Managing space in a flexible working environment
On a typical working day, ask any senior executive “what percentage of the desks in their office building are occupied?” and nine times out of ten, they’ll estimate between 90-100% occupancy for admin staff and around 60-70% for managers and professionals. Despite an office building being the second biggest operating cost after salaries, most offices are barely 50% utilised on any one day, i.e. half the desks in an office lie idle, wasting money and adding to your carbon footprint.
Why so poorly utilised? With the rapid rise in “teleworking” or flexible working in both the public and private sector, more and more of us are working away from the office and, as a consequence, our workplace is becoming less utilised.
Finding a desk: Condeco makes it easy for users to find a suitable desk with just a few clicks.
How much does it cost to maintain a desk or an office?
According to the Total Office Cost Survey 2007 (published by Actium Consult), it costs a company £14,778 per annum to maintain just one desk that is 10m2 in size in a London West End office, or £10,176 pa in a City of London office and in Manchester, £6,581 pa. It doesn't take much intelligence to comprehend the savings that can be made from divesting empty desks.
Yet the biggest driver to a desk sharing environment is climate change. It is estimated that businesses are responsible for a staggering 48% of the UK's CO2 emissions. This includes power use (HVAC), outmoded commuting practices made worse by poor office utilisation.
Environmental Responsibility
It is now widely accepted that there is a need to take action on climate change by reducing carbon emissions and that this needs to happen soon. Organisations from all sectors, from industrial companies to retailers, are realising the benefits to their reputation (and shareholders), their finances and the environment that are gained from reducing carbon emissions. Rather than wait for inevitable EU legislation on pre-determined carbon emission levels for office buildings that now looms on the horizon, UK firms are proactively becoming greener and more responsive to making their working environment sustainable.
Reducing an office building's energy consumption is only part of the carbon emissions story. The key is raising office utilisation. The question is how?
Hot-desking - helping organisations become greener
It is no coincidence that Hot-desking, a system where employees who frequently work out of the office, do not have a permanently assigned desk but instead reserve a workstation as and when they need one, is the answer to raising occupancy. The underlying idea is that personal space is replaced by team space. Crucially, hot-desking is not a question of reducing space, but tailoring your workplace to modern work practices and processes. Software, like Condeco's "desk booking" solution, when implemented well, can reduce your facilities costs and provide staff with a better working environment.
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Desk Booking