Does this scenario sound familiar: leadership asks why office attendance isn't improving despite a flexible hybrid policy, and HR and facilities management are handed the task – do something about it. You look for answers in procedures, benefits, internal communications. Rarely, however, is a more fundamental question asked: is the office we're inviting people into actually equipped for what they need to work there?

"More and more companies we work with open the conversation about their office with the words: we don't know why people aren't coming back. In most cases, the answer lies not in hybrid work policy, but in the space itself. Before a company signs another lease or approves another fit-out budget, it's worth asking one question: how does our office function at each individual workstation? That is where, every single day, the employee's decision to come in is made." – Magdalena Zagrodnik, Co-owner and Partner at Walter Herz, leader of Akademia Najemcy

At this year's Akademia Najemcy edition – "One Office, Many Perspectives" – a model workstation, designed by our partners, stood at the heart of the event space. Not as a product showcase, but as a starting point for a conversation many organisations put off for far too long. Below are the key takeaways from that conversation, with data and practical recommendations to take away.

An office fails when one space is expected to serve three conflicting needs

One of the most common mistakes in workplace design has nothing to do with budget or aesthetics. It comes from the assumption that open-plan space can simultaneously accommodate deep-focus work, quick team check-ins, and formal video calls. These needs are physically incompatible, which is precisely why employees choose to work from home, where they can control the level of stimulation around them.  The data here is unambiguous: 63% of office workers struggle to concentrate due to noise (Jabra, 2024), and 36% choose remote work specifically to escape a noisy open-plan environment (Oscar Acoustics, 2025). Noise has stopped being a matter of comfort and become a measurable driver of attendance.

The solution, as Agnieszka Ciunajtis (Sales Manager, CreoConcept) emphasises, lies in balance-driven design: transparent yet acoustically optimised partitions maintain visual connectivity without sacrificing working comfort. Acoustic glass walls and doors allow spaces to be configured flexibly, adapted to different scenarios, from deep focus to confidential conversations to team collaboration. Joanna Musiał-Jarosz (Brand Manager, BAFEO) takes this a step further: acoustic partitions, ceilings, and panels made from ecoPET material should be treated as an integrated system, not a decorative afterthought. Reducing reverberation in an employee's immediate surroundings has a direct impact on their concentration and end-of-day fatigue levels and, by extension, on their readiness to return to the office the following day.

Practical tip: during the space planning stage, it's worth defining acoustic parameters for each zone before signing the lease or approving a redesign. A generic label of "quiet zone" on a floor plan is not enough.

Technology that stays out of the way, and ergonomics that actually work

In a hybrid model, every workstation is a potential communication node. The quality of that experience only becomes apparent when something breaks down: the monitor is set too low, the headset fails to block the chatter from shared areas, the cables don't fit. Agnieszka Linert (AV Experience Director, AVORA) points out that the key is a coherent environment: a laptop, a monitor on an adjustable arm, and high-quality headphones must work together, not merely alongside one another. The ergonomics of the setup – the ability to adjust quickly, without involving IT – directly determines whether an employee feels the office supports their work or complicates it.

From KRON International's perspective, an ergonomic chair and a desk with electric height adjustment are the baseline today. Equally important is user education, because even the best equipment delivers nothing if no one knows how to use it properly. Ewa Małek, New Business Manager at KRON International, also flags an organisational consideration: the hot-desking model, popular as a cost-per-square-metre optimisation, can generate hidden people costs that don't appear in the budget – a reduced sense of belonging and diminished motivation to return regularly. Gensler's research (2024) confirms this: in offices built exclusively around hot desks, only 39% of employees rate their working environment as comfortable, compared to 85% in offices offering diverse zones and freedom of choice.

Practical tip: the decision on workstation management models should be driven by an analysis of team needs – not solely by a headcount-to-square-metre ratio. For HR, this is an important argument: the way workstations are arranged has a direct impact on engagement and attendance, areas HR measures, but rarely connects to facilities decisions.

