Success in the (digital) era depends on transforming how work is done to create effective workplaces and improve employee experience, satisfaction, and productivity. There are a number of external and internal challenges that managers are faced with. External challenges, for example, are changing demographics such as the aging workforce, more freelancers, disruptive automation, robotising, and the war for talent. Internal challenges like Gen Y, the growing need for privacy, and work/life balance also play a huge role, especially in the workplace industry.

Organisations are slowly starting to recognise the necessity of adapting their office workplaces to the changing needs of their employees. However, the question still remains: how successful are organisations in adapting their workplaces to these changes? The underlying challenge of this question centres around business managers who still regard offices only as a space to house their employees. They are not aware of the strategic dimension and potential effect on business outcomes of working environments. According to Measuremen’s Occupancy Benchmark, office workplaces are underutilised by as much as 32% on average. The nature of work has also changed. Technological advances such as smartphones, video conferencing, and instant messaging have encouraged a shift in the workplace. This led to the need to create an effective workplace, that encourages productivity, close collaboration, and peak performance at reduced costs. Nowadays different tools can deliver workplace insights to managers, which enables them to make informed decisions. But what insights should you consider when looking at your workplace strategy and what tools do you need? Crucial questions such as these will be discussed further in this article.