大学设计观察：工作场所设计的新驱动力（英文版）.pdf

COLLEGIATE DESIGN:The New Driver for Workplace DesignJonathan Webb, Vice President of Sales styles cultivated in highly responsive, higher education environments. In other words, maybe organizations just aren t ready for new graduates. But what if business environments were more like college campuses? Could corporations attract greater numbers of top talent? Would newly hired graduates get up to speed faster, thrive sooner and become organizational leaders earlier in their careers? What kinds of competitive advantages do corporations that support new employees preferred work styles gain?Surely industry research would provide some good answers. Problem was, we couldn t find any. This gap highlighted another paradox: While there exists many academic studies on how students prefer to learn and how campuses support those preferred styles, there is a dearth of studies on how employees prefer to work and why meeting such needs is beneficial to both employees and organizations.Clearly it was time for some research in this realm. We launched into a research project with this original hypothesis: Corporations should address today s work styles by taking design and workspace planning cues from institutions of higher education because of the influence these learning environments have had on a newly graduating workforce. 4Because learning environments have played an important role in shaping and supporting the work styles of the newest workforce, collegiate design may influence the next evolution in workplace design. Corporations competing in the race for talent should borrow design and workspace planning concepts from institutions of higher education. We sought support for the hypothesis and initially embarked on a year-long research project. The project examined and compared the work styles and work environments typical of corporations with those common to higher education. This primary research was then followed with a string of eye-opening campus visits whereby corporate clients were invited back to college for a firsthand look at collegiate design and to observe the different work styles students use daily.During both the primary and secondary research efforts, interviews were conducted with Fortune 100 companies. The interviewees spanned a range of industries including technology, entertainment, manufacturing, finance and advertising. Some of the answers and results received weren t altogether unexpected, and revealed a significant disconnect between today s workplaces and the expectations of both soon-to-be and newly hired employees. Hmmmm we haven t intentionally looked at that. Fortune 100 technology corporation s response to addressing the preferred work styles and environments of recent college graduatesOn the other hand, the study did reveal a few significant surprises. Three key unexpected and enlightening findings surfaced:1. Recently hired graduates are lost in transition. 2. There is limited research being conductedby organizations on the recently graduating workforce and their work style preferences.3. Current workplace design does not respond tothe needs of recently hired graduates. You have this maze of cubicles and each one is isolated from the other. Nation s largest metropolitan planning organizationLOST IN TRANSITIONWhen making the jump from collegiate to corporate environments, recently hired graduates are often lost in transition. Not only are new hires baffled by the relevance of their physical space ( cube farms ), but also by the work styles expected of them. COLLEGIATE DESIGN OBSERVED: The New Driver for Workplace Design5This fact held true for the great majority of companies interviewed. Given respondents acknowledgement of this fact, we were surprised to learn that only 16% of the companies interviewed actually offered workspaces that responded to the preferences of new workers. The impact of this disconnect may manifest serious repercussions for corporations. Lost employees translate into lower retention rates. Such turnover is both an important metric and an expensive disbursement for organizations.When companies stop to consider the learning environments from which their new workforce has emerged, they would be wise to emulate these environments in the workplace. Companies can benefit from providing similar workspaces several ways:Creating workspaces that foster coaching and mentoring supports ongoing training and development, opportunities new hires seek.Workspaces that leverage technology and supporte-learning provide a crucial tool the recent graduates are accustomed to and have come to expect. Providing comparable corporate environments gives organizations an edge in talent recruitment and retention. These environments lessen the shock for recent graduates as they enter the workforce, reducing the lost in transition affect. An engineering professional at a major aerospace company shared this first-hand account of how lost in transition can impact a business:In mid-2000, 1 in 5 graduating engineering students in the country listed our company in the top three places they d like to work. At the same time, upwards of 40% of new college hires turned over in the first three years of working for our company. Part of reason for the turnover was dissatisfaction over the physical workplace/environment and the fact that it was not conducive to young professionals. Engineering Professional, Global Aerospace CompanyLOST IN TRANSITION BREAKDOWN16% 89%89% of companies experience new hires lost in transition (6-12 months average adjustment period cited)16% of companies try to provide responsivespaces (Research conducted by Webb and Shwery)6A recent college graduate expressed a similar concern regarding today s workplace expectations.Professors give me assignments and deadlines. How I complete those tasks is entirely up to me. They don t say, You will write this paper between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. while sitting at this assigned library table. Recent college graduate and new hireINSUFFICIENT RESEARCHHow do new hires like to work? Most employers aren t sure because they aren t asking.There is a lack of research being conducted on work styles and on the connection between collegiate design and workplace design. Ironically, while most companies have campus recruitment campaigns to hire the best and brightest from universities, only a third bothered to ask soon-to-be graduates how they prefer to work. Clearly, corporations are missing an easy opportunity to gather valuable information about their workforce.Even simple questions such as, What do you look for in your physical work environment? and Do you sit, stand, or lie down to be most productive while working? were omitted on career day interviews. The answers to such questions can provide businesses with important insights into the work styles they must eventually manage. Moreover, when businesses were asked whether collegiate design could impact the layout of their workspaces, 75% said yes. Despite this realization, none of the companies had formally studied the physical collegiate learning environment to determine how it might apply to their workplaces and needs of a new workforce! All were missing out on the valuable opportunity to learn from learning environments.What can be learned from learning environments?We invited corporate clients from a wide range of industries on a series of campus visits. To ensure diversity, visits were made