The Future of Work is a partnership of People, Culture & Place

A new approach to workplaces

For decades, organisations have viewed the functions of People & Culture and Property as separate entities. 

The former focused on workforce engagement, talent strategies, and leadership development, while the latter managed physical workspaces as financial assets, often sitting under Finance or Operations. 

But what if the future of work calls for a fundamental shift — one where workplaces are no longer just ‘assets’ to optimise, but strategic tools designed to enhance human potential?

At LEGO, they’ve already embraced this shift. Their workplace function now reports into their Chief People Officer, rather than Operations or Finance. Why? Because as workplace leaders at LEGO explain, when you see real estate as an asset, you focus on optimising the space itself. But under People & Culture, the goal shifts from optimising an asset based on cost and efficiency, to maximising people’s performance potential.

This subtle change is reframing how organisations think about workspaces, turning them into enablers of culture and high performance.

Workplaces need to serve people and culture, not just space efficiency

Traditionally, workplace design has been about efficiency — how many desks fit into a floorplate, how to optimise real estate costs, and how to ensure operational effectiveness. But the role of the workplace has evolved. It’s no longer just about a place to sit; it’s about a place where people connect, innovate, and belong.

Research continues to show that employee engagement remains low, with only 23% of employees globally feeling actively engaged at work. And, in an era of hybrid work, the challenge isn’t just getting people back into the office — it’s about making the office a destination that serves a meaningful purpose. This is where breaking down the silos between People & Culture and Property is essential. In doing so, organisations can move beyond ‘space management’ and towards ‘placemaking’ — creating environments that drive engagement, foster connection, and reinforce purpose.

COMUNiTI celebrates LEGO’s bold decision to break down the internal silos to unlock its workforce potential. We too take a strategic approach to reimaging workplaces, and we integrate our community-building and placemaking frameworks to create places that people genuinely want to be a part of.

If you’re not familiar with our community-building and placemaking frameworks, read on!

Community-building & placemaking: the missing links in Workplace Strategy

While cultivating the right culture (aka: how we do things around here) is critical to business success, culture alone doesn’t foster deep connection. 

Community-building, however, fosters deep connections within the workforce by amplifying shared purpose and enhancing a sense of belonging through routines and rituals.

The workplace strategies that COMUNiTI develops transcend space and design — they are underpinned by our community-building and placemaking frameworks.

Community-building framework considers:

• Shared purpose: employees need to feel connected to a bigger mission beyond their daily tasks.
• Social contracts: clear expectations and behaviours that reinforce values and create a shared understanding.
• Routines and rituals: purposeful gatherings, whether weekly team huddles, collaborative working days, or company-wide events that foster connection.
• Place as a catalyst: the physical environment must support human interactions, from spaces designed for deep work to informal areas that encourage spontaneous conversations.

Placemaking framework considers:

• Purpose: Workplaces have evolved beyond the traditional 9-to-5 desk-bound model. What function does your workplace need to perform for modern, hybrid, collaborative work?

• Brand: Brand experience goes beyond colors and logos; it’s built on a central concept that reflects your organisation’s uniqueness, history, future plans, and values.

• Behaviours: What behaviours and activities do we want to see being enacted in the workplace? How does our space influence our people easily participating in this behavior? Understanding the behaviours you want to encourage will inform the design of your space.

• Tools: What tools and resources are needed to foster the desired behaviours? This could include technology for seamless hybrid meetings, like plug-and-play screens and audio, or spatial tools like collaboration spaces with whiteboards and lounges for team interaction, and quiet zones with comfortable seating for focused, individual work.

These frameworks help cultivate a sense of belonging, shared purpose, and cultural cohesion, which are essential elements in designing workplaces that do more than house employees; they inspire them.

To learn more about COMUNiTI’s community-building and placemaking frameworks, request a free copy of our latest Whitepaper: Leveraging Place: the importance of building community — not just culture — at work.

 
Mel x