Companies are spending in excess of $6,000 per person annually on real estate rental fees alone while their employees are ever increasingly working out of office.
In fact, at any given time, commercial offices within the GTA may find their space only
half full. Contributing factors include the inability to find adequate meeting space and
remote working alternatives. Mobile technology has changed the way that people work and increasingly, even within the office, collaborative work requirements mean commercial office space is being underutilized or not being used effectively.
Mayhew Brings Savings to CTV With Redesigned Space
Organizational leaders, facility managers and other workspace decision makers are recognizing these trends and identifying lost revenue opportunities attributed to the inability of their existing space to support the kind of work that their business requires. Remaining competitive and effective requires smart planning and an overall assessment of one’s facility needs. In order to optimize their workspace they are turning to select companies specializing in workplace strategy.
Mayhew, a commercial design company based out of the GTA, has been providing customized workspace solutions since 1982. Made-up of approximately 150 full-time professionals, they are dedicated to creating workplace solutions that boost productivity, facilitate collaboration, enhance work life, build organizational pride and, ultimately, contribute quantifiably to the bottom line.
“The redefinition of physical space can help an organization and its leaders both reflect and advance their business strategies,” said Steve Cascone, VP Design Services for Mayhew. “Having the right workplace can provide a potent tool for work, a productive home for employees and a powerful symbol of change.”
So how can you realize bottom line savings in your facility? Whether you’re seeing flux in your workforce, workplace inefficiencies, a productivity deficit, or simply looking to control costs, you need an effective workplace strategy. That strategy can be comprehensive such as the redesign of an existing space or moving to a new facility. Or it may be more tactical, a retrofit or perhaps new workspace tools that deliver greater flexibility and optimize work adjacencies.
Mayhew-Designed Space at CTV
Flexible space has become even more essential to companies since the recession where many organizations experienced contraction. With the recovery, organizations have started making regular modifications to their workspace to accommodate incremental growth or streamline business functions by repurposing resources.
Other companies, like CTV Television, for example, require flexible solutions in order to react to the ebb and flow of their business which often demands shifting physical space, including accommodating media events such as the MMVAs. CTV has leveraged a proprietary Mayhew furniture and asset management program called SmartSpace which provides quality and affordable workstations. Mayhew warehouses components of the certified cradle to cradle Steelcase Answer system. Smartspace is unique in that it can be delivered quickly when ordered and it comes with a 50% buy back guarantee within the first 3 years.
“Being in the television media industry, our needs are immediate and not in six weeks time, says Dave Nicholson, CTV Corporate Services. “SmartSpace provides us with choice, availability, and responsiveness. We are ever changing and evolving and it is great to have the ability to take advantage of this Mayhew program and make modifications without incurring significant financial impact.”
Creative programs and solutions are attractive to companies who know they have to meet the changing demands of the economy, an economy that is in recovery. By leveraging space and ensuring employees are working collaboratively and effectively, companies can create efficiencies and better protect their bottom line.
SpaceSaver Storage Solutions
If your space handles a lot of paper records, space for employees can be at a premium, particularly in densely populated urban areas where rents per square foot are a concern. Companies like SpaceSaver offer file solutions that organize and compact paper files through movable filing systems. Their case study page contains a number of examples of accounting firms, pharmaceutical companies, and blue chip clients that have realized bottom-line savings through installing mobile storage systems.
Mobile storage systems, for the layperson, are file storage systems that move on a track and fold in so that there are no aisles between each rack. You may have used one if you’ve ever been to a university or college library. They are completely safe and have numerous security measures built in so that the track system cannot be activated while a person is in the system.
Pre-Planning And Collectivism Help to Save Space and Money
Tracey Reid, a commercial interior designer based in Ottawa, offers the example of a group of non-profits that have gotten together in order to share office space in the form of a “mother hub”. The group of charities and non-profits are leasing out space in a building where they agree to only pay for the number of square feet that they take up, and they pay into use of a common area based on the percentage of use of the space. The space is expandable should they wish to make interior modifications such as knocking out walls, and they collectively make money towards their leases by renting out the large boardroom for meetings. This serves as an excellent example for small businesses in non-competing industries that can make similar uses of this kind of office space.
Mayhew Space at CTV Studios
Reid also suggests involving an interior designer from the outset of a building project in order to realize the best cost efficiency potential, along with a properly laid out feasibility plan for the use of the space.
Conclusions
Whether economizing up front by planning a shared space around common use, as in the case of Reid’s example, purchasing a SpaceSaver system that saves space through limiting space taken up by files, or redesigning an existing space to maximize its potential, as Mayhew Workspace Design has done at CTV, there are multiple solutions to save money through better space use.
First section information provided by Mayhew, Workspace Design & Solutions experts.
