Rapid technological improvements, workers’ demands for greater flexibility, and the Covid epidemic have all contributed to recent organizational policy changes that have opened up workspaces and their conventional uses for them.
However, some of people seem not favorable about the new flexible workspace arrangement such as hot desking.
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Mobility, flexibility, autonomy
The daily commute is now a thing of the past, and many organizations have switched to hybrid working styles that foster high levels of mobility, flexibility, autonomy, and nomadism.
While many employees benefit from a hybrid work arrangement that enables them to work from home a few days a week, many workers still need and desire to visit the office.
However, many organizations consider typical individualized workstations, team areas, and manager-only offices to be out of date and have attempted to revamp employees’ “in-office” working experiences as well.
For example, Meta recently reduces its office space as its hybrid work transitions. It has offered most employees the option to do their jobs remotely full-time or to select a mix of in-office and homework.
The vice president of global facilities and real estate at Meta, John Ternanes said that while reviewing Meta’s office space, he discovered that some of the existing office leases were about to expire. He is planning to combine the floors of several existing buildings into one floor after the leases expire and allow employees to continue to work remotely.
Hot desking is a “Hot option” for company
Organizations have implemented “hot desking” into the office design as one strategy. Hot desking is an organizational workspace system in which desks are used on an ad hoc, first-come, first-served basis by different people at different times.
The phrase refers to a clean, uniform, shared workspace that promotes nomadic and flexible work styles and cannot be claimed by any one individual.
These new workspaces and the practice of teleworking symbolize the ideals of flexibility, independence, and autonomy while also purportedly bridging the hierarchical divide that currently exists between management and employees.
(Learn more: Hot Desking 101: a quick guide)
Not everyone like hot-desking
Hot-desking means that all employees would need to share their workstations all the time, and no longer have a specific workspace. This could probably diminish the external signs of status or positional recognition.
Because these workspaces deprive employees of their personal space and essentially block them from personalizing or owning a space, some people have high concerns about these new arrangements.
David Courpasson, the Professor of Sociology and Director of the Organizations, Critical and Ethnographic perspectives research center, recently did some research on a large Belgian organization alongside colleagues from Université Catholique de Louvain.
Based on their founding, some employees are employing creative strategies to stop this new manner of working, such as putting supplies and tools on desks or even keeping their own desks messy or untidy in order to keep the same desk as their own.
The reason behind this is that these workers felt that hot-desking stripped them of their personal space, dehumanized their workplace, and damaged working relationships.
They also grumbled about how difficult it was to move their heavy work equipment from meeting to meeting and how little storage they had. They also complained about how difficult it was to unpack and pack every day.
Take more care of people, not the workplace
Hotdesking has several advantages for the workplace, including flexibility and the flattening of hierarchies. However, it is evident that many employees react unfavorably to the change to a hot-desk workplace due to the difficult transition to a new workspace layout.
Employers must take the time and make the effort to interact with their staff members to discover what working practices are most effective for them, which ones they are least likely to object to, and which will be most beneficial for the organization as a whole.
Professor David Courpasson suggested that organizational management should see spatial changes as more complicated than mere geographical transitions.
For instance, accepting that specific occupations may require a specific use of space, instead of considering flexiwork as ‘good in itself’, is a relevant approach too. The office space should work best for those working in it, and therefore organisations must ensure that this is their focus when redesigning for the future.
David Courpasson, the Professor of Sociology and Director of the Organizations, Critical and Ethnographic perspectives research center
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