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2010: An Office Odyssey
Flexibility, technology and diversity will be the hallmarks
of future workplaces
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Business New Haven
2/7/2000
By: Susan Froetschel
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Our workspace is better than yours.
In the new competition to attract, retain and motivate the most skilled employees, human resource managers will rely increasingly on the office as a bargaining chip. In the year 2010, the most successful firms will undoubtedly also have the most flexible offices, with comfort, convenience and state-of-the-art amenities and equipment.
“I wish I knew what the best office will look like in 2010,” muses Stuart Amdur, SPHR, director of the human resources and management-consulting group of Weinstein & Anastasio, PC in Woodbridge. “I'd invest in those companies.”
Amdur notes that the best firms will find creative ways to accommodate all manner of flexibility in the workplace. “In Connecticut, we tell our clients to do a better job to retain staff,” he
says. “Training costs are high, and with the current unemployment rate, the talent pool is poor. If you lose a good employee, it's hard to find a replacement.”
The offices of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. research facility in Wallingford already have the look of the future. Set just off I-91 between Hartford and New Haven, the building's array of amenities generate focus rather than distraction.
“The office environment contributes a lot to culture and how employees feel about work,” says Bill Dunnett, associate director of public affairs for Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The 1,100 Bristol-Myers Squibb employees have a fitness room staffed with professional trainers. A chef organizes meals cooked to order in the cafeteria. A small on-site store sells company and vendor products - such as Herbal Essence shampoo, baby formula, Excedrin - at a discount.
The reception area offers an elegant welcome with an atrium entrance and plush furnishings. And throughout the hallways, electronic signs flash the company's latest stock price, so employees can check on how their stock options are doing.
“The old benefits packages don't work anymore,” explains Amdur.
Fortunately for small businesses, flexibility is valued by employees as much as, if not more than, physical structures such as gyms or day-care centers, which are unaffordable to all but the largest firms due to liability costs. Amdur suggests that firms look for creative ways to provide a work/family balance.
For example, flexible benefit accounts or “cafeteria plans” - where employees can customize their benefits, choosing between extensive health care coverage or extra days off, child-care assistance or a shortened work day.
Diversity
In 2010, human resource directors won't have to work so hard to achieve diversity in their company's workforce. Hispanic, black and Asian workers currently comprise 25 percent of the nation's workforce, a number expected to increase to 30 percent by the year 2008, according to the state's Department of Labor (DOL).
“The percentage of minorities in the workforce is growing rapidly and is certainly growing more rapidly than that of the white population,” says John Tirinzonie, labor market information administrator for the DOL.
Meanwhile, the fastest-growing occupations are in the professional technical field, according to projections issued by the state for the years 1996 to 2006. Projections from the state DOL are accurate, and Tirinzonie advises students to research projections on the department's Web page.
“Our priority is to give an idea of which jobs are growing, and it's critical for people who are developing careers - both students and adults who want to change careers - to research available jobs and the skills necessary,” he says. The department continues its effort to match training opportunities with the needs of the
workplace.
Unfortunately, many low-income urban communities lack access to technology.
“I don't think that 30 percent of small minority-owned businesses are online,” suggests Leonard Smart, deputy director of the Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association. As more businesses and governments post regulations, bids and other essential information on the Internet, he adds, “The move to a paperless society is another great divider.”
Fortunately, more public libraries, such as the Stetson branch on New Haven's Dixwell Avenue, are hosting more computers and training for people to learn to use the Internet.
Technology
Technology will continue to generate the most change for the business office, says Carl Gendron, general manager of MaCabe Office Furniture in New Haven. The latest in voice, data, wiring, cabling, electronic and phone systems will continue to be installed and blended into office areas.
Panel systems that allow accessible routing of cables have become standard equipment. “The panel system provides easy access without total reconfiguration,” notes Gendron. “Planning for advances in technology and allowing space and access for future reconfiguration can save money in the long run.”
HR managers will have to update staff immediately with technical expertise as well. Summit Technical in Cheshire supplies contract technical personnel, including programmers, software engineers and mechanical engineers from all over the nation to Connecticut firms.
Paul Thornton, branch manager for Summit Technical, refers to the employees as “flexible staffing” rather than “temps.” “Flexible staffing will continue to emerge as an alternative for companies that face change,” says Thornton. “Connecticut has evolved into a more service-oriented and more dynamic economy, where people must adapt to new technology.”
