Reinforcing its strength in the Indian market, Steelcase, the global leader in office furniture industry and innovative workspace solutions, has announced the opening of its first Steelcase WorkLife Centre (WLC) in Mumbai, a company release said. This innovatively designed centre will be the fourth WLC in India, having opened other centres in Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. With the inauguration of the Steelcase Worklife in Mumbai, Steelcase will provide an extended range of Steelcase and Coalesse products and services that help organisations amplify their performance.The company designed the WorkLife Centre using its interconnected workplace research principles and offers a palette of place (a diverse range of settings organised into interrelated zones), a palette of postures (a variety of options for people to sit, stand, lounge and move throughout their day) and a palette of presence (capability to connect Mumbai to others in the region with the use of telepresence technology).
“Steelcase is helping organisations in India realise the potential to amplify the performance of their teams and individuals through their physical environments” explained Jason Heredia, Vice President – Marketing, APAC Steelcase. “The type of work done in India is rapidly evolving and organisations are now turning to the workplace as a means of attracting and retaining talent in an increasingly competitive market.”
To recognise and meet the needs of the constant changing work culture and to optimise how people work, the Steelcase WorkLife Centre in Mumbai is designed around the application of Steelcase’s insights, products and services. With the culmination of 100+ years of innovation and leadership in the office furniture market, it introduces the latest global knowledge, workplace design solutions, and products to the Indian market.
Stemming from the company’s most recent research on the privacy crisis at workplaces with Susan Cain, an internationally renowned US-based author and researcher, the Mumbai WLC also offers private spaces such as the Hosu room where people can get away for focused work.
Research found that 91 per cent of the employees in India were disengaged at their workplace mainly due to the lack of privacy. Of the most highly-disengaged and dissatisfied employees only 17 per cent said they had “the ability to concentrate easily.” Conversely, 98 per cent of the most highly engaged employees say that they do have the ability to concentrate easily which is one of the drivers of their high levels of satisfaction with their work environment and their engagement.
These findings came from a 14-country study the company conducted with IPSOS, the global market research firm, as part of Steelcase’s overall research about the issue of privacy in the workplace. The study revealed that there is a distinct correlation between employee engagement and privacy. The more satisfied an employee is, the more likely he or she is to be highly engaged, and privacy is a key component to workplace satisfaction. Additionally, a Gallup Survey was used to establish the share of disengagement among employees in these countries. The Gallup Survey also indicates the nations with the highest cost of disengagement.
“In an interconnected business world that is undergoing constant change, with the ability for individuals and teams to work anywhere, anytime, around the world,” Jason Heredia added. “The ways people work and the workspaces they need to support them to be their most productive and successful is rapidly evolving.”
Steelcase works with the world’s leading organisations to help them create great experiences wherever work happens, by studying the way people work – in social, spatial and informational contexts – and translating those insights into products, applications and services.
Source: Steelcase