I wanted to share with you an interesting conversation I had with a couple of human resources professionals about the upcoming changes to the overtime rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). One of the people in the group mentioned a challenge they were having, not because of the pay change, but because the employee impacted was going to have to move from an office with a door to a cubicle. And the employee was upset because they weren’t going to have a place to display their professional certificates.
Now before anyone thinks that where their professional certificates are displayed is a trivial matter, keep in mind that everyone views those professional accomplishments differently. I know people who have professional certifications and don’t show them on their business card. I also know people who have all of their certifications listed (yes, all of them.)
My take on the conversation was this – it’s exactly one of the reasons why employees who are impacted by the overtime change view it as a demotion. In this case, an organization has decided that office space is a perk. It’s not driven by the work you do; it’s determined by the way you are paid.
I get it. Office space gets more expensive every year. More employees are asking to work from home. So having an office with a door might be a premium and the company cannot give everyone an office. There needs to be some sort of criteria regarding who gets an office and who does not. The question becomes what’s the right criteria: pay status or work responsibilities. I lean towards using work as the differentiator.
I believe that this aligns with the growing conversation about open office spaces and productivity. Work spaces are supposed to increase productivity. This is about function over form. Yes, it’s possible to create workspaces that cool and fun too. But having a workspace that is great too look at but no one uses is a waste.
Let me quickly address the issue of the certificates. Organizations have to decide if part of their culture is for employees to feel like their office space should be like home – meaning a place to show off our accomplishments, pictures of the people and/or things that are important to us, etc. If it is, then companies have to figure out how to help employees when their office space changes. For example, is it possible to pay $20 and let employees customize a mug with their favorite images? It’s not exactly the same, but employees can have something personalized (and practical) for their space. I’m sure there are other ideas to consider.
As the business world changes, we have to challenge our thought processes. A decade ago, maybe it was okay to assign office space by pay status. Today, maybe we have to revisit that idea. Our job as HR professionals is to help the organization realize that changes need to be made and facilitate a conversation about the best options for the company.
Image taken by Sharlyn Lauby – not of her office – while attending the SHRM Annual Conference in Washington, DC
Suzanne says
I am trying to change as little as possible for the employees changing from exempt to non-exempt because every little change seems to make them more unhappy. In one of my conversations with an affected employee, she was trying to be happy about now being paid overtime for any hours worked over 40…she appreciates and understands the change, but even so, she was clearly unhappy about it and would rather remain exempt. I highly doubt the federal government thought this type of reaction would come from employees, but I have yet to find someone who is happy about it, and I have yet to find someone who magically got a big raise. Too bad they didn’t listen to us. 🙂
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for sharing!
Michelle says
This has been a tough one for my organization as well. We remodeled the entire office 2 years ago and created more cubicle space – it was a tough call for some positions who are “managers” and not in offices, when we have non-managers in offices. Trying to get upper management to decide who should be in what space is a tough one as well. Making it worse is that most of the offices have windows-very few do not (mine does not). I’m interested in hearing how HR is handling complaints about this.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for sharing Michelle!
Angela says
I am interested in the criteria that your organization used to determine how the offices were distributed and how you decided who got the windows. Please share?
rebecca horton says
the practice of “awarding” the natural views (windows) to the executives who rarely occupy office space, is antiquated. we have come so far in recognizing that the employees in the “bullpen” or cubicles are those driving shareholder value. the leaders who acknowledge this reality and are willing to say goodbye to the corner office and convert the rarely used space into shared common space are those forward-thinking individuals who “get it”. i’ve met several of these leaders and they are unforgettable.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comment Rebecca!
Melanie says
You make a good point about how those top executives rarely occupy the space themselves. However, the “bullpen” workers may provide the largest contribution to shareholder value, but the top executives are the ones meeting with those initial clients and forming the necessary relationships to succeed. While meeting in a conference room is a reasonable alternative, there is something more personable and comforting in speaking in an office with a closed door.
Angela says
I agree with issuing office space to specific jobs in the office. For instance, accounting is an important function in an organization that should be put into a space where there are little to no distractions. I have a situation now where our accounting employee has a space in the bull pen area and it is not really working out. However I am having a hard time getting upper management to re-evaluate since moving them to an office requires one of the upper managers to re-locate to the bull pen. I once heard a manager say they earned that door. So much for forward thinking.
Melanie says
At my firm, only the top executive has an office space with a closed door. However, he only comes into the office about 2 hours out of the week. While everyone else is working 40 hours a week, I still believe it is fair to give him the office space. When he is in, he is meeting with clients or handling phone calls with sensitive information. The office space is not just a perk of being paid more; it is an opportunity to provide privacy for our clients that interact with our top executive.