Charity office trends continue to evolve as the not-for-profit world recovers from a unique set of challenges including the pandemic, global conflict and political uncertainty.
With favourable market conditions for tenants, charity executives and trustees are seeking to adopt more hybrid working solutions and downsize operations to save money.
However, hybrid working and downsizing aren’t the only trends we’re seeing. Wellness and sustainability are key to decision making on new office accommodation.
Highlighted below are the key trends we are seeing now in 2024, and will continue to see in the future.
The key charity office trends we’re seeing
Hybrid working models
Charities are increasingly adopting hybrid working models, allowing employees to split their time between home and the office.
This trend reflects a broader shift towards flexible working arrangements.
Downsizing office space
With more staff working remotely, many charities are reducing their office footprint to cut costs. This often involves moving to smaller, more cost-effective locations or utilising shared office spaces. As such, we’re typically seeing charities downsize by 50% at lease break.
Focus on collaboration spaces
Charity office spaces are being reconfigured to prioritise areas for collaboration and meetings, rather than individual desks.
This supports the hybrid working model and enhances team interactions when employees are on-site.
Sustainability considerations
There is a growing emphasis on sustainable office practices. Charities are looking to reduce their environmental footprint through energy-efficient buildings, sustainable materials, and encouraging less commuting.
Health and wellbeing focus
Enhancing health and wellness is a charity office trend which is here to stay with organisations placing greater emphasis on employee wellbeing.
This includes designing offices with better ventilation, natural light, and spaces for relaxation and mental wellbeing.
Flexibility
Charities are seeking office solutions that offer flexibility to adapt to changing needs. This might involve short-term leases, co-working spaces, or offices that can be easily reconfigured. The key benefit of flexibility is less working capital being tied up on office accommodation.
Increased use of technology
To support remote and hybrid work, another one of our key charity office trends is investing in technology such as cloud-based systems, video conferencing tools, and collaborative platforms.
This ensures that employees can work effectively from any location.
Community and partnership spaces
Additionally, another charity office trend is creating or utilising spaces that can be shared with other organisations or community groups. This fosters partnerships and community engagement whilst saving on shared spaces where they are able to.
How to look at changing your office accommodation
Every charity will have their own individual needs and each team in the organisation will have varying requirements to be in the office vs working from home. Enlisting the help of a workplace consultant is a useful starting point to get under the skin of how much space you require now against what you might need, in say, 3-5 years’ time.
If you have a lease event on the horizon you will need to engage a commercial agent to help identify alternative accommodation in the market and benchmark the cost of your current premises against new potential options.
Once you have assembled your stay versus go options you will be able to benchmark the costs involved in each option against intangible factors such as staff retention, business interruption and cultural change.
Getting the design of your new office right will be crucial in delivering your services, seeking expert advice is a price worth paying to ensure you’re incorporating features which will add value to your space.
Depending on the scale of your charity enlisting the right team of property experts will help safeguard the success any change strategy being delivered.
Get in contact for a free consultation
We have considerable experience in working with charities of all sizes to help them make best use of their office space. Our clients include Shelter, Mencap, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse and Nacro, to mention a few.
As a specialist NFP design & build company operating for 46 years, our deep roots in the charity sector means we understand how to design intelligent, cost-balanced workspaces that meet the individual needs of our charity clients.
As part of our ongoing commitment to the sector we are offering a free consultation to help you understand how to achieve your workspace goals with no initial cost. Please do reach out to arrange your free consultation with Chris below.