Several years ago, managers at Summit Technical wondered whether the Internet would replace them as providers of specialized staff. “That has not proven out,” explains Thornton, about the firm that hand-delivered résumés to clients a decade ago, then moved to fax and, then e-mail, and now the Internet.
“We still have a role. The changes require that we become better at recognizing how we fit into the changing landscape. We have to create ways to provide value in our service,” says Thornton.
By the year 2010, Thornton anticipates that two billion people will be connected to the World Wide Web. “As children go to school, hopefully they will recognize opportunities in e-commerce and programming and technology, and we can meet the demands of the economy,” he says.
Thornton foresees a decline in personal interface between businesses and clients. “With all the ways to communicate, there is less need to communicate in person,” says Thornton. “I don't know if that's good or bad, but hopefully there will always be the need for some one-to-one contact to build relationships.”
Technology has likewise altered the “trust factor” in many business relationships, with employees more mobile and customers more price-wary.
Home/Work Connections
Companies can expect increasing affordability of high-speed data services in the next three years, report officials at SNET. For example, SNET's digital subscriber line, which provides more high-speed connections as well as the fast transfer of large files, is available for $39 per month, a fraction of what the technology cost a year ago.
Internet access is increasingly essential for businesses to search for goods and services, prospect for customers and run Web sites that answer questions about the company and its products and services, according to Sean O'Leary, vice president of marketing for SNET in Boston. “The Internet allows companies to buy cheaper, sell more and learn faster,” he explains.
The role of HR managers will change dramatically as a result of improved technology, O'Leary believes, as they become more involved in policy decisions about which employees have access to technology. For example, digital subscriber line (DSL) technology will allow employees to work from home after hours or on snow or sick days. “Being able to harness extra time is important as a competitive advantage,” says O'Leary. “More enlightened companies will tale advantage of affordable ways to get more work out of their employees.”
Videoconferencing, decreasing in cost and increasing in quality, will be sought by more small- and mid-sized businesses. Videoconferencing could replace about 80 percent of all personal contact, O'Leary estimates, based on his own experience with the technology.
With its dependence on high frequencies, wireless technology still poses limits for business use, which relies on transfer of large amounts of data. Wireless data continue to be subject to high frequencies, which are blocked by buildings, trees and other barriers.
“I don't see wireless technology playing a role in the near future, except in cities, where firms can afford to build transmitters,” says O'Leary. However, the cost of wireless also continues to come down and digital technology is increasing capacity.
SNET expects cellular phones to increase in popularity. About 30 percent of the Connecticut market has cell phones, reports O'Leary, and the number could double in the year 2010.
“What most customers want is to use new services to make their day-to-day business operations easier,” O'Leary explains. “Also, many don't want to deal with the complexity.”
SNET saw that desire as a marketing opportunity and created On Line Office, a suite of business products for which companies can pay a flat monthly fee per employee. Firms can describe their office operations and choose from a menu of state-of-the art products designed for the small- or mid-sized firm, particularly those that consider themselves out of date in terms of technology.
On Line Office will bring the company up to date with desktop service support, 100 applications, Web hosting, as well high-speed connections and capability to transmit material at the rate of one full floppy disk per second.
“It's designed for businesses that don't fully understand technology and are quite frankly intimidated,” says Mike Zambruski, products manager for SNET.
User Friendly
Offices will still have to provide some personal touches, even in 2010. The offices that back away from automated communication systems may end up being successful, predicts Rick Lapalombara, owner of the Image Construction Co. in New Haven, an advertising company that assists other companies with catalogues, brochures and other projects.
“How often do you go through a voice-mail system and not get the person you need or the answer you want?” asks Lapalombara. “It's so great to dial a phone and get a person who can address the issues. The automated systems have become the opposite of efficient.”
He also expects more businesses to provide more user-friendly devices in their reception areas, including computers with e-mail, Internet connections and phone lines.
Health
With all the change, a major priority with successful companies will be protecting employee health. Revised OSHA regulations are due soon, and the potential cost to businesses has been estimated at $400 billion. Chairs will be required to have five legs to prevent tipping, and keyboards will be custom-fit to employees to prevent muscular-skeletal disorders.
“The most important piece of office furniture is the chair,” reports Gendron, noting that a good chair costs $300 to $400. “That's a lot less than a workmen's-comp claim,” notes Gendron. “You can buy a lot of chairs for the price of a $15,000 claim.”
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