Workplace design tells a story. It’s an opportunity to create an environment that demonstrates brand. Threaded throughout the story, and shown within every design element and expression, is also a reflection of how a company prioritizes its brand values.
Across industries — each with disparate lines of business, processes and corporate principles — successful workplace design is as much about function as it is about innovation. Nowadays, many companies want it all in workplace design, accounting for the diverse generational spectrum of the people doing the actual work in a given space. But to have it all does not mean to have it all equally. During the design process, decisions always have to be made. To help guide those, companies must first look at prioritizing their values in order to envision a space that is conducive to employees delivering upon the brand promise.
Design Brand Values Authentically
Workplace design should be an expression of brand credo — a natural progression and integration of values. It can be a catalyst for myriad changes, avoiding a fabricated reality of who a brand wants to be. Striving for change, and actually taking the steps toward it through design, is one thing, but to inauthentically design a space, whether for style, award wins or client impressions, is a disservice to employees.
When beginning a project, it’s best to determine where a company focuses. Is there a commitment to culture, to spark employee attraction and retention? Is there a need to increase efficiency, to bring in more business? Is there a desire for more cross-team collaboration, to inspire new ideas? A company that values maintaining current business strategies over fostering new approaches will likely be less inclined to make bold changes or introduce new technology. Whereas a brand that places high value on its employee talent will want to incorporate elements that make workers feel welcomed and important.
Certain design elements can express where a brand places worth:
Thoughtful technology integrations via displays or interactive screens enhance a company’s placed importance on the cutting-edge, and may even reflect the brand’s type of business.
Creative graphics on walls, floors and ceilings can literally and figuratively reflect a brand’s creativity and design-centric thinking, where style is of the utmost importance.
Utilization of materials or colors related to genre, mood or type of business demonstrate a company’s focus on feeling or purpose, and its desire to motivate that with visitors.
Selection of furniture with flexibility, mobility or agility options can reflect the company’s culture for comfort, wellness and health
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As designers, we always want to understand who the company is, or what its brand stands for, and what the goals are for the workplace. But knowing where the brand places its value helps ensure that design is authentic and not forced. If guests are greeted by an open and non-traditional reception, one that embraces interaction, this signals the company has a collaborative nature. If an environment inspires spontaneous collaboration, then the company reflects openness to new and creative ideas, too. Design cannot be a fabrication of who a brand wants to be; it needs to be authentic to who it already is, or is willing to grow into.