August 2024
Peggie Rothe, PhD
With the widespread adoption of hybrid working, an increasing number of organisations are opting for unassigned workstations in their workplaces, instead of allocating a desk to each employee. This is undeniably an appealing proposition, as employees are choosing to work remotely for significant parts of their work week. Why assign desks to employees who only use them a fraction of the time?
Theoretically, it should also now be easier than ever before to rationalise to employees why they will no longer have workstations to call their own. Because can employees, who work remotely 2-3 days per week, expect to have an assigned desk, when it means that the desk will be empty for at least half the time? Unfortunately, the rationale is not quite that simple.
When we look at the 1,322 workplaces (with 50 respondents or more) that we’ve surveyed post-pandemic, either as post-occupancy evaluations after a completed workplace change or as standard health-checks, we see an even spread across the spectrum of all employees having assigned desks, to all employees working from unassigned desks (Figure 1).
This means that certainly not all organisations have chosen an unassigned seating approach. It also shows that it’s not an ‘either or’ question. In most workplaces, there’s a mix of employees who work from assigned, and unassigned, workstations.
But, most importantly, if we look at the connection between the proportion of employees working from unassigned desks and the Leesman workplace experience score (Lmi), the data shows that predominantly unassigned workplaces have some of the highest Lmi scores. But equally, the data also shows that these types of workplaces have some of the worst scores.
Any organisation considering transitioning to unassigned desks therefore needs to carefully consider how it will impact the employee experience. Because it can really go either way; it can be very successful, but it can also go terribly wrong. It may be met with strong emotions and resistance, or employees might embrace the approach and truly thrive in the environment.
So why do the outcomes vary so significantly from one unassigned workplace to another?
Not having a desk to call your own can be scary. Commuting to the office without knowing where in the workplace you will find your spot can be very stressful for some people. The transition from assigned to unassigned desks is essentially a transition from ‘knowing’ to ‘choosing’; knowing exactly where you will go once you reach the office and who will sit next to you, vs choosing which setting you will do your best work from in that instance. This might be great for some people, but stressful for others.
But even those who prefer to be able to choose the best setting within the office will find themselves frustrated if all they are choosing between is a sea of identical desks, and no variety of workspaces that can accommodate their different needs, depending on what activities they are about to undertake. This is where the importance of having a variety of workspaces comes in.
To explore this further, we first divided all the 476,341 respondents who have shared their experience through our survey post-pandemic (Q3 2021 – Q1 2024) into three groups based on the work setting they use when in the office. We have those who work from:
We then further divided the last group into two sub-groups, based on whether the respondent was satisfied with the variety of different types of workspaces. This essentially gives us one group of respondents who work from unassigned work settings, but who don’t have access to the right type of variety of workspaces that they need, and another group who also work from unassigned settings, but who feel that they have the variety they need. For simplicity, we’ll call the first group ‘Unassigned without variety’ and the second ‘Unassigned with variety’.
When we then compare our four groups, the results are astounding. Those who work in an assigned private or shared enclosed office have an average Lmi score of 73.2, which means that they have an excellent experience. This is slightly higher than those working from a designated cubicle or workstation in an open plan at Lmi 71.1.
There’s then a dramatic drop for those working from an unassigned workstation without variety, with an average Lmi of 51.1. This score means that the workplace experience is poor and that employees will be struggling to get their work done in this environment. In contrast, the best experience is recorded among those who work from an unassigned workstation with variety, with an average Lmi score of 79.0.
In other words, the experience difference of having, or missing, the right variety of workspaces, is 27.9 points on the Lmi scale (Lmi 79.0 vs Lmi 51.1).
The impact of this on business outcomes is undeniable: while 41% of employees who work from unassigned workstations without variety agree that their workplace enables them to work productively, 85% of those who have variety agree. This productivity agreement score is nearly at the levels we see for home working, where 89% of employees say that the environment enables them to work productively. And while 39% of those without variety say that their workplace is an enjoyable environment to work in, 88% of those with variety agree. These results repeat themselves as we continue to compare the experience of employees working from unassigned settings, who either have access to the right variety or don’t (Figure 2).
The message is very clear: there is a stark difference between workplaces with an unassigned seating strategy that offer little or no variety, perhaps best described as pure ‘hotdesking’, and workplaces with unassigned seating that additionally facilitate different types of activities through a range of other types of spaces that the employee can choose between, which is essentially what workplaces designed for Activity Based Working (ABW) are about.
Unfortunately, though, the difference between the ‘hot-desking’ and ‘ABW’ workplaces is not always understood. All too often the ‘hot-desking’ versions, which are met with resistance, get the attention in the media, which subsequently means that many employees will have skewed perceptions of what an unassigned workplace might mean for them.
So, if you’re contemplating a transition from assigned desks to an unassigned seating strategy, there are three things to keep in mind:
First, do not compromise on variety of different types of workspaces. Make sure to do the homework to establish what the right mix of variety looks like for each workplace, as this can make or break the employee workplace experience.
Second, remember that the unassigned approach becomes even more subject to criticism if employees don’t understand the reasons behind it. The reasons for transitioning from assigned desks to simply ‘hot-desking’ can easily be read between the lines, but if you’re also aiming to improve the experience and ensure employees can be at their best when working from the office, you will need to help them understand this. Never underestimate the importance of answering the question ‘why?’.
Third, keep an eye out for our next research report, as we will be diving deeper into this topic and sharing further insights around how to make unassigned strategies work!
