Siemens has introduced a set of new features and collaboration tools to its workplace technology solution Comfy, which will play a key role for businesses returning employees to the office, and simplify the shift to hybrid work. The new features are designed to address known employee concerns around hybrid working, such as a lack of social contact, difficulty with building and maintaining a network and a lack of collaboration opportunities.
The new collaboration tools are part of Comfy’s ‘Flexible Spaces’ solution, and help create stronger community through a digitalized, app-based employee experience. They maximize opportunities for employee collaboration and connection by providing employees with insights on colleagues’ in-office preferences and planned visits, and enable employees to find coworkers at the office. New features include:
“Our new Flexible Spaces features alleviate the ‘empty office syndrome’ and enable companies to rebuild a sense of community, by improving the convenience of space reservations and creating opportunities for collaboration and connection,” said Stefan Schwab, CEO, Comfy | Enlighted. “To succeed in implementing hybrid working and returning employees to offices, businesses must carefully consider how they can elevate the employee experience. These new tools build on Comfy’s core promise of making it easier for employees to connect with each other and their physical offices, by allowing them greater visibility into when their colleagues will be in the office for activity-based work.”
A survey published by Siemens in November 2021 found that employees see clear benefits to flexible working, including better work/life balance (73%), ability to work flexibly (59%) and improved productivity (38%). However, many cited lack of social contact (65%), difficulty building and maintaining a network (52%) and a lack of collaboration opportunities (43%) as major drawbacks.
Comfy provides a suite of workplace-essential solutions that drive more positive engagement between occupants and their spaces. The new collaboration tools join additional recent enhancements to Comfy’s employee experience and space management capabilities, including Neighborhoods, a way to group spaces for organizational assignment; In-App Check-In, a way for maximizing reservable space; Space Traits, a way to categorize and track employee space preferences, and Insights Access, a data API that provides data insights for space planning and real estate portfolio decisions.
Notes for journalists
1 June, 15:25 – 15:50, Siemens Booth, Hall 9, Booth D49, Hannover Messe:
Stefan Schwab, CEO of Comfy and Enlighted, and Dr. Oliver Gutzeit, Global Lead, SAP Digital Workplace in the Future of Work, will be discussing best practices for transitioning to a hybrid work model, and considerations for creating more engaged employees and regenerative spaces, at the Siemens booth at Hannover Messe 2022.