4 ways to impress your executives using workplace occupancy data

As a workplace leader, you hold the keys to business-critical information: occupancy data. Your workplace platform is a treasure trove of data for workplace planning and decision making. And you know who values this data? That’s right, your executives. Business leaders value data that helps them make smarter, more cost-effective business decisions, and workplace occupancy data can do just that. Yet, with jam-packed schedules and the daily stressors of running a business, executives don’t always have time to crunch this data for themselves. That’s where you come in.In this post, we’ll show you four ways you can impress your executives using occupancy data from your workplace platform. We’ll also go over insights to include in your reporting to highlight your team’s efforts and empower executives to make important workplace decisions.

1. Prove that your return-to-office efforts are paying off

The return-to-office has been a major investment for businesses. Planning, staffing, onsite amenities and programs, real estate… The list goes on. But how can you be sure that you are seeing a return on these investments? Simple: Measure if folks are showing up to the workplace, using resources, and attending onsite events. Sharing insights on employee foot traffic and space usage will show your executives how their investments (and your team’s efforts) are paying off. Here are some key insights to call out in your executive report:

• Average number of employees onsite: This gives executives a high-level look at how well employees are following return policies. In addition to the average number of employees onsite each week, month, and quarter, you should include month-over-month and quarter-over-quarter growth. This will help executives see how workplace occupancy has grown in the recent period compared to past periods.

• Busiest and slowest days onsite: This helps executives understand when employees prefer to work onsite, which can inform your organization’s workplace policies moving forward. For example, let’s say the data shows that the majority of folks prefer to come in during the middle of the week. Given the data, executives might decide to update your organization’s policy to make working onsite Tuesday through Thursday mandatory. This way, they can foster better company culture and promote more onsite collaboration, while also taking into account employee preferences.

• Teams and departments most frequently onsite: This gives executives a look into which groups of employees rely on the workplace most. With this information, they can make more informed decisions about what onsite amenities to invest in to best support these groups. You can also identify the groups who are onsite least often and speak to those team leaders to understand how to improve the workplace for them.
• Average number of meeting rooms and desks booked: This gives executives a look at how much of their floor space gets put to use. You can use this data to quantify the impact of changes you’ve made to the workplace layout. For example, let’s say the data showed that employees needed more space to meet and less space for heads-down work. You might remove a row of desks to make room for meeting pods. Then, you can show how this data-driven change increased the total number of meetings booked each week and turned a previously underutilized space into one employees actually use.

Pro tip: Include an executive summary in your workplace occupancy data report. This should be a few bullets that summarize your high-level findings, conclusions, and recommendations up front. Executives will appreciate the brevity and be more likely to retain the most important points of the report.

2. Show how your business gets value from its current workplace investments

Data on employee foot traffic and space usage is another way to highlight your team’s wins and help you make the case for additional investments. For example, say you rolled out several workplace initiatives to encourage more attendance onsite. You can compare employee foot traffic data from before and after these initiatives launched to show how onsite attendance has increased. You can also show how changes to your space have helped increase usage and decreased wasted space, which executives love to see.To highlight your workplace wins, follow these four simple steps:

1. Set your goal for what you are trying to impact with your investment. For example, this might be foot traffic or meeting rooms booked.
2. Pull a resort from your workplace analytics software looking at the month before the change.
3. Pull another report from your analytics dashboard looking at the month after the change. Compare the reports and evaluate the impact of your initiatives.
4. Summarize the highlights of your findings in your regular executive report.

3. Rationalize future real estate needs

Data on employee foot traffic and space usage will also empower executives to make proactive decisions about their real estate investments. They can use this data to understand if they’re getting value out of existing investments and whether or not to expand their real estate portfolio. For example, the data might show that your workplace is nearing capacity. This could prompt conversations about future locations and help executives determine how much additional space they’ll need to meet business needs. Alternatively, they might decide to save on real estate investments and implement staggered workplace schedules to accommodate more people with less space. Without data to support these big decisions, it can be difficult for executives to understand what’s best for employees and the business. With data, they can ensure employees have enough space to be productive and happy, while also saving on real estate costs.

4. Right size IT, security, and workplace staffing costs

With a strong grasp on workplace occupancy trends, your executives will know when they need to increase their spending on the roles that support workplace operations (AKA your team!). For example, with more people onsite on a regular basis, your organization might need to hire additional security staff to keep the workplace secure. Similarly, it might have to provide additional IT and workplace support to ensure folks have what they need while they’re onsite. If your aim is to increase headcount, occupancy data can also help you build a solid case to expand your team. For example, the IT company Spiceworks found that the average employee to IT staff ratio is 200:1. If your IT team is supporting significantly more employees per team member, you can use your workplace occupancy data to support your request for additional headcount. —Workplace occupancy data can unlock opportunities for you, your team, and your business. Using it, you can share valuable insights with executives about employee foot traffic and space usage trends. With this information, your organization can make better, more cost-effective decisions about its space. Plus, you can demonstrate the value of your team’s work and position yourself for future success.