In 1604 Sir Edward Coke declared “the house of everyone is to him as his Castle and Fortress as well for defence against injury and violence, as for his repose” which over the years has been simplified to “a man’s home is his castle”.

In the modern world we now live can this be adapted to our working environment? Is it a case that a person’s office is their castle (or perhaps palace in these precious times)? Can a great working environment make workers feel safe and secure and improve production?

Studies show that a positive work environment makes employees feel good about coming to work every day, and also motivates constantly to sustain them throughout the day and give the best effort.

There are many factors that have a positive impact on a workforce and many of those will stem from the culture of the employer, how they treat and motivate with incentives, trust and working style that will be an ongoing process to keep staff motivated. The most visible to both employees and customers alike however will

When you look at some of the most successful companies in the world such as Google, Facebook, Red Bull, YouTube, and Lego they have all invested heavily in making sure the physical surroundings in which their employees work is fun, cool, comfortable and a place that people want to be. Whilst some of these companies take the enjoyment factor to the extreme with things like slides, fireman’s poles free food throughout the day, pool tables, DJ booths, and indoor golf, it does go to show the direction that is required to help succeed in the modern business world.

Based on the mentioned superstar employers and their philosophy, how far do we need to go in order to entice, retain and motivate the best employees we can? Well, I guess we can go on forever, but a good start is surely going to be finding the right office. When I commenced my career along time ago in 1998 brown carpet tiles, tinted windows and nicotine stained walls were starting to phase out and be replaced with wood flooring, exposed brickwork, and frosted glass to create a cool loft style feel. I now find that the boundaries are continuously be pushed and occupiers’ requirements are getting more demanding with the features mentioned along with air conditioning, the fastest internet available, kitchens and host of other features.

It’s quite clear with work patterns changing and homeworking mixed with hot-desking becoming the norm rather than the exception to the rule and seen to help efficiency, it’s key that when in the office maximum output is obtained by creating the best environment possible.

Our findings, therefore, suggest that for employers to get the most out of their most valuable assets (the workforce) a great office is becoming more and more essential and business owners need to consider this when searching for new offices.

We are pleased to report that we are working with a host of landlords right now that are happy to invest in their buildings and create fantastic working environments for their tenants to rent on new leases.

If you have a requirement for office property, we would love to hear from you to discuss your requirement and help find you suitable premises whether this is one of the properties on our books or acting as your retained agent to find you premises through our acquisition service.

Alternatively, if you are a landlord with commercial property to let or sell feel free to contact us to see how we can assist in disposing of your property.

We’d love to hear from you so give us a call on 01273 672 999, or email max@eightfold.agency.