In 3 Steps to the Branded Home Office

Has the home office come to stay? Wrong.The home office has come to sustainably change the world of work.But this only works with a properly equipped and thoughtfully designed workplace at home. Because those who succeed in transporting the brand feeling of the corporate headquarters into the four walls of their employees, their employer brand gains in attractiveness - especially for Gen Z, who will determine the job market of the future. Lisa Rosa Bräutigam explains here how this can be achieved with Branded Home Offices.

Office with a brand, brand with an office? What exactly is meant by Branded Home Office?

You probably experienced it first hand: When at the beginning of the Corona pandemic it was said "We will stay in the home office for the time being", a makeshift workplace had to do. Not everyone has a high-resolution video camera at home, or is equipped with two screens, not to mention an adjustable table, which at least many offices now offer. A separate room for the home office was not to be thought of, especially in large cities. The home office had a somewhat bumpy, disorganized start.

Branded Home Office makes the difference right there. Just as office buildings or headquarters are representative with the logos of the company, advertising banners, displays and appropriate furniture, a brand should also make its entry into the home office. These can be contact points as well as catchy slogans, the company's CI, which is reflected in the equipment, or even branded office furniture that matches the look and feel of the company. In short: Branded home office brings the corporate identity to the workplace and turns managers to employees into brand ambassadors of their company.

What does the home office setup have to do with company success?

A study from 2021 showed that work-related musculoskeletal disorders are responsible for 40 to 50 percent of the costs of all work-related diseases. Caution: These are diseases that can be prevented with ergonomic office equipment. In addition to taking over internet fees or professional training, a large number of employees now want exactly this equipment from their employers.

Ergonomics has two main goals:

1. to increase the efficiency, productivity, and quality of companies
2. to improve and preserve the safety, health, and well-being of employees

In fact, the three factors ergonomics, well-being, and productivity form a triad. Those who have an ergonomic workstation benefit from better psychological as well as physical well-being and can therefore work more productively. Increased productivity fuels the success of the company. The desire of the employees should therefore also become the wish of the employers.

5 reasons why companies should introduce branded home offices

Let's think of a company with 1,000 employees, of which perhaps 850 need a fixed workplace, and only 200 of them spend so much time in the home office that their home office should represent the brand. That's still 200 rooms that need to be outfitted. But there are good reasons to take the step into the branded home office.

1. External impact

Every meeting with new customers conducted from the home office leaves an impression. A corner of a room with junk, poor camera quality, unfavorable light conditions - or an employee tortured by an uncomfortable kitchen chair - do not leave a good impression. Especially when it comes to the offices of executives. A demonstration of the company's core competencies in the background or a lively moderation through the meeting with the help of second screens andwhiteboard tools on the other hand, leave the person at the other end with a positive "wow".

2. Employee Retention

It's a relatively simple calculation: Employees who are happy with their workplace have no reason to leave it. A branded home office not only satisfies employees, but also makes them proud to be part of this modern corporate culture. In view of the War for Talents and the associated great difficulty in attracting the right skilled workers, a low fluctuation is desirable for every employer.

3. Employer Branding

Not only customers and existing employees know how things work in a company. Job seekers, and thus potential employees, also inform themselves about their advantages, usually before they decide to apply. Since the 1990s, the concept of the employer brand, i.e., an attractive employer brand, has therefore been indispensable. In addition to classic points such as job security, remuneration, management style or corporate culture, the material attractiveness of the workplace itself is now also joining the party. To catch the attention of Gen Z now entering the job market, this is likely to be a particularly important point. The 20-25 year olds are longing for more work-life balance after observing their parent generation in sometimes deficient working conditions.

4. Innovation & Flexibility

The home office caught the whole world off guard. But those who start equipping employees with branded home offices now are also showing how adaptable they are. And even more: how innovation can be lived even in times of crisis. Branded home office expresses many things where New Work wants to go at its core: away from old working methods and towards work that aligns with individual values and interests with the help of New Work Tools. And what could be more individual than the brand message in the tailor-made office within your own four walls?

5. CI conformity

Last but not least, the one thing that accompanies us across industries and departments and thus the entire OMR Reviews universe: a uniform corporate identity. The home office is, so to speak, the end boss of corporate design, corporate behavior, corporate culture and corporate communication. It tests how much a company has truly internalized its mission statement. Those who conquer it, or rather optimize it, and make it into the branded home office, prove not only CI conformity, but also a sense for the big picture.

In 3 steps to the Branded Home Office: This is how you tap the full brand potential of your company

Convinced of the Branded Home Office as a solution for your company? Very good, then you are only a few steps away from your goal.

Step 1: Find the right home office equipment

The key to an ergonomically furnished home office is not a specific piece of furniture, but pieces of furniture that allow movement and variation. A rule of thumb says that optimal working hours should be divided into 60 percent dynamic sitting, 30 percent dynamic standing and another 10 percent in movement. In other words, there should be at least three to four changes of posture per hour. In the context of a desk chair, dynamic means that the movable backrest and the seat adapt to every body movement, thus giving the upper body the necessary support. An adjustable table becomes a dynamic piece of furniture thanks to the settings that can be individually adjusted to the height profile.

Source: nuwo

Companies are not left alone here. There are now providers specialized in the home office, such as the start-up nuwo, founded at the beginning of 2021. There, companies receive the entire equipment for home from one source, cost-efficiently via a monthly leasing model. In a curated, company-owned web shop, employees can freely choose their home office furniture from a selected product range - the brand is thus also integrated here. The equipment is then delivered and professionally installed by a regional partner.

Step 2: Design the home office along your CI

Now we come to the actual 'branding' part of your branded home office. The point where the corporate identity enters the four walls of the employee. Coffee cups or thermos bottles with logo and slogan seem like a bad joke when you realize what is possible here. nuwo has a network of partners who can skillfully transport your brand from its look and feel to your home: Starting with professional equipment like microphone, camera or stream deck from elgato, which is individually designed in your CI and sent directly to every new employee's home at the start. All the way to branded ergonomic office chairs, which highlighted in company colors or with logo embossing, not only bring back health, but now also company brands into the home office of employees. This sounds like the future of the working world.

Source: elgato for nuwo

Step 3: Use the right tools and stay up-to-date

The brand appearance is only completed when the actual work in the Branded Home Office runs smoothly and remains lively. At this point, remember the above-mentioned external impact, which can only be sustainably built up positively if the 'inside' works.

This works best with modern tools like:

• Microsoft Teams orZoom for Video Conferencing 
• Miro for virtual whiteboard solutions
• Or newer applications like the 2022-founded Haiilo for internal communication and collaboration

Conclusion on the Branded Home Office

Who must never sink in the Branded Home Office? The employees. And their needs. No matter how decorated, equipped and technically optimized home office can work if the person behind the desk doesn't fit into the concept. He or she must transport the brand message just as much as any piece of furniture in his or her office. Therefore, accompanying the branded home office should be thought-out Employer Branding measures. And then the (branded) home office and its many advantages remain.