What is better: working in the office, at home or in flexible offices that you can rent at any time? And what is best suited for what type of activity? The pandemic has triggered changes in working life that seemed unthinkable years before. But after all the euphoria about the new spatio-temporal flexibility, there are currently increasing voices calling for a return to the office desk.
What solutions are there in the fashion industry and what trends are emerging? We spoke to Marc O’Polo and Design Offices, Germany’s largest provider of flexible co-working offices. Marc O’Polo has been working successfully with flexible work concepts and design offices for several years. Markus Staude-Skowronek, Group CFO & Chief Human Resources Officer at Marc O’Polo, Silke Walz, Director Human Resources & Central Services at Marc O’Polo and Dr. Joachim Gripp, CEO Design Offices, reports from his own experience about how “New Work” works and which models are the most successful.
Mr. Gripp, with over 50 offices in Germany, you can clearly see how the needs of companies have changed. What observations are you currently making?
Joachim Gripp: Corona has fundamentally changed the working landscape because this external shock has brought the technical possibilities of remote collaboration to full advantage in one fell swoop. It has been shown that knowledge work in the home office or remotely works very well for many tasks. Home office is now the norm and can hardly be turned back in a meaningful way. The key for companies and employees is the right combination of office and remote. The optimal ratio depends on the task profiles, the corporate culture and the level of innovation of the company.
We see two clear trends: Firstly: Hardly anyone occupies the two poles of “fully in the office” or “remote-only” exclusively, i.e. nobody relies on just one model, but usually uses a mixed form. Secondly: The more innovative, creative and faster companies work with us, the higher the proportion of face-to-face work in the office, and the more teams work together face-to-face – either in the office or in the flexible office – but not in the home office.
Home office is viewed ambivalently: some appreciate concentrated work, others would like their teams back in the office because creativity and productivity suffer. How does Marc O’Polo feel about working from home?
Markus Staude-Skowronek: Our experience also shows that the mix between mobile office and working in the office is the recipe for success. It promotes motivation, ensures a better work-life balance and increases employee satisfaction. Creativity and productivity are increased. I am convinced that we humans, as social beings, also need personal contact in order to build relationships. Emotions, personal reactions and also conversations at a joint event, at the coffee machine or in the canteen have their value.
How has the working world at Marc O’Polo changed in recent years? How many Marc O’Polo office locations are there?
Markus Staude-Skowronek: Compared to before, we are significantly more flexible in our working world and offer the most modern workplace and working time concepts that are not only based on time, but also on location. We take into account all three important components of a modern working world: when, where and how. We have attractive workplaces in our company headquarters in Stephanskirchen, supplemented by three external showrooms in Munich, Düsseldorf and Hamburg and also a mobile office. This mix makes us an attractive employer and offers employees a high degree of flexibility.
What is the current situation at Marc O’Polo: What requirements are there for your employees in this regard?
Silke Walz: Freedom to Flexwork. By this we mean flexible working, a hybrid model of mobile office and on-site work. Specifically: 50 percent presence on campus every month in order to experience meetings and events personally and not to neglect working together. The remaining 50 percent can be spent at a place of work of your choice.
We have gradually developed our Freedom-to-Flexwork concept further over the years. Since August 2022, this has also included workation – i.e. working abroad for up to four weeks within the EU.
What does that mean for you? What challenges are you facing as a result of these changes?
Markus Staude-Skowronek: Of course, a high degree of flexibility must be coordinated and organized. Rules and processes are needed here so that we can continue to work in a very goal-oriented and team-oriented manner. Of course, the technical infrastructure and equipment is not insignificant in order to be able to work mobile at all. We have invested a lot here in recent years.
What experiences have you had with design offices? When do companies use home offices and when exactly do they not?
Joachim Gripp: The home office clearly has its justification – and also its limits. It is well suited for concentrated work on clearly defined tasks. From what we see and hear from our customers, it doesn’t work when creativity, innovation and bold thinking are needed.
