Offices try to make you feel at home

Consultants agree workplace operators should do more to satisfy the needs and desires of workers

The solution to one of the hardest puzzles nowadays tormenting pressured employees, seeking cost-effective and unconventional respites from work, is apparently not a million miles away - if you know where to look.

The question for Jin Yinian was where he could go for an eight-day holiday, to stay far away from the crowds, at little cost.

After mulling it through the 23-year-old programmer at a wine retailer in Shanghai found his answer: the office.

"For many it sounds like a joke you can crack, before you go on your break. A self-deprecating one about a young man with no budget for a fancy resort. But for me, my office is probably the best place I can imagine in the city," Jin said.

"It is better than my own home", he said.

Strolling through a 300 square meter workspace - with a dozen desks for a small team of sales, marketing, and IT support - Jin walked right up to his favorite spot, and then rolled onto the huge sofa in the corner.

"Our employer, as a wine retailer, requires all of the staff to have some knowledge about wine. So they must taste some from time to time," he said.

"As an app developer and programmer, I often sip from a glass while writing down my ideas on the sofa," he said.

The non-standard office, or open space that host the staff, creates a feeling that the office is like a playground, Jin said.

"It makes you feel relaxed, so you can better focus on ideas," he said.

"If you need 15 minutes to be alone in a private space, the wine cellar is a good place to be."

Zhong Wenwen is a 23-year-old who says she works for an e-commerce platform which reviews food and beverages and sells products with the best reviews to online customers.

Her office has only one long table where she and her colleagues, who call themselves "foodies," have placed their laptops so they can work and dine together on the review samples.

"We don't have a conventional office. Where we work is best described as a kitchen," she said.

There are two ovens, a dishwasher, and a handful of cupboards, and shelves of food and beverages they are going to review and perhaps sell in the future.

"Everyday when I pop into the workplace, my foodie pals feed me with the new arrivals," she said.

"Of course you need to work hard to produce quality content, and eat hard, too. This workplace is more like a restaurant, a hidden gem. I feel more like experimenting than working."

Naturally, her office has a shower-room - for those who cook food in the morning and need to meet clients in the afternoon.

"I like to take a shower at noon, to wash off the smell of onions or garlic on my hair and feel refreshed. It makes me feel good," she said.

As new types of businesses emerge, these companies may demand offices far beyond conventional styles, where employees are seated in cubicles.

New equipment and facilities are required to support such operations and to take care of employees' wellbeing - making them feel less pressured and intense during working hours.

Office operation experts say that the office is no longer just a place where you sit, type, make phone calls. It should be a place encouraging ideas, innovation, conversations, and open dialogue.

According to research into the Asia-Pacific workplaces by international real estate services provider CBRE - which surveyed employers across the region from small companies to multinationals - health and wellness factors are increasingly influencing real estate decisions and have been driving companies to focus on creating a healthier and more productive workplace.

Increasing numbers of companies in China are also investing in wellness programs, from redesigning workplaces to adding more facilities and services to ensure employees toil in a environment-friendly and health-friendly place.

Tong Lai Fun, executive director and sales lead of global workplace solutions with CBRE China operation, said that it takes a certain kind of vision to eye the long-term benefits for both employers and employees when thinking about wellness in the workplace.

"Companies are now more aware of the role that workplace wellness plays in attracting talent and improving productivity." he said.

Real estate services providers, including CBRE and JLL, have been attentively introducing the WELL. It's a form of certification for the state of the environment in buildings, that helps to ensure that the "wellness" of people who work in those places is taken good care of.

Spaces that receive WELL certification need to meet WELL standards in various aspects, from air quality to water safety, from nutrition to light, from fitness to comfort levels.

A WELL-certified office may include a built-in staircase or similar routes that encourage more walking and activities during working hours, and a kitchen-pantry that supplies nutritious meals during the day, prepared by an internal team or an outsourced team.

More than 500 projects globally have applied for the certification, including more than 160 from the Asia-Pacific region. China has some 100 projects among these, including 45 office buildings.

Shanghai and Beijing are the two cities with the majority of projects to have applied for the certification.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 10/05/2017 page16)