Exploring the Change Drivers Influencing the Future of Workplace

Millie Kwong, Amin Mojtahedi, Haley Nelson

01.10.2024

Using an Organization’s Purpose to Craft a Unique Workplace

Every organization has a purpose, aligned to their mission and vision, that drives them.

At HGA, we consider how each organization chooses to show up in the world—to their employees, customers, and the greater public—as their unique brand expression. This brand threads together the key change drivers of the workplace today: Work Process, Sustainability, Well-being, Equity and Culture. We use design as a tool to unlock the potential in each of these drivers, aligning our solutions with a client organization’s purpose to deliver an authentic and impactful workplace.

Work Process: Hybrid work and supportive technology is reshaping how and where work gets done.
Sustainability: The impact of buildings on the environment and the choices an organization makes on how they use resources are shaping a proactive approach towards stewardship and a reflection of values.
Well-Being: A focus on global health in recent years has brought the conversation about well-being to the forefront and the expectation from employees is to thrive at work.
Equity: Diversity used to be a tool for recruitment and retention, now promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives is a social responsibility.
Culture: Emphasis on new, inspiring, and exciting reasons for people to come to the office is shifting workplace culture.

Internal and external influences shape a company in different ways. External pressures like global health, climate, or conflict can shape an organization’s business, while internal forces like leadership changes or employee-driven resource groups will shape how a company expresses each of the change drivers. This is a unique recipe, specific to industry, organization, and people.

We like to think of each organization we work with as a constellation of stars with their own expression of how the change drivers show up for them—some may have a larger investment in sustainability causes and initiatives based on the work they do; others may have a balance across all change drivers.

We collaborate with organizations to discover their purpose, align with current workplace trends, and craft a distinctive design expression to authentically engage employees, customers, and stakeholders.

Explore the themes below to learn:

Strategies we are implementing with our clients.
Thoughts on the forces that are driving change in work.
How we’re dreaming about the future of workplace.

Hybrid work and its supportive technology is reshaping meeting and collaboration spaces. Studies are encouraging organizations to discover and adopt better modes of collaboration (both physical and digital) and to be intentional about designing these intersections and communication, expectations and working norms. - McKinsey, 'What is the Future of Work?'

The vision behind Cushman and Wakefield's new DC office was driven by the need to work across physical and virtual realities, while also providing a place that employees want to come to work; to collaborate, learn and succeed together. Learn More

Watch the Video - Understand how space and technology support the ecosystem of work. - Describe how adopting a "digitally supported" mindset can drive design decisions. - Apply design strategies to promote AV Equity in workplace design. - Identify methods and inspirations to support human-centered design with technology.

Physicality of workplace and hybrid policy shape organizations proactive approach towards climate change. The use of local materials reinforces Marlboro's place within the lush rolling hills and streams of the Green Mountains. See More

HGA has won an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE®) Top Ten Award for Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The architecture industry’s highest honor for sustainable design, the COTE® Top Ten Awards program honors projects for their significant achievements integrating design excellence with environmental performance. Read More

As designers, we recognize the incredible opportunity—and responsibility—we have to do everything we can to build a more sustainable future. From improving indoor air quality to reducing construction waste, the materials architects and designers specify matter and our choices represent an enormous opportunity to improve the health of the planet and the people who inhabit it. For this reason, we have developed The Healthier and Sustainable Interior Materials Selection Guide, which is a compilation of resources that offers healthy and sustainable material options for projects of any size, budget or aspiration that align with our Sustainability Commitments. View / Download

At HGA we believe that every act of design contributes to our common future. Built upon a foundation of deep insight into client needs, our work is fueled by empathy, curiosity, and our resolve to deliver the extraordinary. Read HGA's 2023 Impact Report

The pandemic has brought the conversation about health and well-being to the forefront—the expectation is to thrive at work. "Nearly 70% of employees are reflecting on their purpose because of COVID-19. Those employees who say that they live their purpose at work are 6.5 times more likely to report higher resilience. They're 4 times more likely to report better health. They're 6 times more likely to want to stay at the company, and 1.5 times more likely to go above and beyond to make their company successful." - McKinsey, 'The Search for Purpose at Work'

The new headquarters for McGough Construction transformed an industrial building into an open, collaborative workplace with flexible workstations, huddle areas, and glass conference rooms. 90% of post-occupancy survey respondents agree that McGough supports their overall well-being. Project Details

HGA conducted and shared a Post-Occupancy Evaluation of McGough Headquarters, evaluating the impact of the project through the lens of WELL standards, grounded in research led by our Design Insight Group. Read McGough's Post-Occupancy Evaluation

Diversity used to be a tool for recruitment and retention; now, promoting DEI is a social responsibility. 65% of Millennials say they'd feel more inspired at a company with an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policy embedded into its business practices - and they'd be more loyal to that company, too. - Korn Ferry, 'What Does the Future of Work Look Like in 2023?'

We are pleased to share that HGA has achieved the Just Label 2.0. Designed by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), Just is a nutrition label for socially just and equitable organizations. As a voluntary disclosure tool for organizations rather than a certification program, it is a transparency platform for organizations to disclose their operations, including how they treat their employees and where they make financial and community investments. HGA's JUST Label

Since neurodivergence touches most of our lives, whole-brain design, which addresses the rich and varied ways people’s brains process, retain and utilize information, should become as integral a part of our professional practices as meeting the unique needs of differently abled individuals.

Sequencing - many people with neurodivergent conditions have an affinity for routine, organizing and sequencing spaces in the order that activities occur throughout the workday can reduce anxiety. Read 'Understanding Whole Brain Design', Work Design Magazine.

Emphasis on new, inspiring, and exciting reasons for people to come to the office is shifting workplace culture. 51% of Gen Z employees say that their education has not prepared them to enter the workforce. It's not just Gen Z—everyone's social skills have eroded since 2020. Burnout, exhaustion, and career insecurity erode performance. No one, from any generation, has cracked the code for navigating our new shared professional environment." - Harvard Business Review, '9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2023 and Beyond'

Individual focus spaces near collaborative areas allow emerging professionals to overhear and be mentored through knowledge sharing conversations, even inviting them to lean in and join the conversation.

Designing a new workplace is a strategic process that begins by gathering insight into a company’s goals and then translating that vision into a built environment that reflects its unique culture. Read our series of steps to help us discover what makes each company unique in 'Designing for Change Management'

For more on how HGA is rethinking workplace strategy for the office of the future, visit HGA Corporate.

Authors

Haley Nelson, ASID, LEED AP, WELL AP
DESIGN PRINCIPAL / NATIONAL INTERIOR DESIGN EXPERTISE LEADER

Amin Mojtahedi, PhD, Assoc. AIA
DESIGN INNOVATION MANAGER, DESIGN INSIGHT GROUP

Millie Kwong, CID, NCIDQ
SENIOR INTERIOR DESIGNER

Millie Kwong, Amin Mojtahedi, Haley Nelson

01.10.2024

Using an Organization’s Purpose to Craft a Unique Workplace

Authors

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