10 Oct From Empty Desks to Engaged Teams
Why Workplace Strategy Matters
If you’re a People & Culture leader you’ve probably noticed this: offices don’t feel like they ‘fit’ the way they used to. Some days the office is buzzing and overcrowded. Other days it’s eerily quiet and half empty. Meanwhile, Finance is asking why we’re paying for space that isn’t being used.
You’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. These are some of the big workplace challenges that COMUNiTI is helping leaders navigate right now:
Hybrid has thrown predictability out the window. Employees want flexibility — and they’re not letting go of it — but that means attendance patterns are uneven. Midweek feels chaotic and crowded, while on Mondays and Fridays it feels like a ghost town (cue tumbleweed). This unpredictability makes it difficult to plan space effectively, keep people engaged and connected, and prove the value of the workplace to the business.
Even when people do come in, the workplace doesn’t always deliver. Entire rows of desks sit empty for most of the day, used as ‘dumping grounds’ for jackets and bags while the team is in back-to-back meetings. And when they’re not in meetings, the spaces employees really need for their ‘in-office’ days — quiet rooms, team collaboration zones, and informal connection hubs — are in short supply. Because let’s face it, independent work that can be done at a desk now gets done at home. We often find the issue is not that there isn’t enough space. It’s that the space doesn’t match how people actually work when they’re in the office.
Then comes the financial pressure. Office leases, utilities, and fit-outs are some of the biggest costs on the balance sheet. Boards and CFOs are asking tough but fair questions: why are we paying for space people aren’t using, and what value is it delivering?
Layer onto that the employee experience. Too many workplaces are still designed around the old five-day office week. Employees find themselves frustrated by distractions, layouts that don’t suit hybrid work, and technology that struggles to connect those in the office with those working remotely. People don’t just expect a desk anymore. They want a workplace that reconnects them with the organisation, supports meaningful collaboration, and helps them perform at their best.
And finally, (but not least importantly!) there’s culture. With teams scattered across homes, regional hubs, and HQ, the workplace is no longer the automatic gathering place it once was. The office now has to work much harder to justify its role as the heartbeat of culture — to give people a reason to come in, a sense of belonging, and a place to reconnect with purpose.
The good news is that these very challenges are also where the opportunity lies.
By building flexible zones into workplaces, COMUNiTI is helping organisations find ways to adapt to demand rather than being caught off guard by it. Smart booking systems and utilisation data help anticipate peaks and right-size the footprint for different teams, ensuring the office feels balanced instead of either overcrowded or underused.
We’re reimagining spaces to align with how people actually work. Instead of floorplates dominated by rows of desks, we are helping organisations evolve their offices into ecosystems with the right mix of collaboration zones, focus rooms, and social spaces. This shift helps reduce the friction points for employees, like noise and distraction, and it boosts productivity and makes teamwork easier.
We’re helping People & Culture leaders position their workplace as a strategic asset (rather than just a ‘facilities issue’) that can unlock benefits for people and performance. For people, the way space works directly influences engagement, wellbeing, retention, and talent attraction. And workplace strategies also carry weight in business performance, cost optimisation, and overall productivity. With data-led decisions guiding everything from footprint to fit-outs, businesses can cut waste, get more from every square metre, and unlock employee engagement and productivity gains.
We’re supporting leaders to reimagine how to use the space they have. A workplace strategy doesn’t always mean you have to start with a whole new workplace — sometimes the right strategy is to rethink the way existing spaces are used, reset office etiquette and norms, and introduce new behaviours to help activate and re-energise the space you already have.
The office isn’t dead. But the old way of working in them is. Today’s workplace isn’t just a place where work happens, but as a strategic asset that drives your people and your organisation forward.