5 Design Considerations to Encourage Return-to-Office Enthusiasm
How your workspace can make or break employee eagerness
Design is a Driver of Workplace Emotion
The design of any given space doesn’t just serve an aesthetic purpose–it shapes how its inhabitants feel, work, and collaborate. As companies continue to bring employees back in person, office design is a key factor in supporting employees’ emotional readiness.
The secret to creating workspaces that build return-to-office (RTO) enthusiasm lies in psychographic data. Namely, what is the connection between employees’ attitudes, workspace layout, and enthusiasm?
New research shows that RTO enthusiasm is driven by culture, connection, and cultivation—all of which can be supported through effective design. Here are five simple considerations that together have the power to make your workspace more welcoming, supportive, and enjoyable for everyone.
1. Create Spaces That Show People They’re Valued
Imagine being told to return to an office that feels more like a leftover storage room than a space designed for people. Now imagine being welcomed back into a workspace that energizes you with light, movement, and choice. The difference? Design.
As you first walk into a shared workspace, its design immediately signals what that organization prioritizes. When employees see and feel the effects of significant investment in comfort, quality, and layout, it helps cultivate loyalty and pride.
When we consider employees who are naturally social and enthusiastic about working in office, factors such as flexible workspaces, wellness spaces, and greenery spaces rank remarkably high, as expected. An impressive 79%-84% of respondents ranked these factors as very-to-moderately impactful.
Alternatively, employees who have the least enthusiasm about returning to the office still ranked these factors quite favourably. Approximately 43%-49% ranked them as very-to-moderately impactful. So, even from those who are clinging to their home offices with a vice grip, nearly half still expressed appreciation for positive environmental factors.
“A well-designed space allows us to socialize or not, as we see fit. One space can accommodate several different uses if the furniture in it can be arranged several ways.” (Augustin, 2009)
Smart design with careful attention to detail can lead to employees feeling appreciated and valued, strengthening the culture portion of our drivers.
Actionable insight: Prioritize ergonomic comfort, wellness features like yoga and meditation rooms, and environmental qualities like fresh air and outdoor spaces.
2. Enable Connection, Not Just Presence
Another important piece when considering spatial design is collaboration. Spaces for both structured collaboration and spontaneous interaction can help build relationships, which is an essential factor for RTO enthusiasm.
From the in-office heroes to the work-from-home (WFH) fanciers and all opinions in between, some interesting evidence stands out. Although enthusiasm for intentionally crafted workspaces varies, the value of them is evident across the board.
When we get into the fine details, nearly every employee personality segment found better energy levels through in-office socialization, even in those who identified a strong preference for working from home full or part-time. That’s how you can address the connection portion of our drivers.
Actionable insight: Focus on spaces that encourage collaboration—both structured and spontaneous—and cultivate positive co-worker relationships.
3. Offer Choice and Control
The environment that an employee occupies is equally as important as their personal views about working in the office. RTO enthusiasm increases across all personality types when individuals can adapt their working environment to suit different tasks or moods.
For example: a main desk as home base, large meeting rooms for group work or collaboration, private pods for independent heads-down work, and social areas for casual work and conversation.
“When people can control their experiences in a place, they feel more satisfied with their lives and more capable of facing its challenges.” (Augustin)
Ensuring all types of working spaces are available to satisfy every working style signals autonomy and respect on the employer’s behalf. This directly relates to the cultivation portion of our drivers.
Actionable insight: Prioritize creating multiple types of workspaces (collaborative, private, social, etc.) to accommodate different working styles across teams.
4. Support Wellness Through Environment
Employees who prefer WFH may perceive the office as physically and mentally draining, which is why prioritizing wellness spaces is so important.
A workplace that supports mental and physical wellness can reframe that perception of the office as restorative, instead of draining.
“You can create restorative spaces by designing a pleasantly distracting and easily used space… like a quiet space with a fish tank and a comfortable chair, or a collection of potted plants.” (Augustin)
Those employees who naturally feel enthusiastic about RTO unsurprisingly report placing high value on things like air quality, outdoor access, and ergonomic design. Those preferring WFH reported far less enthusiasm for the same factors, suggesting an opportunity for smart design to shift that mindset.
Actionable insight: Take stock of what wellness benefits your office offers, and how they can be improved or expanded. Some examples include meditation or yoga rooms, greenery and living walls, rooftop gardens, lounges, and private pods.
5. Signal Growth, Not Surveillance
Furniture and space design are about more than just comfort. A carefully planned layout can communicate trust in employees to work successfully, whatever their setup.
Certain personalities naturally have low trust in management, and low emotional engagement in their work. For example, open working spaces without any privacy can actually undermine their confidence. Other personalities view their workspaces as purely transactional, so humanizing the design and moving away from ‘institutional’ feeling workspaces can be impactful.
Environments that support different types of focus and productivity, instead of perceived oversight and control, can enhance cultivation and long-term engagement.
Actionable oversight: Use design to show employees that, as leaders, you have confidence in them regardless of which workspace helps them thrive. Make a point to show them that you trust their work to be completed without surveillance.
Design Isn’t Neutral—It’s a Message
Office design sends a message—about what’s valued, what’s supported, and what’s possible. When that message is aligned with what employees actually need, enthusiasm follows.
Designers have the tools to change how people feel about the office—through comfort, flexibility, and thoughtful space planning.
The bottom line
Incorporate design elements that support physical and mental well-being
Offer spaces that allow employees to move freely within the office
Design offices with a variety of private work areas
Integrate collaborative seating arrangements that facilitate teamwork
Allow employees to choose where and how they work within the office
