Using Space Management To Drive Employee Retention

By Aleya Harris

Space management is one of the most critical responsibilities entrusted to a facilities management team. As many organizations are discovering, there’s a lot more to this than ensuring that each worker gets an adequate X square footage of space in Y location. Providing employees with space that’s mindfully chosen to help them perform better can have a dramatic effect on their morale and productivity.

Optimal space management can make your company’s business operations more efficient, help define their brand and company culture, reduce energy usage, and improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that you retain key employees.

Why Retention Matters

For a facilities management team to be successful, it is important to maintain a working space that operates like a well-oiled machine. The last thing you want is to lose good employees to burnout and dissatisfaction, especially when you consider the costs of failing to retain your best hires.

While some employers may be wary of becoming overly dependent on “rockstar” employees, poor employee retention can take a nasty toll on a company’s bottom line. Recruiting and training new employees is expensive, and it’s hard to put a price tag on the loss of institutional knowledge when a longtime employee departs for greener pastures.

Fortunately, by taking the initiative, this is something that can be prevented.

Workers Want Smart Space Management

What happens when a company has an accounting department spread out over multiple floors and sections of a building? The team isn’t working collaboratively, they’re not building teamwork, and finding the right person becomes a hassle for people outside the department.

When “Accounting” is a place—a neighborhood, of sorts, within your building where the entire accounting department can be found—it’s easier for them to communicate; they’re easier to find; and external obstacles to building morale and productivity boosting teamwork are eliminated.

At the same time, it’s important to remember that rigidly delineating spaces can be counterproductive.

Currently, many workers seek out employers that allow flexibility in scheduling and who provide opportunities for remote working. Good space management doesn’t mean tying employees down to their assigned cubicles all the time. Shared spaces, multi-use rooms, and outside-the-box seating arrangements can help you accommodate workers with nonstandard schedules without creating underused spaces.

Additionally, if you want to retain your best employees, make sure they’re happy with their workspace. Studies show that when employees feel comfortable and satisfied with their workspaces, they’re more likely to stay with their employer.

Space Is the Place