Workplace design and employee engagement
Vital Germaine
Here are 3 tips to help you maximize workspaces to elevate engagement, because the employee experience is crucial to the success of your business or organization. It pays to be employee-centric.
1. WORK AREAS: Design environments that inspire creativity and happiness.
It can be done very cost effectively and with a great ROI if you get creative. Location, location, location. Cirque du Soleil adopted and transformed an abandoned fire station in Montreal, affectionately named Angus, to become their “factory”. There was no avant-garde interior design on display. There were no Oompa Loompas meandering the premises doing strange dances. I didn’t witness any magnificent sculptures or art, nor bright colored walls to inspire or promote creativity. All these elements would have helped. Nonetheless, the fact they had chosen an abandoned fire station sent a subliminal message that they were cool, fun, eccentric, and defying context of their market place — All with the purpose to be innovative and deliver entertainment excellence. It’s one of the key factors that sets them apart.
2. MEETING LOCATIONS: The environment in which you hold meetings will heavily influence the level of inspiration and collaboration.
Do something different, new and unexpected (crazy) to disrupt. Pleasantly shock your team to life. In the book, Everybody Always, author Bob Goff shares the story of how as an adjunct law professor at Pepperdine Law School, he was required to have office hours. He saw beyond the limitations of regulations. Nowhere did it stipulate where his office had to be. He established a very unique office. He told his students they could find him in his ‘office’ at Tom Sawyer Island in Disneyland to meet. There is no admission fee and there are no lines. Walt Disney is the consummate businessman driven by imagination and the freedom, which is provides. Even important people enjoy being a big kid at heart.
Bob apparently always had more than ten students show up at meeting times.
Adding to the story in regards to being creative to establish something different and memorable, The Supreme Court Judge of Uganda once visited the U.S and wanted to see Bob’s ‘office’. Bob picked him up at the airport with custom Mickey ears made for the visitor and took him straight to his ‘office’ at Disney Land. They apparently had a great meeting! Location, location, location.
3. EVALUATE AND ADAPT: Take the time to evaluate your workspace environment and act accordingly. Change your perspective physically, emotionally and intellectually.
Look in the mirror to better understand what your brand is about and what you’re doing to inspire your employees to reach that objective.
A simple design shift could be the change your company is looking for and needs to reenergize your workforce. Build an environment that is visually pleasing and stimulating… also, emotionally and intellectually safe. Employees must feel confident and supported to step out of the comfort zone, risk and fall. Setting the right tone and mindset is crucial to your company’s growth.
You client base will love you even more for getting creative with your workspace environments without knowing why. We know why… because your workforce will be inspired and engaged.
Learn more about our INNOVATION MINDSET virtual learning opportunity.
The insight from Cirque du Soleil’s highly effective business and culture process in this blog is taken from Chapter 4 (The How of Cirque Innovation) from the book, INNOVATION MINDSET. The full chapter does a deeper dive into solving this easy to fix challenge.
Vital Germaine
President of ENGAGEteams360
Vital is Las Vegas' most dynamic keynotes speaker and corporate trainer. His executive leadership experiences are designed to inspire extraordinary performance. BOOK VITAL TODAY for: