When it comes to increasing worker satisfaction and boosting productivity, businesses are turning to flexible workspace arrangements for help.
“The biggest benefits for a company are that retention is up and providing a flexible workforce environment leads to higher satisfaction for employees,” said Wes Lenci, vice-president of Regus Canada.
Flexible workspaces offer a range of services that let businesses accommodate their employees’ needs as well their bottom lines.
Instead of working out of hotel rooms, cramped Internet cafés or noisy coffee shops, employees on the go or entrepreneurs can use flexible workspaces to their advantage while accessing all of the amenities and services of a full office.
With more than 1,200 locations around the world, Regus is the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces. With a pre-established infrastructure already set up, companies can get set up and working with minimal startup costs. Clients only pay for the space and services they use on an as needed basis.
You can even walk in off the street and rent a “hot desk” for a short period of time.
“We cater to all different types of business and provide a full-fledged office or team,” said Lenci. “Some major brands include clients like Google, 7-Eleven, Yelp and HP.”
In Vancouver, Regus has six workspace centres. “Some clients use the space for travelling employees or multiple offices where different teams can work from. If you are a member of one location, you have access to all the locations worldwide,” said Lenci, who himself works from several Regus locations on a regular basis.
Clients who want the flexibility of working from home can access a workspace a day or two during the week to get a break from the home routine, visit the office between client meetings or check email on the go in a quiet environment.
For Petra Sovcov, office manager of Picton Mahoney, working out of a Regus location helps her productivity.
“Our head office is in Toronto but I don’t feel separated from the other office,” said Sovcov, who coordinates for a small team of executives. “The company allows for flexibility for employees.”
Sovcov books the conference room when her team needs it and finds the billing system and setup arrangements easy to use.
“I enjoy using the entire package of services,” she said. “If we need something, they are very attentive. They can set up an entire office for us within 48 hours. “
HiVE Vancouver, also a shared workspace, has been open for one year and and is modelled after the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto.
“We’re different from other workspace businesses as we are a non-profit,” said Aaron Cruickshank, executive director of HiVE.
“We offer a heavy discount to organizations and amenities to benefit social enterprise. For instance, Vancity has a desk at HiVE and provides micro-credit loans to businesses. We provide a welcoming environment that works for social and environmental sustainability initiatives.”
HiVE is geared to artists, designers, small social enterprises, mid-size NGOs, green businesses and startups. While entrepreneurs or small teams of five or less are common, bigger teams also call HiVE home.
“A couple of our larger tenants are the Canadian Wind Energy Association, Mozilla, the entire team from the Vancouver Observer and LEED certified architects,” said Cruikshank. “We find the coworker space works best with a unified theme and [we] get critical mass around environmental and social change.”
Interaction and inspiration are encouraged at HiVE, where the shared social consciousness encourages partnerships.
“When you work from home, social isolation is [a] very real and impactful issue,” said Cruikshank. “There are a lot of creative and writers and consultants and the environment allows a team of colleagues [to] bounce ideas off of each other. People can collaborate at work; more importantly, they enjoy the human interaction.”
Achieving a good work-life balance contributes to growth and development and helps businesses recruit and retain top talent. Canadian businesses are taking note: more than 43% of respondents in a Regus survey on work-life balance reported they are doing more to reduce the time employees spend commuting compared to 2010. •
