Sendero’s office in Dallas has been designed from the ground up to meet employee needs. The private workspaces, lounge space, café and library are a product of visioning and brainstorming sessions with numerous staff members. The result is an environment that accommodates a range of work styles.
No longer a decision made solely by the C-suite, office design now more than ever falls into the hands of employees.
For the employer, an engaged staff means business growth and employee retention. Employee engagement continues to be a challenge for businesses, according to a Deloitte report, with 48% of senior leadership surveyed citing it as very important.
“Employee opinions matter now more than ever before,” DLR Group | Staffelbach principal Jo Heinz said. “Activity-based work environments are now the norm rather than the exception. Today, in HQ design, many companies consult employees prior to the site selection. Their demographics drive the analysis and often specific sites are evaluated based on the employees’ view of the amenities.”
As an integrated design firm leading the charge in creating modern workplaces throughout Dallas, DLR Group | Staffelbach led the employee envisioning sessions behind Sendero’s new HQ. The employee-centric approach complemented Sendero CEO and founder Bret Farrar’s mission to build a work environment that fit the growing push for live-work-play integration across offices.
“Through incorporating our vibrant brand and culture through these workspaces, we have created a sophisticated, yet casual environment," Farrar said. “The end result has been a work home that our employees enjoy coming to.”
Millennials have pushed for flexible work hours and the end of cubicles while online services like Glassdoor have given employees a platform to candidly assess workplace conditions.
“Years ago, a company’s HQ design was dictated by the executives who thought they knew what the employees needed to be efficient,” Heinz said. “The workplace standards were often about uniformity, consistency and cost-efficiency. Then the labor pool changed, diversity increased and millennials entered the office. We now have multiple generations in the office working together and a vital element, live-work-play, emerged and became a part of the work environment.”
DLR Group | Staffelbach has seen a growing number of clients seek employee input in both site selection and office space design. The firm conducted several sessions with Sendero’s team to determine the key cultural differentiators of the company. Employees participated in brainstorming sessions that covered topics ranging from architectural design to furniture selection. These sessions led to an emphasis on transparency and connectivity, as well as a focus on activity-based spaces and open collaboration areas.