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Senior Content Manager
Content specialist in office design and build.
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Every office should be inclusive – ensuring all employees feel valued and comfortable at work. It enables people to perform at their best, yet so many offices don’t meet the grade. Why? It may be down to a lack of communication between decision-makers and employees.
According to research, almost a quarter of organisations never seek employee feedback. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at inclusive design for offices, why feedback is vital and how you can encourage employees to voice their opinions.
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What is inclusive office design?
Inclusive office design is an integral part of a modern workplace strategy. Having an inclusive workplace means making sure everyone feels considered and valued in the office, and that sense of belonging is incredibly important in driving employee engagement.
Inclusivity covers everything from accessibility and space to noise, lighting and temperature. In short, it’s about giving employees the environment they want and need, ensuring that everyone feels comfortable in the space that they work in. Providing these inclusive conditions ultimately helps people do their best work, while failing to do so could have a negative impact on performance, and, in some instances, on retention.
A classic example of providing this flexibility is having different spaces for people to choose from when working – an open plan space for collaborative work in active conditions but also private booths for quieter, independent work. For example, Double Eleven’s headquarters is split into vibrant, open “Sun” spaces for creativity and collaboration and quieter, more introspective “Moon” spaces for breakout and focused work.
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The importance of feedback for inclusivity
Inclusivity centres around employees, so it’s only natural that their feedback is important. By actively seeking input from your team, you gain valuable insights into the specific challenges and barriers they face daily. This feedback not only highlights areas for improvement but also fosters a culture of collaboration and trust, showing employees that their voices matter in shaping a workplace for everyone.
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In our article on inclusivity barriers, we discussed some of the most common issues like excessive noise levels, poor lighting and a lack of privacy. In many cases, employees will struggle with these problems in silence. People don’t tend to scream and shout when things get in their way at work. They put up with them, and it’s their morale and productivity that suffer.
Additionally, these aren’t always universal issues. There could be just one or a few of your team struggling with an office that’s too loud, for example – making it that much harder to spot as a business owner or manager. However, that’s still one too many. Inclusivity is about everyone in the office, not most people.
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6 ways to obtain employee feedback
In a recent survey of 1,000 UK workers, 23.4% said that their employer never seeks feedback about workplace design and inclusivity. A further 23.6% said that feedback is rarely sought. That’s just under half of organisations, which aren’t actively engaging employees in the process of improving their work environments. In fact, just 18.1% of respondents said that their employer regularly seeks feedback.
Clearly, more organisations need to take a proactive approach. Here are some ways you can do just that…
Company-wide surveys
Surveys are the obvious choice when it comes to employee feedback, especially for larger organisations. They’re quick and relatively easy to produce and distribute. The challenge is getting good-quality feedback from them. Here are some considerations:
- Open vs closed questions – Open questions like “Do you have any issues?” avoid narrowing down the potential responses for employees. However, they also make it easier to opt out of responding. Closed questions can be more direct, such as “Is privacy a concern?”. They encourage a response, but you risk missing out on more specific gripes.
- Regular vs one-off – Regular surveys, such as quarterly or annual, allow you to stay up to date with employee opinions. However, you risk staff becoming weary of the process, which could impact response rates.
- Incentives – To improve your response rate, you may want to incentivise the survey for your staff. Offering freebies, vouchers or an early finish one day will get you more valuable feedback to shape your office design.
- Anonymity – It’s usually best to keep survey responses anonymous. This can encourage people to be honest without any risks if their feedback is too negative.
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One-to-one meetings
Holding meetings with all your employees is a great way to engage them in the feedback process. It’s a more personal approach, which some staff will prefer to a faceless survey. If you already have meetings like this, even better!
Many organisations hold exit interviews with employees, which are a useful way to ask about issues with the office and whether they contributed to their decision. People are often more honest when they’re leaving – and it gives you a direct insight into the office issues affecting staff retention. You can do the same for existing staff – sometimes known as “stay interviews”.
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Suggestion boxes
Suggestion boxes are a good way to get ad-hoc feedback from your workforce. The main benefit here is that issues can be reported as and when they arise. Many people will forget issues by the time a quarterly survey or biannual meeting comes around. With a suggestion box, they can simply jot it down and pop it in. Just be sure it’s in a discreet location, as this will increase the likelihood of employees using it.
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Team meetings
If one-to-one meetings are too time-consuming, team meetings are a quicker way to get feedback from across your organisation. You can choose from:
- Departmental meetings – Employees may feel more comfortable discussing issues with colleagues they see day in, day out
- Company-wide meetings – Representatives from each team could bring forward ideas on behalf of their colleagues
- Town hall meetings – These are an ideal opportunity for a show of hands on key issues
Utilise human resources
Don’t forget the value of human resources (HR) when it comes to staff concerns. They can monitor performance, collect data or hold meetings on your behalf. HR teams are often seen as an intermediary between management and staff, meaning some people feel more comfortable voicing their opinions.
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Steering groups
A steering group can be hugely useful in helping businesses obtain meaningful feedback on inclusivity in workplace design by providing structure and accountability. By coordinating feedback collection efforts, a steering group ensures that input is gathered comprehensively from diverse employee groups.
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This inclusivity in feedback helps uncover barriers that might otherwise go unnoticed, such as those related to sensory or neurodiverse needs. The group evaluates this feedback to identify patterns and priorities, translating insights into actionable recommendations for workplace improvements.
A steering group is also a great way to foster continuous improvement. These groups typically revisit inclusivity efforts over time, creating a feedback loop that demonstrates how employee input directly influences outcomes.
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Inclusivity begins with listening
For an office to be inclusive, you should tailor things like accessibility, space, noise, lighting and temperature to all of your employees. Their feedback can highlight room for improvement to help you design a fully inclusive office.
To get your hands on that all-important feedback, you can try surveys, one-to-one meetings, suggestion boxes, team meetings and human resources. Combining these methods may prove to be the most fruitful approach.
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Speak to a workplace expert
020 7553 9500
info@oktra.co.uk
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