The Leader - July/August 2008 - (Page 63)

Wor kpla ce desIgN : r e fle ctI Ng our chaNg I Ng W o rld aNd W o rk p atte rNs ured by the user to meet their personal work styles. This design helps younger workers meet their need for flexible and spontaneous collaboration and teaming with other workers. To tailor-make client solutions, KFZ offers integrated cultural assessment and generational analysis in its programming process to give its designers a better picture of the issues clients need to resolve. “While these are optional services, we feel they are important to developing a comprehensive solution that will serve our clients real needs over the next 10 years,” Turner says. “That’s because each company is unique in culture. It’s necessary to test ideas for the casual interaction space that will work within the organization’s culture to assure that cultural permission will be granted to use these spaces.” KFZ is currently conducting an assessment for a company that is located in a part of the country where recruitment and retention is challenging. Data collected helps KZF Design examine the organization’s current demographics to determine targeted recruitment issues and develop appropriate work place strategies. “Since the company is looking for young professionals between the ages of 25 to 35 to develop on-line content, we are using our knowledge of generational expectations to make workplace recommendations that will help them recruit this talent,” Turner explains. Focus groups are also used to discuss these issues with a wide range of employees to determine strategies that are appropriate for the organization while being driven by the target staff. detaIls of offIce solutIoNs Furniture design plays a big role in reflecting today’s worker trends. A line called “ed” by KI focuses on needs found in K-12, healthcare, government and corporate settings. “While we have a core market focus, we also concentrate on medium to large businesses,” says Steve Green, vice president of product marketing for KI in Green Bay, Wisc. While most furniture designed after 1968 concentrated on cubical configurations, dividing space, and packaging worker needs into specified space for specific jobs, Green observes that the X and Y generation emphasis on collaboration and team work has altered office furniture design today. For one, the average panel height between cubicles is coming down dramatically to open up Designing agile workspaces with a competitive edge Richard and Lois Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, Ohio Discover more at www.kzf.com the le ade r 63 J u ly / a u g u s t http://www.kzf.com http://www.kzf.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - July/August 2008

The Leader - July/August 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Organizational Design Accommodating Growth Responding to the Challenge EMEA's Building Energy Rating TVA's Shortcut to Success ANZ Banking Group’s Jane Hamilton Tractus Asia’s Dennis Messeroll Arizona’s Greg Weiner Workplace Design Workplace Directory The Texas Report Industry Tracker Discovery Forum Findings Career Development Congratulations to 2008 Corenet Global Award Winners! Young Leader Economic Development in the News Connect with Corenet Global A Look Ahead

The Leader - July/August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.