Organizations do not take risks on Zoom because innovations are primarily created through direct exchange in the same room. This is mainly because it is difficult to achieve the required level of trust that is a prerequisite for creativity. Because everything new comes with the risk of failure. In video conferences, however, participants mostly play it safe. This may work well and efficiently for routine work processes, but it does not work for challenging innovation processes. We therefore observe a lively mix of work locations and forms among our customers, with the office as a clear “creative hub” for the company.
Since when have you been using flexible offices at Marc O’Polo and why?
Silke Walz: We have been using the co-working spaces and day offices of Design Offices since the beginning of 2022. Especially as a medium-sized company, they are a good opportunity for us to offer jobs at different locations in Germany. Employees benefit greatly from our cooperation with design offices and therefore from over 45 co-working locations throughout Germany, where you can book into one of the day offices or co-working lounges at any time – free of charge, of course.
Do you also use flex offices in other countries?
Silke Walz: No, so far only in Germany.
What is the cost-benefit calculation for booking additional external offices?
Silke Walz: In any case, very positive. As already mentioned, for us as a medium-sized company it is the best opportunity to offer jobs at different locations. We ourselves have our campus in Stephanskirchen and the showrooms where work can be done, but no other offices.
How important is the working environment for creative processes?
Joachim Gripp: The office is primarily a production factor for teams – not for lone wolves. It’s increasingly about the question: What can I do better on my own at home, and why do I need the creativity and input from a group. Productivity can be high in the home office alone, but creativity only arises through collaboration and is crucial for the success of companies.
Creativity arises when people meet in person, ideas cross-pollinate, discussions and friction arise. Psychological safety through shared physical presence and the much better ability to read people plays an enormous role. We examined this in an independent study and it showed that the feel-good factor in the office has a clear impact on creativity.
What experiences did you have at Marc O’Polo? Does creative working work in the home office or in the flex office?
Markus Staude: Working in the mobile office allows for more flexibility and increases satisfaction. Our experience shows that the focus in the mobile office is more on classic desk work or strategic topics. Speaking of focus, this also includes undisturbed, focused work.
Creative work, however, takes place on the campus in Stephanskirchen. We recently invested in our new House Of Product here. Spacious rooms flooded with light and modern architecture ensure a very creative and inspiring working environment. We, and especially I in my role as CHRO, are very grateful that our owner family Böck not only supported this, but also fully invested themselves in the project – this makes the difference to other companies.
Which companies are interested in such flexible models and how do you think companies will position themselves in the future?
Dr. Joachim Gripp: Flexible offices are suitable for all companies that rely on creativity, innovation and employee loyalty and do not know for sure how and where they will work in five years. Many of our customers come from abroad and want to get started straight away instead of dealing with administrative problems around the office. Or they send their most important project teams to us so that they can give their all at central locations in a stimulating environment that is just right for them – and all of this without setup time or investments in IT or furniture and without a long time commitment. This ensures full focus on employees and tasks.
We are therefore seeing a trend that more and more companies are concentrating on a headquarters that is now smaller but much better equipped than in the past. All solutions in the area, such as sales branches or regional branches or rooms for temporary needs for strategic projects, for example, are outsourced to FlexOffice operators in order to gain speed and attractiveness and at the same time save investments and work.
This also increases the demands on the workplace. How do you develop the topic further?
Joachim Gripp: We are raising the office to a uniquely high level of hospitality. Our superpower at Design Offices are the teams that provide a service that is only known from the top hotel industry. Almost 500 people are employed in our 50 houses. In this way, we combine top hardware in the form of functional, attractive and stimulating rooms and furniture with first-class software in terms of services and full support. This is how offices develop their full productive power and make teams stronger and happier.
With this goal, we are currently expanding our range of impulses and services for the communities in our buildings and, for example, strengthening our food and beverage offering to further increase the experience of the office. Because today the office has to compete for employees, not the other way around. Our motto and claim is: Feel good, work better!