When people are evaluating places to work, not many think about how the office is designed. At least consciously.
"Employees want things that are open and transparent, and how an office is designed can communicate a lot about transparency," says Michael Burchell, a partner and director of The Great Place to Work Institute UAE, a human resource consultancy based in Dubai. "Do executives have offices on the outside, where all the windows are? Are employees inside, in the centre, with little cubicles? Are the doors closed to management?"
These are the types of details Mr Burchell and other experts in the field of office design scrutinise. Next month, at The Office Exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Centre, industry experts are scheduled to speak about how a thoughtfully designed workplace can increase the bottom line.
Proponents of the movement argue that while human resource professionals have highlighted how increasing employee morale can help businesses in times of economic recovery, little attention has been paid to how creating the right office space can also boost productivity.
Sometimes a successful design boils down to how an existing office space actually gets used on a regular basis.
At Google, says Mr Burchell, the cafeteria gets cleared every Friday so senior leaders such as the company's chief executive and founders can answer questions directly from employees. "Small companies can go ahead and do a lot to create openness and collaboration," contends Mr Burchell. One office with 120 employees that he is working with has desks that employees can plug to their computer but roll anywhere in the room to easily collaborate on projects. "The place always changes," says Mr Burchell.
But what about even smaller offices? Mr Burchell says businesses with as few as five employees in the Emirates can still implement these kinds of strategies. Rather than having a corner office for the manager, for example, use that space as an idea generator where everyone can meet and brainstorm, or hold private meetings with clients. If a manager prefers not to have their desk in the same space as his or her underlings, however, then setting up a small kitchen with a table and coffee machine might suffice.
What's admittedly harder to measure, experts say, is how much of a difference all of this makes. Yet it can be done. At the Dubai office of Microsoft Gulf FZ, Reiner Andre Saayman surveyed employees both before and after a major redesign. The company's area portfolio manager for the Middle East and Africa says that before the renovation, most workspaces in the office were underutilised. "You had very low mobility of how people moved around in the office," says Mr Saayman.
Then the company converted its 38 closed offices and 9 meeting rooms into a mix of 55 enclosed collaborative spaces. Nobody has an office anymore, and even the firm's executives and department heads sit in the same space surrounded by informal meeting spots.
"We found people are much more inclined to be in those spaces than a formal work environment," says Mr Saayman. And since employees could still easily plug in their laptops and smartphones while working away from their desk, they engaged with one another more regularly and still completed their work. Mr Saayman says productivity has since inched up a few percentage points, while workplace satisfaction has shot up 10 per cent and collaboration has improved more than 20 per cent. "Managers say they're much more in tune with their people," says Mr Saayman. "They're much more approachable."
nparmar@thenational.ae
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support
Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR
Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps
Audio: Stereo speakers
Biometrics: Touch ID
I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)
Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular
Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue
Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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