the new hr

office
design
Standardised
Design
Personalised
the grouping highlights is the primary purpose
for a given C-suite and which intangible assets it
primarily enhances.
A C-suite’s primary purpose is expressed
through its workplace design, as shown in Table 1.
For example, chief executives who are using their
workplaces as a tool to build organisational capital
or to sustain the environment, tend to have more
standardised workplaces. Those who are using it to
nourish personal energy, or to communicate brand
values, tend to have more personalised workspaces.
Each workplace archetype is thus an expression
of both the design characteristics and the business
needs of a C-suite. In other words, the more we
know about workplace design, the more we can
learn about chief executives, their workstyles,
leadership traits, and their business priorities.
Or, turning the argument on its head, if we know
our business priorities, we can configure our
work environments to support them. Thus, the
primary purpose of each C-suite has significant
design implications.
Table 1 - Four workplace archetypes
2. Tool to Build
Organisational Capital
Often open-plan
Highly democratic
Connected
Multi-work settings
Formal and informal settings
Emphasis on shared
infrastructure
1. Anchor to Nourish
Personal Energy
Classic corner office
Enclosed and private
Dual work-setting
(desk and management space)
Some personalisation
4. Resource to Sustain
the Environment
Frugal
Energy-efficient
Standardised
Monitored consumption of natural
resources
3. Platform to Communicate
Brand Values
Highly expressive
Contemporary
Personalised
Internal Assets External
©HT Media
How to manage intangible assets
Tangible assets, such as workplaces, account for
substantial capital expenditure for any organisation.
Intangible assets, such as corporate culture or
brand values, often account for a greater part of
company valuation. Yet there is little research on the
relationship between the two entities.
During the course of the series, I identified ‘15
progressive work styles’, based on my observations
of how CEOs managed the four intangible assets
mentioned above, and used workplace design as a
tool to do so. Each of these is validated by business
management literature, as well as by current
international research on workspaces.
Each business leader featured in the book has
thus been categorised into one of these 15 work
styles, based on what I felt was the best fit, i.e.,
the way of working that sets him or her apart from
others. Please note that these classifications are not
exhaustive or exclusive. Each individual exhibits
more than one working style, of course, but has
been classified based on the particular way of
working that differentiates him or her from others.
These work styles tell us what chief executives
are like when they are at work, and how spaces
have been configured to reinforce their ways of
working. Each of these ways of working—and their
corresponding leadership traits—is discussed in
more detail in the book.
I NDIAN MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 2015 63