How workforce and workplace data analytics help optimize office space

Updated: December 7, 2023.

The future of work is changing. Remote work and hybrid work models have revolutionized the way businesses approach real estate and office space. To accommodate these new work models, companies must reinvent their use of workplace data analytics (and workforce analytics) to ensure they are making the most of their workspaces.

To successfully implement hybrid work and more flexible work environments, decision-makers need a host of analytics tools and data sources about their workspaces and how employees are using them. Companies can only make sound, data-driven decisions if they’re collecting robust workforce analytics. That’s true whether the goal is to right-size the real estate portfolio to meet actual (and/or changing) needs, improve employee well-being and engagement, or both.

In this article, we explore how workplace and workforce data analytics can provide an accurate picture of what’s actually happening in the office, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions about office configurations.

What are data analytics?

Fundamentally, data analytics is the process of examining and interpreting data to discover meaningful insights, patterns, and trends. It involves applying various statistical, mathematical, and computational techniques to extract valuable information from raw data. 

Data analytics plays a crucial role in numerous fields, enabling organizations and individuals to make data-driven decisions, optimize processes, and solve complex problems based on empirical evidence.

In general, there are four main types of data analytics:

• Descriptive analytics. This is the most basic level of analysis, which covers simple questions: who, what, when, and where. 
• Diagnostic analytics. This uses techniques like data mining and correlations to extract why something is happening.
• Predictive analytics. This uses techniques like forecasting and modeling to help determine what will likely happen in the future.
• Prescriptive analytics. This uses a variety of complex techniques to help make decisions regarding what should be done.’

Both workforce and workplace analytics rely on these four types of analysis to interpret data accurately.

What are workplace data analytics?

Workplace data analytics, also known as “workplace data analysis,” is a catch-all term to describe the steps involved in collecting, synthesizing, and ultimately applying workplace data from a wide variety of sources. 

Leveraging analytics from workplace data is an essential part of any workplace strategy. This is especially true for hybrid offices that require workplace leaders to make informed decisions about their usage of space and resources.

Typically, the goal of using such analytics is to create better workplace strategies, simplify strategic space management, and/or improve employee experience (often a combination of all three).

Types of workplace analytics

There are many metrics that companies can use to capture and interpret workplace data. Here are a few of the most common and useful workplace analytics data types:

• Desk bookings, best accessed from desk booking software that also tracks cancellations and no-shows.
• Room bookings, best accessed from room booking software that also tracks cancellations, no-shows, and/or ghost rooms.
• IoT sensors (including occupancy sensors).
• Tickets submitted through request management software, which, in particular, can highlight areas in the office that require more substantial facility management maintenance.
• CRE data, which can include real estate analytics used to inform real estate portfolio management.
• Facilities reporting.
• Space utilization rates across time, facilities, and even specific areas of the office.
• Occupancy rates across time, facilities, and even specific areas of the office.

What are workforce analytics?

Although they are intimately connected, and there is plenty of overlap, workforce analytics are distinct from workplace data analytics. 

As the name suggests, workforce analytics is strictly focused on employee data. If workplace analytics is “facility analytics”, workforce analytics is “people analytics.”

While workplace analytics measure the office and how it’s being used as a whole, workforce analytics are closer to human resources, zeroing in on what employees are actually doing. Are they productive? Are they performing as planned? How is employee engagement?

Often simplified by workforce analytics software, workforce analytics plays a key role in employee retention and attraction efforts, as well as headcount planning.

Types of workforce analytics

There are several ways businesses can gain insight into workforce effectiveness and how their employees are using spaces. Here are a few:

• Employee badge data provides real-time insight into what parts of the office employees are accessing and when.
• Wifi logs show when employees connect to the company internet.
• Employee surveys and self-reporting offer information on employee engagement and employee satisfaction.
• Manual office censuses, where facility management professionals (FMs) walk the floor.
• HR data.

How are data analytics used in the office?

Thanks to smart buildings and IoT, it’s never been easier to collect minute, real-time data about how employees are working and how spaces are being used. 

The bottom line? Without a dynamic workplace and workforce analytics platform to cut through the noise, all this data will be just that—noise. 

When workforce analytics are combined with workplace analytics, companies can truly gain a clear picture of space and resource utilization, allowing them to make adjustments that boost employee productivity, decrease costs, and create a significant competitive advantage.

Armed with accurate insights into their people and office space usage, employers no longer have to tackle decision-making processes based on hunches and best guesses.

