Before the pandemic, companies spent a lot of money redoing their offices: cubicles were ditched in favor of open, flexible layouts, often featuring perks like ping pong tables and stocked kitchens.
Now, post-pandemic, companies are switching things up once more, creating hot-desking and hoteling spaces for employees working in a hybrid model.
However, recent research from Berkeley Haas indicates that if leaders want to boost employee engagement, they should focus less on changing the office layout and more on how employees connect with their workplace.
“When people feel a sense of self-esteem and distinctiveness derived from their workspace, we found it enhances their engagement,” the researchers explain. “It also enhances collaboration and their commitment to the organization.”
Place identity
The researchers refer to the connection we have with our workplace as “place identity”. In the research, they explore the importance of this to organizations.
They used a software company that transitioned workers from traditional office layouts to open-plan innovation centers. The latter was complete with the usual paraphernalia from innovation centers, such as beanbags, whiteboards, movable furniture, and so on. They found a decidedly mixed response to these supposedly popular features.
“For some people, that type of space is amazing—they have access to their leaders and their colleagues at any time,” the researchers explain. “And for others it reduces all the signals of their own status inside of the hierarchy. Or it’s impossibly distracting. Or they view it as rough and rugged.”
Connections matter
Whether folks embraced or snubbed the innovation hubs, it didn’t tie back to their job titles, backgrounds, age, gender, or where they lived.
“We noticed that what mattered more than the space itself was how people felt it connected to them personally, set them apart in a good way, and made them feel part of something meaningful,” the researchers explain.
They looked at innovation hubs in the U.S., China, India, France, and Israel, chatting with people and doing surveys in two studies. They found that those who felt most connected to these hubs also showed more excitement about their work and the organization. It wasn’t like other work identities, like being part of a team or the company as a whole.
In fact, this special feeling of belonging to a place was linked to important work results, our studies showed. When there’s a strong place identity, people work together more, stay engaged, and stick around with the organization.
To build this place identity, leaders need to be just as deliberate about the social vibe of the workspace as they are about how it looks, Pearce suggests. Whether it’s a real office, a mix, or virtual, she has three tips:
- Talk about the Purpose: Leaders should be clear about why the space exists and what kind of work happens there—like group sessions or solo tasks. Even in virtual spaces, leaders should say if video calls are for quick stuff or more chit-chat.
- Show You Like the Space: It’s not just about talking – leaders need to act excited about the space. If it’s a mix of in-person and remote work, leaders can show they like it by using the different spaces right. Have face-to-face meetings on office days and save remote days for solo work.
- Give Power to Employees: The teams with the strongest place identity were those who helped decide how the space should work. Leaders should get employees involved in creating new spaces. In existing places, leaders should let workers change things to fit their needs or create something together, like art, to build a sense of identity. Even remote workers can get materials to make their space unique or, if they visit the office, make something with co-workers to take home.
“Companies invest a lot in their physical spaces, but we see place identity as a fundamental human process that also requires investment,” the authors conclude. “The investment that leaders make in understanding and promoting the vision of the workspace, conveying a positive attitude and empowering workers to customize their spaces helps cultivate place identity and may be key to unlocking collaboration, work engagement and organizational commitment—whether near or far or in between”
