The benefits of corporate coworking

The concept of corporate coworking is among the boldest people management concepts of the last decade. It differs from "traditional" coworking in that a single environment it hosts both the employees of a company and freelancers, startuppers or even employees of other companies.

The world of work is rapidly changing, the pandemic we are still experiencing has given a very strong impulse and the workforce is increasingly on the move, even in our country: for 2021 Nomisma estimates that the 16% of Italian workers will carry out at least one day of remote work (over 3 million employed). And this data is not limited to full-time teleworkers, but also includes traditional office and corporate employees. For the latter, the benefits of a coworking environment may not be immediately apparent. If you didn't understand the great potential of coworking, you might think that your company already has access to services such as high-speed Internet, printers and a conference room.

Jeremy Neurer, the CEO of Next Space, a coworking company in the San Francisco Bay Area, says you need to be ready for the new reality of corporate coworkers:

“Imagine you are an employee of a large company, - Neurer suggests - now imagine moving from your workstation to enter a coworking space; you are out of your closed space, now you are interacting with people who come from other companies or startups. Even just the proximity, comparing with other people, you cannot know what great idea can stimulate, an idea that you can bring back to your company”.

It seems that above all in the United States large companies are experimenting internally with coworking as a way to revitalize creativity through interaction between people. In fact, although there are also economic advantages to be recognised, in terms of savings on real estate costs and income deriving from workstation rentals, the main objective for companies that adopt coworking as a way of working is certainly to generate and stimulate innovative ideas . The idea is now shared that society is evolving and we are moving from a Money-Centered-Economy to a Human-Centered-Society.

Coworking, however, has not yet been adequately welcomed by Italian companies and this can find an explanation in the consolidated corporate practice of secrecy: many companies spend time and money trying to protect their ideas and innovations, therefore perceiving the idea as risky. to place their employees perhaps alongside employees of other companies or startups. Often in the case of vacant spaces inside the building, an attempt has been made to proceed with classic rental formulas for unused appliances. Today, however, this model does not seem to be winning for two main reasons:

• the difficulty of finding potential individual conductors;
• the high risk of going into arrears by renting the individual spaces to a single person.

However, what may appear to be a risk to companies is actually a source of innovation and productivity. In a recent survey, Deskmag found that the 71% of corporate employees reported having a boost in creativity since entering a coworking space, and the 62% reported that the standard of work had improved. Additionally, the 64% was better able to complete tasks on time, and the 90% of collaborators reported increased self-confidence.

Even if there was some resistance, at least initially, on the part of companies, corporate coworking is, to date, a growing sector. Coworking has become a buzzword in the tech industry, following the mantra “Innovation doesn't happen in isolation”. In fact, it has already been tried by tech companies such as AT&T, Ericsson, Twitter and Plantronics. Other low-tech companies, such as PwC, Steelcase, Accenture and Amway, have already used it successfully, while Yahoo has shared the building where the Research and Development Area was located with other companies for years.

What are the benefits for the company that opens a Partner Changes Coworking Point?

Being in contact with people with different and enterprising vertical skills is in itself stimulating and seeing the success of others can motivate you to work harder, in order to keep up and not lag behind. Furthermore, collaboration fosters a relaxed climate and a productive environment, in which projects develop by affinity and cooperation has meritocracy as its prerogative.

An additional advantage deriving from the corporate coworking Changes it is a recruitment opportunity: the company has the concrete possibility of seeing and evaluating the work of non-employees and whether there is someone among these who stands out for his skills and competences and whose characteristics prove to be useful and functional for growth of the company, the latter would have every interest in bringing that person in-house.

Another benefit is that of one greater knowledge, on the part of company employees, of the processes of collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship: Working side-by-side with dozens of startuppers and innovators increases the likelihood that corporate employees will gain more insights into effective entrepreneurship and how to successfully collaborate, innovate, and reduce time to market. Furthermore, Changes corporate coworking, by stimulating interaction between workers belonging to completely different sectors and areas, allows for much broader and faster learning.

Another advantage may be represented by the fact that within the coworking environment the company can easily find professionals to request consultancy, perhaps at discounted prices. Thus we arrive at the last benefit, the economic one, the advantages also include a reduction in real estate costs.