Lighting in the office, a parameter that translates into results

Lighting is one of the few workplace environment parameters with a well-documented, direct physiological impact: on circadian rhythm, concentration, and eye fatigue. According to research by Lighting Europe, implementing a Human Centric Lighting system increases employee productivity by 4.5% and reduces errors by 2%. Optimised lighting can improve cognitive performance by as much as 20%. Patrycja Rutkowska-Boś, Sales Manager at TRILUX Polska, emphasises that office lighting should be treated as a tool, not infrastructure. Intelligent systems such as LiveLink Premium dynamically adjust colour temperature and intensity throughout the day, supporting the body's natural work rhythm. Flexible solutions like the Yonos system allow lighting to be tailored to individual users' needs, because static, overly intense, or poorly calibrated light sustained throughout the day acts as a chronic stressor. Companies that treat lighting as part of their wellbeing strategy are increasingly seeing its effect on absenteeism and satisfaction in numbers, not just impressions.

Practical tip: lighting specification rarely appears in the first set of requirements when planning an office. At the next redesign or relocation, it's worth requesting a lighting system specification broken down by zone and time of day. There is a meaningful difference between lighting that meets the norm and lighting that genuinely supports work.

Biophilic design: a low barrier to entry, a measurable return

Live plants are often treated as decorative elements. The data tells a different story. Employees with access to natural light and views of greenery report 18% fewer sick days (UK Green Building Council). According to Terrapin Bright Green, organisations can save approximately USD 2,000 per employee per year through absenteeism reduction alone in offices that incorporate biophilic design elements. Kinga Dzwonnik, Managing Director at Kwiaty dla biura, highlights that greenery in an employee's immediate environment improves air quality, lowers cortisol levels, and creates natural visual recovery points – particularly valuable during long hours in front of a screen. Well-positioned plants also serve as natural acoustic barriers and visual zone separators, making them a solution that works on multiple levels simultaneously.

Practical tip: greenery tends to enter the office conversation last, after furniture, technology, and lighting. That is a logistical mistake. Plants require planning: access to light, space for planters, an irrigation system. If they're introduced too late in the project, they end up wherever space remains, rather than where they can actually make a difference.

How to justify investment in workplace quality – arguments for the boardroom

For those planning an office move or redesign, the biggest challenge is often not selecting the right solutions, but justifying their cost internally. Arguments based on comfort rarely hold. Arguments based on data are considerably stronger.

A few figures worth having to hand:

Employee turnover is costly. The cost of losing one person averages 50–200% of their annual salary (SHRM). If a better workspace retains even a handful of employees per year, the investment in quality pays back faster than most HR initiatives.

Absenteeism linked to noise, poor lighting, and physical discomfort carries a quantifiable cost and quantifiable solutions. This is one of the few areas where a facilities management decision has a direct and measurable impact on metrics that matter to a CFO.

An office that fails to attract employees generates hidden costs: space a company is paying for regardless of utilisation, poor attendance at meetings that require physical presence, and gradual erosion of organisational culture. These are arguments that bridge HR and financial perspectives and that is precisely why they work in conversations with leadership.

In the office projects we lead, questions about workplace quality most often arise when an organisation is already mid-process – signing a lease, approving a fit-out budget, selecting a general contractor. By that stage, it is often too late to change anything fundamental. That is why Walter Herz is committed to starting the conversation about how an office should work for people and for the organisation much earlier, before anyone asks about square footage, location, or rental rates. Akademia Najemcy is one of the spaces where that conversation can happen.

Want to assess whether your current office is supporting productivity and your hybrid work policy? We can start with a short conversation. Get in touch with a Walter Herz office strategy expert.

Sources: Oscar Acoustics, Noisy Workspace Report 2025 | Jabra, Making the Workplace Sound Better 2024 | Lighting Europe, Human Centric Lighting Study | UK Green Building Council, Health, Wellbeing & Productivity in Offices | Terrapin Bright Green, Economics of Biophilia 2023 | Gensler, Global Workplace Survey 2024