The Sunday Business Post: Occupation therapist has the healthy office option
Occupation therapist has the healthy office option
Clare Kelly is the director of the family-run and managed Glandore company
This article first appeared in the 10.04.2017 version of The Sunday Business Post.
While you may be familiar with the term occupational therapist, the director of Glandore, Clare Kelly, is an occupation therapist, who strives to achieve the same healthy and satisfied state for her clients through her fully fitted, flexible workspace and serviced offices.
Kelly is the founder and director of the family-run and managed Glandore company, which is headquartered at Fitzwilliam Hall on Leeson Street Bridge in Dublin and which has three other locations in Dublin and two in Belfast. The company has been in operation since 2001 and Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Bulgari and Beats started their European bases from there.
“Workplace design is changing and there’s a huge demand for flexible offices and co-working spaces now,” said Kelly.
“Perhaps it’s a consequence of the economic crash. Either way, particularly those in the early days of a start-up or in a fledgling SME, they don’t want to commit to a long-term lease before they’re ready and some have to be lean and manage their overheads. So flexible spaces are an ideal solution and having a mailing address and a local telephone number with a receptionist is a good starting point,” she said.
“Modern workplaces are no longer about how many hours people sit at their desks, but more about measuring productivity and output. There has been a lot of research recently about the dangers of sitting at your desk for too long. It’s crucial to move around and have places where you can interact with colleagues. We created Club Rooms which are great for relaxing with clients and having coffee or a casual meeting.”
Self-employed people, particularly those who have come from a busy work environment, can also find working from home isolating and potentially distracting in terms of domestic life, so serviced offices with communal club rooms or lounges not only resolve that issue, but help members network and bounce ideas off each other from €45 for a Lounge Club day pass.
Glandore’s amenities include access to meeting rooms on an ad hoc basis, reception services, printing and admin support, IT and wifi services and a choice of a hot desk for a day, during office hours, 24/7 or flexible office plates, with the capacity to accommodate one person or 300 at its Grand Canal House location, for example.
“Global companies are also trying to replicate their headquarters and scale the physical manifestations of their HQ culture, be that on write-on walls or table tennis tables. Wellbeing is becoming a real focus and we’ve introduced webinars and monthly seminars focusing on wellness of mind, body, life and finances for our members and we’re introducing drop-in Pilates classes too to promote health within the working day from June.
“The current office design trends – those of attractive work environments with comfortable, well-lit spaces and breakout areas that promote creativity are not a fad. They are becoming the norm as companies not only compete to attract quality staff, but to keep them too.”
This article first appeared in the 10.04.2017 version of The Sunday Business Post.