former Chairman and CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company

Workplace experience and workplace optimization have been playing tug of war for more than 80 years. The goals don’t necessarily have to be at odds with each other, but competing demands tend to pull costs, design, and space plans in different directions. The pendulum has swung from efficiency to experience and back again, from the elbow-to-elbow desks of the Frederick Taylor era to the lively innovation spaces of the dot.com boom, from “cube farms” in the 1980s to the coworking bench seating of recent years – some of which would have made Taylor proud.

Throughout that time, many employees spent more of their waking hours at the office than at home, giving rise to terms like work spouse. Workplaces often function as second homes, blurring once-hard lines between live, work, and play.

When the pandemic drove employees temporarily to their homes, focus and productivity became easier for some and more difficult for others. The benefits of convenience were often undercut by the distractions of family responsibilities or by the isolation of those living and working alone. Collaboration and team interaction became more difficult. While productivity held by some measures, working at home has led to burnout and cognitive fatigue for those experiencing ...