Return to office

Envoy announced new dynamic space usage functionality and data-enriched workplace mapping. These new capabilities will provide contextual space utilization insights and streamlined workplace design to ensure RTO success. 

An Envoy “Future of the Workplace” industry report set to be published later this month shows that 96 percent of companies surveyed have returned to the office with some regularity. Despite the modern adoption of hybrid work, companies are still using outdated, manual processes to manage workspaces and are struggling to measure RTO performance. According to recent  Envoy usage data, organizations with high workspace utilization have 38% higher employee retention and 24 percent improved revenue growth compared to those with low engagement metrics. 

In light of these trends and challenges, Envoy has introduced new features to guide organizations in their return-to-office journey by optimizing contextual data for both space utilization and employee experience. New features include:

• Data-enriched Workplace Maps: This market-differentiating feature allows admins to access attendance and space utilization insights while editing or creating a workplace map. Envoy will surface contextual data such as employee attendance averages, seat assignments, and usage rates of rooms and desks. Based on key data and trends, Envoy’s platform can make recommendations for optimized scenario planning. Additionally, admins can leverage the power of computer vision AI to detect and place multiple seats, confirm bulk placement and decide how desks are numbered before adding them to a workplace map.

• Dynamic Right-Sizing of Office Resources: Optimize your space usage based on analytics, and free up unused space. Envoy will dynamically recommend right-sizes resources, such as desks and meeting rooms, based on meeting attendance.

• Passive Data Capture: Automate data capture by passively importing attendance data in real time via Wi-Fi and door access integrations even in multi-vendor environments. Passive collection of data eliminates the need for employees to manually sign in through an app, streamlining the process and ensuring comprehensive reporting. Incorporating such integrations enriches our understanding of RTO success by providing a holistic view that goes beyond traditional desk-centric metrics, which often fall short in capturing the dynamic nature of modern work environments.

• Attendance Reporting: Envoy’s occupancy dashboard, provides workplace leaders a deeper understanding of employee attendance trends to inform more strategic space and resource planning. Admins can reference Envoy data for a more granular understanding of when and how employees are checking in onsite in one or multiple locations. Employees can monitor their own attendance data in the Envoy app.

“The discussion about whether or not to return to office is over,” said Larry Gadea, founder and CEO at Envoy. “Most high performing companies who have leaned into the difficult conversation about how to balance company objectives and employee preferences have come back three to five days a week. We understand that this transition is delicate and we’re committed to building solutions that are helpful to both companies and their employees as they navigate their way to competitive success.”

“Envoy's workplace management platform has been a game-changer for optimizing employee experience and measuring in-office success,” says Andrei Pop, corporate real estate systems operator at Flutter. “Before, we were manually tracking space utilization, visitor management and attendance across multiple sites. Collecting and aggregating the data was incredibly time-consuming. Now, with Envoy's data and automation, we can not only see how our space is being used but also automate workflows for employees and visitors from entry to exit, freeing up valuable time and resources. This automation is key to meeting the high expectations of today's workforce.”