across the country to various state schools and private schools alike, both large and small, and one technical school. Each campus visit shared the same goal: Allow corporate clients to simply observe the different work styles students use every day. Participants were awestruck at the many ways and places students worked. Among the key observations:Students work everywhere park benches, soft seating, stairwells, hallways, wide-open areas, noisy environments, quiet confines. Exterior spaces are maximized and utilized for work/study. Exterior spaces are truly part of a Campuses visited: Emory College, Madison College, University of Southern California, University of Texas Arlington, University of Kansas7college campus overall planning strategy planning that is far greater than building architecture and scale. The impact campus planning has on students ability to use exterior spaces is remarkably evident.Work/study and social interactions/technology occur simultaneously. College is a 24/7 intersection of work and social interaction. They both occur at any time and constantly shift easily and instantly. In that regard, it could be noted that the cultural beginnings of work/life balance start here. Clients were quick to recognize this intermingling of work and social. Many stated their organizations were not equipped to support similar practices.Central building and core spaces are the primary collaboration, communication and interaction spaces found within collegiate buildings. Corporate clients discovered the clear intersection between different types of workstations. Lobbies, circulation spaces and corridors are all used to support student work styles. They are not merely conveyances between individual workspaces, as is often the case in corporate layouts.This led to one of the most central observations made during the visit: At college, 1st spaces are corporate s 3rd spaces, and vice versa. Put another way, corporations are focused on designing 3rd spaces for their employees to use as escape from their personal workstations. In college, however, 3rd spaces ARE personal workstations. Additionally, workstations can change every hour of every day, depending on what students must accomplish and with whom. In other words, the true distributed workforce is the college student, for that is how students are accustomed to working.Technology is an integral and seamless part of students work styles. During a tour, a client marveled at a student who was working in a technology lab and asked to take her photo. The reason? He was astounded by how much technology she was using at a single time. She, like many others, was engaged with no fewer than four technology devices an active desktop, a MacBook, a tablet displaying content, and of course a smart phone for music and texting, all while studying. COLLEGIATE DESIGN OBSERVED: The New Driver for Workplace Design8This use of multiple devices is not at all unusual for today s students. According to one report, they often multi-task across five screens throughout the day. Additionally, using devices for concurrent personal and professional purposes is common and done without hesitation. With students quick and nearly instantaneous adoption of new technology, software platforms, and apps, and a penchant for Apple products, along with an attraction to the latest and greatest tech, our clients recognized potential issues ahead as they require new employees to appropriate into primarily PC cultures.Campus collaborative spaces are more highly used by students (in multiples) than corporate collaborative spaces are used by employees (individuals). This realization is truly a result of both space design and culture. Campus planning must functionally support distributed work styles to allow students ample choices in where to work and with whom. Spaces must accommodate groups of all sizes because as research indicates, 100% of recent graduate hires prefer to work in groups, and working in close proximity to others is preferred. Corporate cultures that focus on individual spaces may face challenges in retaining newly hired graduates because they don t offer adequate spaces to accommodate preferred work styles.The definition of the words group and team are different from the student point of view. While touring campuses, corporate representatives repeatedly used the words group and team interchangeably. However, students perceive a clear difference in the two terms. Understanding that difference may be a key nuance collegiate design addresses and the corporate world misses. 9In simplest terms, the noun group is defined as a number of people or things classified or located close together. The noun team however is defined as a group of people who work together. To students, each is clearly different than the other.Group work for college students may involve individual study/work while co-locating with a similar group, small group pairings (2 or 3) where students do individual work but then sporadically collaborate with one another, and large group settings (like classrooms) where again, sporadic collaboration and interaction occurs. In most cases, group work is still individual goal-oriented.On the other hand, team work for college students is more specific to a group that is assigned to work together (not individually in any way). Two or more individuals work together for a common outcome in which they share. Teams often have hierarchies and structure, as well as tasks and responsibilities assigned to individuals with a shared outcome to achieve a common goal. Both recently hired graduates and seasoned working professionals can benefit from creating workplace environments that address the nuance of group and team. No wonder we can t get anyone to come work for us. Fortune 100 VP of Facilities and Real Estate SolutionsCorporate representatives recognized an obvious disconnect.The problems with such one-off spaces are primarily twofold. First, they reflect a lack of holistic design. It would seem organizations often try to force feed their ideas of what collegiate design is, such as creating various third-space settings, contrived lounge configurations and multi-purpose spaces in hopes that employees will use them. But without the support and integration of surrounding concepts, such as change management, success may be elusive.COLLEGIATE DESIGN OBSERVED: The New Driver for Workplace Design78% of clients polled indicated there are NO SIMILARITIES in how students on campus achieved their daily tasks versus how recently hired graduates work in their respective companies.91% of clients polled indicated there are NO SIMILARITIES in the students work styles on campus versus the work styles recently hired graduates use in their respective companies.Another key data point to emerge was this: 90% of corporations have tried to integrate specific spaces that, in their collective opinions, mimic a collegiate environment, however, none of them had fully integrated their workplace design to truly mirror the collegiate environment holistically. As a result, corporate comments such as, We created a social hub but no one uses it, were common.78% 91% 90%10Secondly, most employees still have their own personal workspaces provided by their employers (cubes, desks) and are still expected to occupy them. Combine this with the general rule that company cultures do not typically promote an agile workforce, and it s easy to see why such collegiate spaces go largely unuse