*Image courtesy of figure3 (Steve Tsai Photography)*

I can’t count how many times I have sat in front of a group of executives at the beginning of a project and heard the term “Wow Factor”. It usually comes out around the same time as that other ever-so-familiar term – “attraction and retention”.

Here’s how it typically plays out:

“We’re a very successful company with a great culture, but we need to change the way we work and our office design to attract the best new talent out there, while securing the great talent and culture we already have. So we need some real Wow Factor in this new design to attract and keep those people!”

The next thing that usually follows is an ask to share all of the latest trends we’ve seen in the market, and what other companies have done for Wow Factor. The premise being that there must be some collection of magical trophy pieces a company can invest in to demonstrate commitment to culture.

It feels like it is high time we move past the idea that the success of a firm’s workplace is measured by the symbolic beauty of the interconnecting staircase, or the quirky charm of the slide in the lobby. In a time when a company’s investment in office real estate is being challenged by such disrupters as coworking companies and mobile technology, design needs to dig deeper beyond aesthetic to truly understand what it is that will impactfully connect staff with a workplace.

So, our question shouldn’t be what will give us a Wow Factor, but HOW can we design to support the growth of great culture within a workplace.

Recently I found myself in a conversation similar to the one described above. I asked the group to imagine the following:

The project has been completed, and a new staff member who recently moved to the firm from a competitor has met up with some old coworkers for drinks. The new employee is describing what it’s like to work for said company. The coworkers sit in awe of what they are hearing…”WOW”.

So, what is it that your new employee is describing? It likely does NOT include a staircase or slide. It probably has more to do with what it’s like to actually work there, and the opportunities to participate in and affect an amazing culture.

The real Wow Factor that people are looking for is woven into the TOTAL employee experience:

How are people working?
How much choice and control do they have over their work settings?
Is there a sense of possibility, activity, and interest in the workplace?
Are people interacting and collaborating?
Can employees manage their wellbeing?
Does the workplace feel social, lively, energetic, creative, engaging, fun?
Ultimately, how can this workplace support their work and allow them to succeed within it?

Let’s dig in.

To understand how we can best design for an organization’s needs, it is effective to help them to:

Engage their employees: They are the key to the Wow Factor. Their actions, beliefs and values will allow it to emerge and be perceived by others.
Define their mission, purpose and values as an organization: To further define how their purpose needs to manifest a connection within their workplace.
Embody and embrace their goals: Where their organization is going, what they are planning to achieve, what behaviors are essential to them. Essentially, the ideal version of their organization from both the employee and leadership lens.