3 Ways to Guarantee Workplace Success in 2025
Takeaways from the OfficeSpace Fall Summit
As we’ve seen in recent headlines, large organizations, specifically those in the business services and financial sectors, are moving towards full-time in-office.
The problem? Employees are all but rejecting these mandates, with 77% of the youngest workforce cohorts—millennials and Gen Z—saying they would seek new employment if asked to return to the office full time. This sends a not-so-subtle message that if employees are asked to spend time in-office, the time has to be meaningful.
To achieve that, companies are thinking strategically about the workplace experience and their hybrid policies, adding a layer of complexity to how we plan and manage modern workspaces.
Recent research from JLL highlighted three initiatives driving changes to the workplace:
- Optimizing space utilization with data to inform space planning.
- Adapting spaces to accommodate flexibility and hybrid schedules—teams work differently now, and spaces need to reflect that.
- Creating a positive employee experience, no matter where teams are working.
At our 2024 Fall Summit, hosted by OfficeSpace CEO Erin Mulligan Helgren, we explored the tools teams can use to create purposeful and engaging in-office time while optimizing workspaces, and the integral role of data to fuel hybrid success.
Read on for the biggest takeaways, and learn what steps to take today to ensure hybrid success in 2025.
#1: Improve the employee experience
Employee engagement rates for hybrid work rank highest compared to rates for remote and fully in-office—but not by much. Oftentimes in-office employees would be just as happy at home.
To make time in the office more effective and rewarding, the benefits of hybrid models need to outweigh the alternative.
The rise of structured hybrid
Today, 91% of formerly remote companies now embrace some form of hybrid work. The biggest trend on the rise? Structured hybrid, which has been implemented by 38% of US companies, up 20% since last year.
In a structured hybrid model, workplace leaders specify which days people are in-office, enabling employees to connect in-person and collaborate more seamlessly.
Opting for a structured hybrid model may be a good starting point for many companies, but it’s not a complete solution.
Tools for a better employee experience
Many organizations recognize the potential impact of in-person work, but in order for employees to get on board, they need tools to connect with people on site and be productive.
One of our initiatives at OfficeSpace is to enable quick adoption of workplace tools through a user-friendly interface and features that mitigate friction at the office. Earlier this year we launched our Who’s In feature, which allows employees to “favorite” colleagues, giving visibility into when teammates will be in the office and enabling them to plan their week more effectively. We’ve also enhanced the Visual Directory to help employees navigate the office more seamlessly.
Our AI assistant, Ossie, also enhances the experience by helping employees locate resources, people, and amenities on a floor plan through natural language prompts. Employees can ask Ossie how to use the OfficeSpace platform, cutting down on training time and increasing adoption.
By providing tools that help employees do their jobs more effectively, your workplace teams are also gaining critical data that can inform space and real estate decisions.
#2: Understand office utilization with data
In order to objectively capture utilization and attendance data, teams can use badge swipes, Wi-Fi connections, and sensor triggers. At OfficeSpace, we recently released our universal presence API, allowing teams to collect data regardless of their WiFi or badge access vendor.
With our Presence Check-In feature, badge swipes or Wi-Fi connections automatically sign employees into their desks, eliminating the need for manual check-ins. This process of passive presence tracking can help reduce tension at the office, empowering employees to be more autonomous throughout their workday.
Surfacing insights through OfficeSpace
At the end of last year, we released our smart reporting feature, Workplace Intelligence, to help organizations make decisions that impact the business most.
Workplace Intelligence is a set of reports and dashboards that provides detailed information about who is actually in the office in real-time.
With these reports, you can see whether employees checked into the desks they booked, which days are busiest at the office, and which office locations have the most utilization. You can also better interpret your workforce mix when it comes to hybrid work, understanding the breakdown of hybrid, remote, and in-office employees, allowing you to make informed decisions about your policies.
#3: Optimize space and increase flexibility
Pre-pandemic, when most teams were in the office daily, managing workspaces involved creating static floor plans and one-to-one seating assignments, and was heavily tied to growth patterns like new hires or reductions in headcount.
Today, offices require more agile space planning, especially when it comes to optimizing real estate and accommodating new, flexible ways of working.
One solution we’ve launched at OfficeSpace is Desk Lending, allowing employees to lend their desks to others when they’re off-site or on vacation. This helps teams grow in place, getting more use out of their spaces without adding new desks or investing in more real estate.
The data flywheel: Putting it all together
With the need to support both employees and the bottom line, it’s critical for companies to know what’s happening across their workplaces so they can quickly adapt.
We’ve developed a concept called the data flywheel—a continuous improvement loop—to guide how organizations think about evolving their workplace strategies. By helping employees stay engaged and passively tracking how they interact with your workspace, you gain invaluable insights to inform policies, real estate, and office design.
By connecting systems that collect data, including presence from badges, desk and room bookings, and even facilities tickets, you can normalize data across various sources. Now, your team has real-time, accurate metrics to make quick and confident decisions that reflect the reality of the workspace. As your spaces evolve, you gain a new set of data, driving continuous optimization.
Thrive in 2025
Ensuring workplace success in 2025 requires a strategic approach to hybrid work. By optimizing space utilization, leveraging data for real-time insights, and enhancing the employee experience, organizations can create dynamic, flexible environments that support both in-office and remote employees.
By leveraging a data ecosystem—connecting your systems to collect, govern, and normalize high quality data from a variety of sources—you can make confident decisions about the workplace overall. With the right tools and strategies in place, you’ll be ready to adapt and thrive in the evolving workplace landscape.
Watch the video from our Fall Summit here:
Request an OfficeSpace demo to learn more.
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