How does office hoteling benefit the workplace

A hot desk is an office that is available to employees rather than an assigned workspace.

The Chicago offices of EY came up with the idea of forming a partnership through technology and communication advances. Incorporate settings, it has gained increasing popularity since the 1980s. A corporate concierge service is available to employees who travel or telecommute to help them organize meetings, workstations, and offices online.

Several major industries have adopted this method of organizing office space.

Many companies with corporate campuses have benefited from using this policy, including IBM, Google, and Procter & Gamble.

Financial benefits of saving office space

In fact, EY notes that consumers save more than $42 million a year on rent costs by staying in office hotels.

Companies can increase headcount without adding more office space by allowing employees to work remotely rather than being confined to one workspace.

Access to all office resources at your fingertips

Additionally, offices that switch to hot desks can free up some office resources. A study was conducted on Sun Microsystems’ employees at its Santa Clara, California, office. The majority of the employees were either typing at home or working from off-site. As soon as hoteling is implemented, half of the resources in the office can be utilized by both staff and visitors.

The general resource expenses of office hotels also decrease because administration teams need less printer paper and stationery.

Engagement and empowerment of employees

In addition to delivering efficiency and cost savings for organizations, Office hoteling is also beneficial to employees, who can work from anywhere, enjoy lower travel costs, and increase productivity. Businesses that promote employee empowerment provide workplaces without strict attendance requirements.

Consequently, a hoteling area enables employees working at assigned workstations to interact more effectively. By creating greater agility at work, resiliency is also improved, according to Office hoteling.

Collaborative and productive environment

Increased collaboration is one of the benefits of a flexible office hotel model. Meeting rooms and workstations are easily booked by employees based on their needs, facilitating collaboration. Employees who require privacy can work independently as well if they need to be quiet.

Visitor management

The same technology that supports office hoteling can benefit guests, consultants, and clients. Visitors can easily navigate unfamiliar offices with the help of location systems.

Embedding building wayfinding in the structure of your building makes it easy for anyone to find meeting rooms, washrooms, cafeterias, and other relevant areas, whether they book them with your concierge app or via other means.

Manage mobility and satellite offices

Large organizations with multiple campuses and satellite offices benefit from the ability of employees to work from multiple corporate campuses and satellite locations. Employees can access resources from locations around the world.

When traveling consultants and members of the leadership team are in familiar surroundings, they can maintain productivity. By simply booking a desk at the nearby office, employees can ‘office hotel’, reserving a desk or workspace.

Creating a congestion plan

A location-based sensor system can provide real-time monitoring of a specific area and can communicate seat availability in real-time with an app user. Desjardins’ employee app, for example, provides a quick view of available desk space by floor so employees can choose where to place their workstations. A user can also locate friends within the building through the app.

However, office hoteling, or hot-desking, can cause financial losses, productivity declines, and employee resentment if implemented poorly. We explore how company mapping platforms can help increase employee productivity, collaboration, and retention, and improve employer branding and retention rates, in our webinar with Desjardins.

Is it worth investing in office hoteling software?

There is no need for specialized software to start an office hoteling business.

As an example, suppose an employee will be out of the office. Many reasons could lead to this, including a work meeting out of state or a vacation.

If your employee notifies the office admin, they can mark their calendar that they will be out of the office. Afterward, the office administrator must coordinate with an employee or visitor to allow them to use the desk. 

However, this method of hoteling raises a lot of questions.

An office administrator must first communicate well and perform manual tasks. Additionally, colleagues in the workplace don’t have much visibility into the availability of space.

Secondly, the employee must notify the administrative staff when they are leaving. We think that’s not a realistic or smooth process. 

Instead of investing in a new workplace strategy, opt for hoteling software and maximize your results. Robin, for example, displays a map displaying what spaces and desks are available for the upcoming workweek, allowing your colleagues to book a desk or space accordingly.

As an added benefit, employees can also download an app to use the technology wherever they are. Spaces can be booked at any time, so they have the flexibility to do so.

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