YouGov surveyed over 1,000 Belgian workers for Comet: nearly one in two want to return to the office to spend time with their colleagues.
The YouGov study sheds light on how workers relate to their colleagues and their workplace
Research institute YouGov surveyed more than 1,000 Belgian workers on behalf of Comet, an expert in hybrid work, about their relationship with their workplace and with their colleagues. The figures show in particular that women and younger workers feel a greater need to meet face to face. Another striking finding: nearly one Belgian in two would like to see their colleagues more often.
According to the YouGov study, close to 50% of working Belgians want to see their colleagues more often. What is more, 37% of them believe remote work can have a negative impact on their personal and professional fulfilment. Working from home is therefore not a solution for everyone. Among the drawbacks singled out are the lack of human contact (29%), the lack of information sharing between colleagues (29%), a feeling of isolation (22%) and a heavier workload (20%).
That is why almost half of Belgians want to return to the office more regularly to meet their colleagues (47%), as well as to maintain (36%) and build new relationships (35%).
The work environment, a key factor in employee wellbeing
At a time when office real estate is going through an unprecedented global crisis, the survey carried out by YouGov for Comet also highlights how much the work environment matters to Belgian workers. To meet these emerging needs, many services have appeared in recent years, designed to enrich the office offer and deliver a better experience to employees. Comet, for instance, offers several solutions that allow companies to reinvest in collective, in-person time, even occasionally: meeting and event rooms backed by a wide range of services (catering, technical support, wellbeing and more).
Victor Carreau, CEO and co-founder of Comet: “While the office real estate sector is going through an unprecedented crisis, it is important that major players and companies rethink their approach and offer spaces better suited to employees' needs and to hybrid working. More than ever, people come to the office to see their colleagues, to create and maintain connections, to gather information or to generate new ideas, all things they cannot do remotely. Professional meeting spaces (offices, events, training and others) must therefore first and foremost bring people together and let ideas circulate.”
From real estate to hospitality, Comet gets a new look to embrace this new reality
Comet moved into meeting venues and events in 2016. First a real estate player, the company sees in the results of this study an opportunity to refocus its identity on its hospitality craft: welcoming and supporting its clients. Attentive to the gaps and frustrations created by remote work, it is preparing the next stage of its growth and announcing the evolution of its brand.
Victor Carreau welcomes the change: “While we remain a real estate player, it is striking that our clients come and come back mainly for our warm, human support. It was time for that closeness to show in our visual identity, because ours is above all a service business, human to human. Through our venues we seek to bring professionals together in a world that tends to pull them apart, and to get them talking. That is precisely why our new brand puts the prefix “co” forward: it comes from words such as “collaboration”, “collective” and “cohesion”.”
