Don’t Count the Office Out Just Yet
OFTEN MALIGNED, THE OFFICE REMAINS A CRITICAL ASSET TO CORPORATE AMERICA.
To be perfectly clear, Strang’s Leadership Team remains bullish on the future of working within the office. In fact, they encourage colleagues to return to the office as soon as safely possible complemented by a distributed work culture allowing work to occur in-office or remotely as needed. In the words of Larry Barton, President and CEO of Strang, “At Strang, providing a comfortable, safe, and efficient work environment for our staff is of the highest priority. Our offices have been designed to encourage safe collaboration, promote teamwork, and enhance professional growth”.
Standing in the middle of our beautifully designed offices, Larry explains how Strang has taken necessary measures to ensure both of our office locations have a healthy and enjoyable workplace. “From exacting ventilation standards to physical spacing and layout, we’ve worked tirelessly to prepare our office spaces for a safe, productive, and enjoyable return to the Next Normal”. Personal safety is also addressed with secure, well-lit parking options, electronically secured buildings, suite entrances, and mandatory comprehensive visitor check-in procedures.
In addition, workstations are properly spaced and outfitted with robust technology, ergonomic seating, and adjustable height work surfaces for concentrated creation. A variety of assigned, unassigned, and “touchdown” workstations are available to accommodate most every need.
Furthermore, these offices have high-speed data transfer infrastructure via hardwired connectivity, mobile flexibility, plus internet and server access. Couple that with large screen monitors within safely spaced conference seating and Strang employees end up with the ultimate IT support. In addition, many physical resources are also available in-house including resource books, product and material samples, and archived items.
Strang is proud of the WELL Building standards enacted within our offices, because as Larry says, “Having a sustainable building is important. But making certain that building is healthier to occupy is equally important”. Additionally, Strang’s WELL initiative offers filtered water, fresh air, enhanced lighting, exemplary acoustics, healthy food options, outside dining and activity space, plus fitness space for mind, body, and spirit.
We are also ardent about the benefits of working in the office; from a culture of camaraderie and building friendships to nurturing great working relationships. Larry describes this as, “The office provides an enhanced environment for learning, teaching, and exchange of ideas. There is no virtual meeting or technological replacement for “being there”. We encourage all staff to spend as much time in the office as practical for their individual situation”. With all of that, you can appreciate the office is an essential component of Strang’s work.
So while we take pride in the health and wellness of our office, Strang also recognizes that current circumstances may necessitate flexible employee engagement. This added level of tractability even leverages the mobile technology infrastructure Strang has in place. As Larry states, “While we strongly encourage working from the office, staffers may need occasional flexibility to accommodate their work/life balance”. That is why Strang enables three different yet complementary work configurations:
- Primarily work from the office
- Flexible balance of work from office/work from home
- Primarily work from home
The office may be the optimum place for collaborative work, but the future of work is fast approaching this distributed model of work. The importance of mobility cannot be understated and arming staff with the tools to work anywhere at anytime will lead to a more productive and satisfied workforce. You can read more about the future of work and the distributed workplace in our featured article, “The Future of Work: Is the Energy of Change”.
With intelligent safeguards in place, the Leadership Team at Strang is resolute that the office remains the ideal place for their employees to work. But when necessary, it’s nice to have that added measure of flexible options, too.
READ MORE
- Strang Madison Office Achieves WELL Gold Certification
- WELLness at the Workplace
- Strang Madison Office Awarded LEED Gold Certification
- Design for Our Times
LARRY BARTON, PRESIDENT | CEO STRANG INC.