Workplace analytics vs workforce analytics: combining data for success

The more data sets companies have to work with, the more dynamic their understanding of employee behavior and office usage can be. However, data sets are not effective and actionable without workplace reports and analytics tools to help make sense of them. 

Companies need to bear in mind that there is no one magic piece of data that will provide all the information you need about your office. The benefits of workplace and workforce analytics really only kick in when you’re combining different data sets in an intelligent way.

Using this strategy, decision-makers employ data analytics to answer increasingly complex questions in office settings. This includes forecasting, workforce planning, and creating management systems that increase straightforward profitability.

Data analytics allow business leaders to understand their people and workplaces, but it also provides a safer methodology to test out new strategies and approaches. Having a wide range of real-time and historical data at your fingertips allows you to test small changes to the office before taking the more risky step of enacting company-wide workplace transformation. Hybrid workplace change strategies, in particular, should never be attempted without the right big data management at your fingertips.

A capable analytics solution will help decision-makers see beyond simply whether people are using the office (critical when developing any new hybrid work model). It will also help them see how and when people are using the office. The right analytics can also answer far more complex questions, including:

• What types of workspaces are most popular?
• Do collaborative spaces actually enhance collaboration?
• Are there any departments or teams that enjoy more collaboration in the workplace? Why?
• When considering enterprise facility management, what types of facilities entice people to give up remote work to come in for the day?

Once you’ve identified your most successful workplace teams, you can use data to parse out what’s contributing to their success and determine how to extend that success throughout your organization.  

Ultimately, companies use workplace and workforce data analytics to gain insight into how all the many aspects of the office interact.

They can then determine the role the office can and should play going forward and how to optimize their hybrid schedules and remote work options to match.

Three main problems you can solve with data analytics

“You need different data sources that can triangulate with one another to see what’s really happening in the workplace,” says Steven Feng, Senior Product Manager at OfficeSpace. “The right data should provide visibility beyond resource booking alone, into a truer picture of employee presence in the office.” 

According to Feng, data analytics helps solve three main problems in the office.

1. Advanced analytics can help better optimize the workplace for people, an increasingly complex challenge in an increasingly complex office. 

“To get these deeper insights into how to better outfit the office, companies need to be able to use their data to answer questions like who specifically is using the office, when, and in what types of seats,” says Feng. 

2. Advanced analytics can help with strategic corporate real estate decisions. They can help decision-makers figure out where to make investments. And where they can make cuts.

“These are the data points that affect your real estate portfolio and translate into dollars and cents,” says Feng. 

3. Advanced analytics can help solve operations questions. Like ensuring you have enough desks, parking, and food for people using the office. 

“These core operational questions are more tactical,” says Feng, “but they still need to be data-informed.”

How are employees using the office? How do leaders want employees to use the office?

Office optimization through data analytics is often about aligning what employees want with what leaders want without sacrificing culture or business outcomes. Of course, this is no easy task, as the more dynamic your workplace is, the greater the need for analytics.

We know that employees aren’t great at self-reporting or predicting what their office use will look like. We also know that hybrid working challenges typically include outfitting an office that is used more dynamically than ever before. 

So, while capturing employee sentiment is always important, data can help fill in any self-reporting gaps. 

Namely, companies turning to hybrid work typically want to keep the office for collaboration and productivity, especially since idea generation is best accomplished face-to-face. 

At the same time, talent management in a post-pandemic workplace almost always demands offering some amount of flexibility. In fact, employees tend to value flexibility over hybrid alone, meaning they typically want to be in control of when and how they use the office.

This is why Colleen McCreary, chief people officer at Credit Karma, tells CNBC, “If my kid has soccer on Thursdays and I have to be in the office all day on Thursday and can’t get him there, that may be hybrid, but it’s not flexible and isn’t working for me.”

If leaders want to make better decisions and create a more functional hybrid office, they have one option: use data. This, along with office scenario and stack planning tools, will allow them to test and iterate different office configurations, eventually coming up with bespoke solutions for their teams.

Following this careful process will help ensure that any changes won’t come at the sacrifice of employee experience or an inclusive company culture.

How can workplace and workforce analytics help your business?

As modern workplaces continue to evolve, data analytics will continue to play a critical role in how organizations harness the potential of their workspaces and employees. 

Combining workplace and workforce data analytics offers a holistic approach to optimizing space usage, enhancing employee productivity, and making the most of your resources. By looking at how spaces are utilized and understanding the needs and preferences of your workforce, you can craft environments that not only save costs but also inspire collaboration, innovation, and well-being.

OfficeSpace is committed to improving workplace data analytics for companies of all shapes and sizes. Reach out for a free demo.