Outdoor office spaces offer a comfortable and
safe alternative for employees who crave the camaraderie they had in their
pre-pandemic workplaces and missed while working remotely.
By Jim Molis –
Contributor Nov 3, 2020
Humana is opening outdoor office spaces to
give employees the ability to work together safely in-person as the Covid-19
pandemic continues.
Outdoor office spaces offer a comfortable and
safe alternative for employees who crave the camaraderie they had in their
pre-pandemic workplaces and missed while working remotely.
Though many offices remain limited to
essential workers or closed altogether, companies are innovating to improve
employee well-being without compromising workplace safety by creating
face-to-face connections outdoors.
“We as humans like to interact with other
people. Our culture is built on collaboration, and building relationships and
bonds,” said Douglas Edwards, senior vice president of workplace experience for
Humana, which opened an outdoor office at a public park near its headquarters
in Louisville in mid-September.
After months of working remotely, employees
want to meet in person again and connect like they used to before the pandemic
while remaining safe. “There has been a tremendous amount of pent-up demand for
people to see each other. Now, they have an opportunity to do that but to also
feel safe,” Edwards said.
Humana associates have enjoyed safely
re-connecting amid the autumnal colors and crisp fall air. It is a great time
to be outdoors in Louisville. “The associate response has been amazing,”
Edwards said.
Outdoor offices like Humana’s are a natural
evolution in employers’ efforts to make workplaces safe post-pandemic.
Commercial designers are incorporating outdoor workspace into new buildings and converting
open-air places such as terraces, rooftops and patios into functional offices
at existing workplaces.
An innovative response
Humana’s outdoor office is 20 miles east of
the downtown campus at a shady spot in The Parklands of Floyd Forks. Always
looking for ways to better support associates’ health, Humana created the
outdoor office so that associates would have a safe space to connect with teammates.
“It was an idea that came up organically. A
teammate said that they had an idea that would fit with the way we do things at
Humana,” Edwards said
Like outdoor dining spaces, the fresh air
gives people a sense of safety. “We wanted to bring that philosophical approach
to the office,” Edwards said.
Humana will keep the office open as long as
the weather permits. “At some point, it will be too cold outside, but demand
for it is high, and people are comfortable now,” Edwards said. Humana is
exploring additional creative solutions to provide outdoor elements to
employees during the winter months.
Humana doubled the size of its outdoor office
within a few weeks of opening it due to high demand. “We can safely support up
to 150 people at a time with social distancing in place – with two sessions per
day, we can support 300 per day,” said Brad Keller, director of workplace
strategy for Humana.
Open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, the
outdoor office has a limited capacity to keep employees safe. Humana divides
workdays into morning and afternoon sessions for additional safety.
Individuals or groups can reserve workspaces
at the outdoor office. “We are already finding that smaller teams, of six to 12
people, are coordinating to be onsite together,” Keller said. “We also have
large enterprise leaders who have booked an entire session for their teams.”
Humana prioritized safety in designing the
outdoor office so that it could accommodate groups and meetings, including
having eight feet of space between associates. “The main area is roughly the
size of a football field,” Keller said.
The company also has safety protocols as if
the office were indoors, such as taking employees’ temperatures before they
enter and reminding them to wear face coverings and keep safe distances between
them while working. The outdoor office complies with the state of
Kentucky’s Healthy at Work guidelines as well.
Designed to shelter employees from the
elements, the outdoor office has three large tents, lots of picnic tables,
Adirondack chairs, working tables, water stations, local food trucks, and two
large oak trees for shade. It also includes Wi-Fi, charging stations,
air-conditioned restrooms, and fans and heaters so Humana associates can
connect and work comfortably and safely.
Humana associates have taken to social media
to share their appreciation for the company’s open-air solution. “They’ve
thought of everything! I'm appreciative for the innovation to enable
performance and social connections during a challenging time for our city and
nation,” London Roth, Chief of Staff to Northeast Medicare President for
Humana, wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Associates can enjoy walking trail meetings as
well because the outdoor office is located by trails. Humana partnered
with The Parklands of
Floyds Fork to bring the outdoor office concept to life.
The social connections that associates forge
at the outdoor office can help combat the loneliness and social isolation that
many feel during quarantine. “It’s done a lot to improve well-being
holistically,” Edwards said.
Though the outdoor office in Louisville has
been well received, Humana has not decided whether it would open it again in
the spring. Nor has the company decided if it would expand the concept to other
markets. Much will depend on the pandemic and how employees feel.
Opportunities and
obstacles
Edwards suggested that companies consider
employee demand for in-person collaboration before opening an outdoor office.
“You don’t want to create something that you won’t need,” he said.
Edwards suggested that companies maintain
strong safety protocols if they do open outdoor offices, such as by including
sanitization stations, as Humana does. “Don’t assume because you’re outdoors
that you can relax in terms of wearing a mask or doing temperature checks. You
should continue to apply the same rigor that you would put into any type of
safety protocol in the Covid-19 era.”
Companies will need to work with local
officials as well if they want to open an outdoor office on public property.
For example, Humana worked closely with the city of Louisville to initiate its
outdoor workspace. “Humana’s dedication to their employee’s health and
well-being has spurred an innovative solution to a complex challenge,” said Dr.
Sarah Moyer, Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Health and
Wellness.
Businesses should anticipate common challenges
as well, such as how they would protect employees from bad weather and provide
them with internet access and other needed technology. They should also be
prepared to address less obvious issues that could arise, like how to deal with
planes flying overhead or nearby construction work when bringing the indoors out.
But companies can improve the employee
experience while increasing workplace safety if they do their outdoor office
right. Humana has seen how comfortable employees can become, Edwards said. “It
gives people that psychological safety to say, ‘My interactions with my
teammates are as safe as they can be.”
To make your transition
back to work as safe as possible, Humana has created a “Workplace Re-entry Essentials Guide" with
actionable, practical takeaways and useful checklists related to four key areas
of your business: people, processes, communication and remote work and health
considerations.
Humana is committed to helping its millions of
medical and specialty members achieve their best health. Its successful history
in care delivery and health plan administration is helping create a new kind of
integrated care with the power to improve health and well-being and lower costs.
This material is provided for informational
use only and should not be construed as medical, legal, financial, or other
professional advice or used in place of consulting a licensed professional. You
should consult with an applicable licensed professional to determine what is
right for you.
Jim Molis is a freelance writer with The
Business Journals Content Studio.
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