How your business can benefit from the wow factor - WTTL Article

How your business can benefit from the wow factor

MIKE CHRIST

The 20,000-square-foot office of Waldron Private Wealth is located inside Burns Scalo Real Estate’s Beacon I building in South Fayette Township in Pittsburgh.

What comes to mind when you read the words “Wow Factor”? For me, it’s all about the impression you leave with the people who work in or visit your office space.

Don’t sell that impression short either — it’s often the single biggest difference maker between an unproductive and a productive worker, a retained or departed employee, and a successful sale or missed opportunity.

The home court advantage In my book, I reference the Wow Factor present in the White House. Though it was constructed over 200 years ago, the advantages behind the White House’s specific design are as true now as they were then. For one thing, its luxurious, comfortable, and awe-inspiring nature has often compelled foreign dignitaries to travel to the U.S., rather than the other way around. In the early years, this improved productivity simply because our own dignitaries didn’t have to lose months at a time aboard a ship bound for Spain. It also provided a home court advantage, as a person forced to endure such a journey was less likely to say “no” than someone who got to hold this meeting from the comfort of their own capital.

Sure, people aren’t enduring months-long ocean voyages to visit you anymore, but they do still have to pile into their SUVs and navigate the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel traffic.

In a world where information travels instantaneously and decisions are made in the blink of an eye, deciding to schlep somewhere on a business matter is no small thing. If your office is inviting, impressive, and inspiring — if it causes everyone who visits to say “Wow!” — then just like most occupants of the White House, you are far more likely to see favorable results from the meetings you host.

The cultural advantage The most often overlooked part of the White House’s design is how representative it is of U.S. culture and the common purpose that the office of the president serves.

A huge portion of its Wow Factor comes from its layout, its accoutrements, its decor, its luxury, and its style. It is a big, impressive building decorated not just in an appealing fashion, but in a meaningful one. When visiting the White House, if you want a sense of what this building, its occupants, and the country they serve stand for, then all you need to do is look around.

Similarly, the White House has always remained on the cutting edge of technology. The way it integrates and utilizes technology and forward-looking workplace practices ensures that the office of the president is rarely at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting top minds, managing information, fomenting culture, and getting results. From a cultural perspective, the Wow Factor of the White House is all about beauty, brilliance, style, vibe, and luxury, but also about technology, intellect, and policy advantage.

Your office space is your White House. It is your surest means to a more productive, loyal, and cohesive staff; better relationships with your clients and a higher rate of sales; and the best way to leverage cultural and technological advantage over the competition. Unfortunately, far too many decision makers fail to think about their space in this way. Too many are willing to occupy spaces that are decidedly not as wowinducing as the White House.

The Wow Factor at work You might be saying to yourself that none of this applies to your business. You don’t need a fancy cafe stocked with healthy foods, a fitness center, lounge furniture, or outdoor spaces. Your people all prefer to keep their heads down so they can work. But make no mistake, even the people who aren’t 100% on board with the work-life blend and the amenities, services, and luxuries of a dynamic office space, they will still prefer to have them on hand than not. In our office, even the people who don’t use the collaborative spaces or the fitness center are still proud to tell their friends and family that they have these luxuries in their workplace.

In this way, the amenities on offer, along with the design and décor, become an integral part of a company’s culture. It is a physical representation of what you stand for and how much you care about the people who work in and visit your office.

At Burns Scalo Real Estate, the direct result of our cuttingedge office space is a stronger culture full of closer-knit people, a lower rate of absenteeism, higher morale, a daily vibe of excitement and camaraderie, better recruitment and retention, and a substantially improved rate of productivity.

By investing in this office, we haven’t simply created our own White House Wow Factor, we have drastically improved our bottom line.

How to achieve the Wow Factor People have more choices than ever before about where to work and about which companies they prefer to do business.

So how do you position yourself to more frequently ensure that top recruits and great clients choose you?

It’s all about finding your unique blend of the Wow Factor.

Here’s what that looks like for most:

•Higher quality lighting that mimics natural light reduces eye strain and elevates mood.

•Better air quality (in terms of temperature control, air purity, and odor) improves health, reduces

absenteeism, and heightens performance across the board.

•Engaging, variable music can provide your people, prospects, and clients opportunities to connect with and feel ownership over the culture while also

stimulating conversation, elevating moods, and subtly driving productivity and camaraderie.

•Good, healthy food improves health, reduces absenteeism, and cuts down on people’s need/desire to leave the office for snacks or lunch, thereby improving productivity. Further, the food you serve (along with the place in which you serve it) is one of the surest ways to connect with your prospects and clients.

•Better technology makes employees feel valued and avoids productivity loss when things break down. It keeps you on the cutting edge of your industry and ensures that all your people are capable of working at their most productive capacity. It also has a way of impressing prospects and clients who visit your office.

•Meaningful design and décor connects everyone in the building to the culture and purpose of your company, which helps deliver the message you want to deliver to the people who matter most to your success.

At the end of the day, the Wow Factor isn’t just about productivity and money; it’s about people. It’s incredibly rewarding to put your people, prospects, and clients into a space that inspires them, makes them feel comfortable and appreciated, and compels them say “Wow!” The result is an environment where people truly care about each other and feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves.

And in case you aren’t all in on this touchy-feely stuff, keep in mind that these positive vibes tend to lead directly to an increase in profits. Just like the White House, that amazing space attracts the best and brightest people, connects your culture to your purpose, produces future leaders who can help grow your company, enhances your legacy, and just as importantly, gets results.

This article is an excerpt from Work Them to Life: Upgrade Your Office Space to Win the Talent War authored by Jim Scalo and currently available for purchase on Amazon.