As the leader of a human resources department in the last few years, you have had to increasingly understand that people’s work approach and their workplace preferences are constantly changing.
According to multiple studies, hybrid work has now become the preferred work arrangement for most employees in the United States.
What you may not realize, however, is how coworking centers can fill a gap in what you’re currently offering to your employees.
Coworking centers can notably help you extend your company’s HR benefits to remote, hybrid, and satellite teams in ways that ultimately enrich the employee experience.
Modern coworking centers, such as those offered by Carr Workplaces, provide HR departments like yours with flexible, on-demand workspaces, meeting and conference rooms, and event spaces that may be leased for the short-term or long-term.
Read on to discover how coworking centers can help your human resources department offer additional flexible work options to your employees, combat employee loneliness, increase collaboration, and much more.
Offer Flexible, Physical Office Space Options to Hybrid/Remote Employees
One of the drawbacks of remote work is that it can be isolating for employees to work alone all day away from colleagues. Isolation can lead to chronically lonely employees, which isn’t good for the employees themselves or your company.
Chronically lonely employees often score lower on performance reviews, feel less emotionally connected to their employers, and tend to miss more work than their non-lonely counterparts.
“Remote work can be isolating, and it can be difficult to connect with other employees without the informal interactions that are common when working in a shared onsite workspace as you get in the workplace,” said Caitlin Duffy, research director in the HR practice at Gartner.
As the head of HR, utilizing coworking centers can help your human resources department address the loneliness and isolation that team members may experience when they’re working remotely.
Consider offering your remote or hybrid team members the opportunity to work some of their hours in a Carr Workplaces coworking center.
These options include shared office space, which provides team members with the opportunity to interact with other professionals working in the space during the day.
If your teams require a dedicated space for confidential meetings or focused work, consider private offices or team spaces at Carr Workplaces.
Private offices and team spaces provide the dedicated space for quiet or confidential work while being situated in a vibrant coworking center with the potential for social interactions in our on-site community cafés and other shared spaces.
Carr Workplaces’ coworking centers also are the ideal location for holding team-building events, trainings, and team meetings that bring together employees who are working in the same geographic area.
Support for Remote Teams
An additional way that coworking centers can help your human resources department is the administrative support available to remote teams.
At Carr Workplaces, you can offer your remote employees virtual support delivered by the on-site community management team.
Do you need to bring your fully remote teams together in person for events such as quarterly meetings, luncheons, client meetings, team meetings, strategy sessions, and/or team-building activities?
If so, you have the option to book the fully furnished, state-of-the-art meeting and conference rooms available on-site at Carr Workplaces’ coworking centers.
For larger gatherings such as company-wide meetings, you may want to consider booking the event spaces that also are available at many of Carr Workplaces’ centers.
Carr Workplaces’ meeting rooms and event spaces may be booked by the week, day, or hour for ultimate flexibility.
Catering and beverages services can easily be added to meeting room and event space bookings, as well, to make your event planning as stress-free as possible.
Networking and Collaboration Opportunities
When your employees work from a Carr Workplaces’ coworking center even on a part-time basis, they are working from a location that can be fruitful for both collaboration and networking purposes.
We all know that collaboration often is easier when people can meet in person. As head of HR, you can provide all employees with opportunities to collaborate in person by leveraging Carr Workplaces’ coworking centers.
Imagine that you have a team of employees working in the same general geographic area on a project. You can offer this team the option to meet in person at a Carr Workplaces’ coworking center in their area on a periodic basis for brainstorming sessions or at several key junctures throughout the project.
Carr Workplaces’ private offices, meeting and conference rooms, team suites, and other spaces can be booked as needed without making a long-term commitment. This gives you the ability to offer employees the option to meet in person with fellow team members as needed.
Networking opportunities also abound at Carr Workplaces’ network of coworking centers. Each center hosts weekly and/or monthly networking events to help the professionals working in the center get to know one another and broaden their referral networks.
When your employees work from a Carr Workplaces’ coworking center, they’ll be invited to attend these events, which can raise the profile of your company and even translate into new referrals and sales leads for your teams.
On-site networking events also are a great way for your employees to scratch that socializing itch, as well, if they often work remotely.
Access to physical space at a coworking center for collaboration and networking purposes can extend your HR services to include geographic areas in which your company doesn’t have a major physical presence, as well.
Expansion or Satellite Offices
Imagine another scenario in which your company expands its presence into a new market or geographic location.
Tapping into the flexibility of Carr Workplaces’ network of coworking centers can help ensure that your company only pays for exactly the workspaces needed for employees in this new location.
Instead of entering into a multi-year lease with a traditional office space rental in this new market, you could instead lease a combination of private day offices, Dedicated Desks, and Touchdown Desks when you begin hiring new employees.
As your company’s presence in this new market expands, you can easily scale your real estate footprint with Carr Workplaces. When the number of employees in this new location increases, simply add additional private offices, coworking desks, and team suites as needed.
Utilizing Carr Workplaces’ coworking centers when opening an expansion or satellite office allows you to provide employees with multiple workspace options while minimizing overhead costs and avoiding a long-term commitment to physical office space.
To discover how to leverage the power of coworking for your HR department, schedule a free tour of a Carr Workplaces coworking center near you or call (866) 983-5814.
Find out “How To Create A Strong Company Culture In A Remote Or Hybrid Work Environment.”
