Fortune Magazine recently released a list of the “25 Coolest Offices” from its annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” feature, and we have some serious office envy! These companies boast amenities like nap rooms, an indoor Ferris wheel, a rock climbing wall, and an onsite barber shop, in addition to more standard office-design fare like ample natural lighting, open conference areas, ergonomic seating, and the ability to work on laptops from anywhere in the office.
Unfortunately, no Westchester-based companies were singled out for this list of cool digs (though Tarrytown-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals did sneak on to the “Best Companies to Work For” list, at #99), but it got us thinking about what such aesthetically pleasing spaces do for a company.
“Office set-up has a big impact on productivity and behavior,” says Westchester-based HR expert Don Zinn, executive vice president of Jobplex Inc. “Great space facilitates people wanting to be [at the office], and that creates opportunities for great accomplishments.”
What’s most interesting about workspace trends, Zinn says, is the fact that office design has a different impact on each generation in the workforce. “For the Boomer generation, the office was the way to announce your success to the world—the more space you had and the closer to the corner you were, the better.” But for younger workers, practicality seems to have replaced that desire to show off, Zinn explains.
“Space that is useful and easy to use is now favored over other space. Having room for life, and not just work, at work, is something the Generation X and Millennials need and want; they want to be part of something bigger— and that’s more important to those workers than is having a private office.”
Is your Westchester office just as cool as some of the companies on the Fortune list? Please tell us about it! Email apartridge@westchestermagazine.com and share some photos.
