3 Signs Your Workplace Isn’t Meeting Employee Needs and How to Fix it

Over the past several years, the workplace has evolved again and again, adapting to new strategies, technology, and shifting expectations around in-person work. Employees have adjusted their behaviors to align with these changes, embracing flexible schedules, and hybrid meeting formats. For workplace leaders, these shifts have raised a new set of questions and challenges: Are our spaces truly supporting the way employees work today? Do they have the privacy, flexibility, and functionality they need to do their best work?

If your office hasn’t been updated to reflect these new demands, there’s a good chance it’s no longer fully meeting employee needs. And when employee needs go unmet, productivity, morale, and overall workplace experience can suffer. So how can you tell if your space needs a refresh? Here are three clear signs that your workplace may be out of sync with employee expectations—and effective strategies to bring it back on track.

1. Room Size Misalignment

As flexible work becomes the norm, many workplaces are facing a shortage of smaller, private spaces like phone booths and meeting rooms. With the rise of hybrid and virtual meetings, employees increasingly seek quieter, more secluded areas for calls and focused work. When these smaller spaces are unavailable, employees often resort to larger conference rooms, occupying more space than they need and potentially disrupting the use of these rooms for their intended purpose.

If you’re noticing a shortage of private spaces or the improper use of large conference rooms, it’s a clear sign that your workplace layout may no longer meet the needs of your employees. Understanding how employees actually use your spaces will allow you to adjust the size of your spaces and better accommodate their needs. 

2. Shortage of Popular Spaces

Certain spaces—such as collaborative areas, lounges, or meeting rooms with desirable features—often become the go-to spots for employees. Due to their popularity, these spaces tend to be in high demand and may not be available when needed. When there aren’t enough of these sought-after spaces, employees might end up "camping out" in them, occupying the space for longer periods than necessary and preventing others from using them.

If you’re noticing that your popular spaces are frequently unavailable or being monopolized, it’s a sign that your workplace layout may not have enough of these high-demand areas to meet employee needs. Conducting an audit of how often these spaces are used can provide insights into where you need to invest in expanding or improving these areas to ensure a fair and efficient flow of space for everyone.

3. Excess Underused Space

While some areas in your workplace are prime real estate, others are likely underused. Seemingly random or overlooked spaces may lack essential features, such as comfortable furniture, up-to-date technology, or effective acoustics, that would make them more appealing to employees. Inadequate privacy or poor lighting can also deter employees from utilizing these spaces, leaving them largely empty despite their potential.

If you’re noticing underutilized areas in your office, it’s important to assess why these spaces are being ignored. By gathering employee feedback and examining usage patterns, you can identify and address the underlying issues, such as improving the quality of furniture, adding the necessary tech, or making adjustments to acoustics and privacy. With the right updates, these underused spaces can be revitalized and transformed into areas that meet employee needs more effectively.

Customer Story: How to Redesign a Workplace to Better Meet Employee Needs

When a workplace isn’t aligned with employee needs, adjusting the layout and design can make all the difference. A great example of this is Airbnb’s journey to create a more flexible and functional workplace, as shared by Melissa Ogden, Workplace Occupancy Manager at Airbnb, during the first Occupancy Intelligence Summit. Faced with space shortages and underutilized areas, Melissa and her team took a data-driven approach to redesign their workplace in a way that truly supported their employee’s behaviors.

After noticing frequent space shortages, especially in smaller meeting rooms, Melissa’s team realized that they needed a better understanding of how employees were actually using the office. Their initial approach relied on manual tracking with pen and paper, which provided some anecdotal insights but didn’t capture the full picture. To make more informed decisions, they introduced a mix of quantitative data from VergeSense sensors and qualitative employee feedback, creating a comprehensive view of space usage.

Analyzing floor maps, time usage data, and comparison data across spaces, they began identifying which areas were frequently overused and which spaces remained underutilized. Combining these findings with employee feedback they were able to uncover specific reasons for underuse, such as lighting issues, lack of privacy, or lack of technology. 

Instead of forcing employees to change their behaviors, Melissa and her team evolved their planning process and adopted a “pilot” approach. This approach allowed them to experiment and try new things based on their data-driven findings. For example, they designed “home-like” environments—private, comfortable spaces that weren’t formal meeting rooms or phone booths but offered employees the privacy and comfort they needed to be productive. The result? Positive employee feedback and a noticeable increase in space utilization.

Melissa’s experience demonstrates how understanding and adapting to employee needs can transform a workplace. By leveraging occupancy intelligence, listening to employees, and embracing flexibility in design, Melissa and her team created an environment that not only solved immediate space challenges but also fostered a more comfortable and productive workplace. For any organization facing similar issues, a data-informed, employee-centered approach can pave the way for meaningful improvements in workspace design and functionality.

Aligning Your Workplace With VergeSense

If you’re noticing similar challenges in your workplace, it’s a clear signal that a strategic update may be needed. The good news is that data-driven insights and thoughtful design changes can help you transform underused or misaligned spaces into areas that better support your employees’ needs. By making these adjustments, you can increase satisfaction, productivity, and the overall workplace experience.

Ready to get started? Talk to a workplace expert today to explore how your space can evolve to meet the needs of today’s workforce. With the right guidance and tools, you can create a workplace that supports both employee well-being and your organization’s goals.