The interior world of employer branding

Recent studies clearly show that the surroundings where future employees will have to stay for long hours are an important factor when they make the decision to choose an employer. What is of key importance is employer branding (EB) or building the brand and image of an employer. The company’s headquarters needs to send a coherent message about the company’s values ​​and what can be expected when becoming one of its employees. A company’s values, its treatment of its employees, its clients and its mission are all of crucial importance to the most valuable personnel and these factors are important to two particular groups: potential employees and a company’s current staff. It needs to be remembered that an office must be designed to communicate the right message, both internally and externally.

Designs that come with a message

The office can be seen as a second home where we spend 8–12 hours a day. It is a place that gives you access to a range of systems that will enable you to perform the duties entrusted to you. This work is often undertaken in groups – which often include people of different generations and a range of personalities such as introverts and extroverts – and this often requires an office to be planned and designed in such a way as to facilitate communication. It has to be stressed that a well-designed space will improve work efficiency and facilitate easier and better internal communication and collaboration. Common areas, chillout zones, free meeting zones, agile workspaces, focus areas and interesting multi-use kitchens can all be elements of an optimal working environment. And you shouldn’t forget about the proper design of the acoustics and the lighting. In order for an office to fully become an HR tool that communicates the employer’s branding message, all these elements – which make it possible for an office to function in an ideal manner – need to be dressed in a properly designed ‘skin’. The interior needs to be altered to communicate the ideology and employer branding strategy.

Different stylistic systems should be used to communicate the values of different types of firms. You will use different elements for the finish of an office for an IT company than one from the HR or banking sectors. A different style is needed for an insurance company that wants to show that it is a dynamic company that looks to the future than for a company that wants to communicate its stability and tradition. By using different wall surfaces, flooring materials and different types of lighting, you can create a space that will present a specific thought or idea. Employer branding through the interior design of the office is important not only for those companies that are setting up their own regional offices or headquarters, as communicating a message with space is also important to the increasingly popular coworking sector. It is easy to communicate through the interior design, who the space is meant for, who you want to work there and who you hope to keep there. Co-working space is currently very diverse ranging from elegant and moderate to styles that are extremely industrial. When looking at such space, you can see how an interior forms our interpretation of the area and how it directly communicates information to us about its branding.

The Design Group was responsible for the design of Eset’s offices in Kraków

The question of cost

Setting up an office with a message definitely requires a departure from the basic standard provided by buildings. If an interior is to say something more than just that this is an ordinary organisation, it needs to be properly designed, which involves additional expense. The fitting out of a new office or the modernisation of an existing one is something that companies need to face only once every five to seven years on average and sometimes it is even less. When creating a tailor-made office, the costs of using non-standard finishing elements – the extra fit-out – will have to be added to the basic costs and this can be a significant amount. The sky’s the limit – but it needs to be remembered that the costs incurred will be returned in the greater satisfaction of the company’s employees and their increased creativity and efficiency. It will improve how an employer is perceived by external and internal clients. Both internal and external EVP (employer value positioning) will grow, which translates into reduced employee turnover and facilitates the acquisition of new talent.

As an example, let’s take a typical medium-sized office employing around 200 people fitted out to one of our designs. On average, a gross area of ​​2,400 sqm will be needed to accommodate the staff. The costs of a superior, good quality fit-out should come at around EUR 700 per sqm. In a new building, the cost to the organisation after deducting the contribution from the developer or landlord should on average be around EUR 400 per sqm. This equals an expenditure of EUR 1 mln for the fit-out – which you should consider partially paying for from the CAPEX and OPEX budgets. Over its duration we will pay around EUR 4 mln for a five-year lease and over that time we will also spend around EUR 24 mln on salaries, which means the cost comes to around 3.5 pct of the basic costs of business operations, which comes to less than 2.5 pct in the case of a seven-year lease. From this you can also deduct savings made in HR. Looking at the scale of the entire undertaking, the outlay to commission an office that improves employer branding is not exorbitant.

The 5,000 sqm office of insurance company XL Catlin is also the work of The Design Group

Higher goals

Activities aimed at acquiring and keeping employees are a significant challenge requiring significant expenditure. With the help of employer branding and a well-communicated vision, the office can serve as an HR tool to help develop those features that an organisation desires such as clear communication, employee involvement and being attractive to new talent. n for more information: www.thedesigngroup.pl