I’m currently reading a book entitled, “The ONE Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, which talks about identifying and implementing one thing that in turn makes everything else easier. As a HR professional, I immediately began to think about what this one thing could be from a company’s standpoint. To me, it’s pretty clear that if the associate experience you provide to your employees is a positive one, everything else comes much, much easier, whether that translates to sales, happy customers, or any number of things. In particular, I believe there are three areas where the associate experience is especially important.

We have four pillars here at Continental Office that symbolize what we stand for as a company. They are associate experience, client experience, one team, and community and environment. These four pillars together tell our story. Allow me to explain.

Providing a variety of spaces allows associates to choose where they’ll work best, which makes for a happy and productive team. But, it can be difficult to know where to start and where your associates will do great work.

The design of your space impacts both the creativity of your associates and your workplace culture. Where do you even begin when choosing how to design your space to cultivate these two important pieces of your workplace puzzle? Below are just a few key ways to jumpstart your space planning and design.

After reading, “The Great Debate: Not Even a Question” by Eva Hagberg-Fisher of Herman Miller, I have some newfound thoughts on the changing world of work we live in.

It’s so much more than just a space. You probably hear us say this a lot and it’s true! As a business, you need to consider more than just your furniture, floors, or branding to remain competitive and attractive to associates and clients alike. It’s 2017 and the workplace is no longer someplace you go to do strictly work; it’s a place you go to have an experience.

When it comes to what matters most to us, our associates round out the top of the list! We recently surveyed our 200+ associates across all of our locations to find out what matters most to them during the holiday season, and to see what their plans are for the coming year.

Measuring performance is essential not only to your bottom line, but it greatly affects workspace environment. In fact, Herman Miller recently cited an article that states by 2017, organizations that track metrics will increase profitability by 20 percent.

Last week, we held a Learning Studio Design Workshop at all three of our locations. With the help of Herman Miller’s higher education team, Casey Nick and Grant Ponte, we learned a great deal about how classroom design affects learning, student engagement, collaboration, and more. While many traditional classrooms are still present in today’s universities, learning spaces are changing along with changing pedagogy in education.

Have you ever thought about your furniture as artwork? What about extra details like plants, dishware, or even coat racks? Your office is a work of art and those visiting have an experience that uses all five senses. Your office should tell your story and emanate your culture, as well as be inviting to those who step inside. Legendary furniture designers, Ray and Charles Eames, pioneered entertaining as art and understood the value of carefully selecting each object in a room, from the table to the trashcan. You can apply the Eames way of thinking to your own space and allow every visitor to leave your space with a unique and positive experience.