Redesigning Workplace to enhance employee experience

Sonya Dufner, Principal at Gensler

Sonya Dufner serves as a Principal and Workplace Strategy Director at architecture and design firm Gensler. In collaboration with firm leadership, she develops a comprehensive strategy for delivering service excellence to global clients. With over thirty years of interior design experience, her career has expanded to include workplace and real estate strategies for diverse organizations. Her passion for research has guided her multidisciplinary path in real estate strategy and design.

Could you discuss the challenges impacting the HR tech space?

Currently, a significant challenge in HR is effectively training managers who oversee remote and hybrid teams. The pandemic prompted remote work, presenting complexities that demand close collaboration between teams and HR to enhance employee effectiveness and happiness. Collaboration tool evolution and adoption, accelerated by the pandemic, have fostered greater comfort with new software and applications that increase transparency and inclusivity.

We've noticed clients increasingly viewing culture strategy as vital. Office design has become a means to reinforce and reshape desired organizational culture with a focus on hospitality services and larger informal workspaces for team collaboration that support employees who are no longer tethered to technology at the desk.

“It's imperative to listen attentively and engage employees, to understand their needs, and not solely rely on senior leadership's perspectives. These are the key practices that lead to designing a workspace that support what employees are doing when they come to the office.”

Furthermore, the pandemic reshaped hiring practices and workforce dynamics. Emphasis now lies in proximity to central transit hubs for easier commuting, recognizing the importance of work location as companies transition back to office-based work.

What current trends are helping mitigate these challenges?

Instead of past practices accommodating the ‘average’ employees, our focus is now on neurodiversity, and designing for the individual. We recognize diverse learning and working styles, addressing unique needs. Our design philosophy for neurodiversity spans individual requirements, creating warm and inviting environments that resonate with the comforts of home while providing useful amenities that employees can only find at the office.

What leadership strategies drive your team and project success?

We redefine the office's purpose to cater to the client’s needs, enhancing flexibility in layout and incorporating "no tech" spaces for screen breaks, promoting genuine interactions and discussions, fostering engagement and in person participation.

Many client requests are shifting away from formal conference settings, instead embracing dynamic approaches with varied furniture catering to individual seating, participation, and interaction preferences.

Considering potential transformations, how do you envision the future? AI integration significantly shapes transparency around  the design process and decisions. AI aids creative decision-making by allowing physical navigation of material choices and physical changes. Collaboration tools bridge the gap between in-office and remote team members, fostering unity in physical and virtual spaces.

Workspace design's technology evolution empowers collaboration, creativity, and well-being prioritization. “AI’s impact is broad, but one of its most transformative applications is unfolding in the design of our work environments. This is not a futuristic concept; it’s a paradigm shift that’s radically reshaping the way employees experience their workspaces.”

Any advice for leaders or peers to improve in the space?

Prioritize listening. Successful outcomes stem from genuinely understanding employee expectations, seeking feedback, conducting pilots, and robust change management. Put the employee’s perspectives at the forefront and adapt based on their needs for an effective, responsive approach to your workplace.