2. At Staples, We Mean Business
Today and Tomorrow
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The workplace is changing
faster than ever.
Understanding and embracing these
changes can help your business manage
uncertainty, boost productivity and gain a
competitive advantage—today and down the
road.
At Staples Advantage, we’re here to help.
We go beyond office supplies to offer
guidance and insights to help you make your
business vision happen.
3. 2014’s Top 5 Workplace Trends
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Forecasting ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing world.
1. Flexibility & co-working
It may be time to rethink the role of the
traditional workplace.
2. Wellness approach
Better health is no longer a “nice to have” —
it’s a driver for employee efficiency.
4. Sustainability
Not only the right thing to do for the environment,
but vital for lowering costs and attracting
the best employees.
5. BYOD to work
Allowing employees to bring and use their own
devices at work helps boost productivity and
savings.
3. Space customization
The diverse knowledge economy calls for a
variety of spaces for a variety of employee
needs.
4. Seismic Demographic Shifts
• 18% of baby boomers will retire in the
next five years. [Forbes]
• By 2015, 36% of the American workforce
will be millennials. [Forbes]
• By 2025, millennials will account for 75%
of the global marketplace.
[Time]
• In 2014, 40% of households with children
younger than 18 include a mother who is
the sole or primary earner for her family.
[Pew Research]
• 1 billion women will enter the workplace
in the next decade. [Intuit]
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It’s no longer about 20-somethings and women fitting into a man’s world.
They already are (and will continue to be) redefining the workplace.
5. 1. The Flexible Workday
4
New technologies are changing where, when, and how we can work.
Employees who have more flexible work situations report feeling healthier and more productive.
By 2020, it’s estimated that
freelance workers will
make up 40% of the
workforce. [Forbes]
69% of modern workers
believe working in a
physical office is
unnecessary on a regular
basis. [Cisco]
71% of people surveyed were more creative
62% reported that their measure of work
improved significantly
90% said they felt more confident
70% reported feeling healthier
Of non-traditional workers
(freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs)
in flexible work settings…
6. Co-working spaces can accommodate
peak demand, or support special
project teams for a set period of time,
and can be used as a way to maintain
connections to unique, innovative
business communities.
1. “Co-worker” Has a New Meaning
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Today’s flexible employees still need to feel socially connected.
Internal or external, co-workspaces are here to stay.
- Jan Johnson,
“Workplace Trends: What We Can Expect in 2014”
[Staples Advantage blog]
7. 2. Healthy Bodies, Minds, and Bottom Lines
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Employee health will be more important than ever this year for productivity and savings.
The EPA estimates that sick business
syndrome costs businesses between $60
and $200 billion a year. [Sodexo]
Up to 10% of employee absences can be
directly attributed to lack of views of the
outside. [RTKL]
$60 billion
$200 billion
10%
8. 2. “Wellness is the New Green”. . .
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In an age where 90% of our waking hours are spent in artificial worlds1, the health
of our inside environments becomes crucial.
The 10 aspects of the indoor
environment that are the most effective
areas for improving wellness are
activity, water and nutrition, restorative
environments, ergonomics, autonomy,
biophilia, indoor environmental quality,
lighting, acoustics, and motivators.
- Rod Vickroy,
“Wellness is the New Green”, [Gensler]
9. “ The migration to the “open plan”
environment is failing many
employees when implemented in
the absence of proper places to
focus, relax and gather as
teams.” [Gensler]
“ In opposition to the trend of
workplaces being designed to
encourage collaboration,
workers today are spending
more time on focused,
individual tasks than they
were 5 years ago.”
[Architecture News]
A Cornell University study of
320 small businesses showed
that companies that grant
employees choice in where to
do their work grew at 4x and
had 1/3 the turnover of more
control-oriented firms. [Gensler]
3. One Open Plan Doesn’t Fit Everyone
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Mixing collaboration-friendly spaces with more private focus spaces helps all
employees feel more engaged and supported in their work.
4x the growth,
1/3 the turnover
10. 3. Work/Space Balance
- Jan Johnson,
“Workplace Trends: What We Can Expect in 2014”
[Staples Advantage blog]
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We need to realize we have to
be more thoughtful about how to
support a variety of activities with
a mix of spaces — and protocols
that enable concentration.
11. 4. Green is Good
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Protecting the environment through more sustainable operations is good for business
(and yes, it’s also the right thing to do).
64% of millennials say it’s a priority
for them to make the world a
better place. [Forbes]
High-sustainability companies “significantly
outperform their counterparts over the long
term, both in terms of stock market and
accounting performance.”
[Harvard Business Review]
12. 4. A Better Work Climate
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Sustainable practices enhance your company’s reputation—inside and out.
Sustainability, however, creates
opportunity for engagement,
collaboration, and innovation.
If you don’t have the culture to
support sustainability and
innovation, then you won’t be
able to achieve your goals.
- Izabela Popova,
“Employee Engagement Drives Sustainability Strategy”
[Environmental Leader]
13. 5. Mobilize Productivity
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Employees increasingly have choice in the mobile devices they bring and use at work —
which leads to greater productivity and work-life integration.
Mobile global penetration
is currently at 91%—and
the personal cloud will
replace the PC as the
hub of consumers’ digital
lives this year. [Macheen]
Gartner predicts that the
Bring Your Own Device-
trend will result in the
doubling or tripling of the
mobile workforce. [Gartner]
90% of organizations will
support corporate
applications on a variety
of personal devices
this year. [Macheen]
The most important
apps to an organization
are those that manage
email/calendars (90%)
and line of business
tools (52%). [Citrix]
14. 5. Head in the BYOD Cloud
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By enabling employees to
securely and easily access
corporate data on their own
devices, productivity levels will
naturally increase. In terms of
cost savings, there are huge
benefits, since SMBs will not
have to manage and fund a
second device for employees.
- Mark Coates,
“What is BYOD and Why Is It Important?”,
[Tech Radar]
15. Smart Business Resources
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For our business solutions, visit:
http://www.staplesadvantage.com
For more tips and tools to build your business, visit
our blog at: http://blog.staplesadvantage.com/
For questions or guidance,
give us a call at:
1-877-826-7755
You can start implementing the best
of these ideas today—and you don’t
have to spend a fortune. But you
could probably use a partner. That’s
where we come in.
