53,4% of Romanian employees believe that interacting with coworkers outside the office enhances team cohesion and long-term productivity
26 July 2022. Employees are reevaluating their priorities, due to challenges in the past two years, and are becoming more focused on their work-life balance and more aware of the importance of team cohesion. Thus, 53.4% of Romanian employees believe that interacting with colleagues outside the office, for work or leisure, is beneficial for productivity and increases team unity, according to a survey initiated in 2022 by Genesis Property among 1,180 employees across the country. At the same time, 90.2% believe that having amenities that encourage employees to do group or outdoor activities near the office would have a positive effect on them personally, as well as on their teams.
The importance of socializing and interacting in an informal setting with colleagues has become increasingly important for people's professional and personal development, especially among young professionals at the start of their career. 63% believe that having parks and green spaces near the office would help them interact better with their office colleagues. At the same time, employees believe that having restaurants and cafés (46%) or social areas inside office buildings (30%) would help them to build better relationships with colleagues and contribute to team development, the Genesis Property survey also shows.
Currently, 2 out of 10 employees say they have no after-hours or social leisure facilities around their office. Another 41.4% say they have restaurants and cafés and just over 41% mention parks and green areas, while only 8.8% have recreational activity areas. In their life after work, Romanian employees miss outdoor walks in nature (51%), social interactions with colleagues (29.2%) or attending social events (31.5%), according to the Genesis Property survey.
"Work productivity levels are highly influenced by team dynamics and by people’s wellbeing. We see that Romanian employees would like a multi-functional space that includes both offices and amenities and experiences that encourage interaction and socializing, improving their life-work balance", says Maria Tudorică, Commercial Real Estate Manager at Genesis Property.
To respond to current and future employees' trends and needs, Genesis Property is transforming the Novo Park business park into YUNITY Park, a new real estate concept that will include an urban forest, co-living and co-working spaces, a food hall, an outdoor event amphitheater, a conference center and many other premium destinations for park employees.
The Genesis Property survey on lifestyle in the offices of the future was conducted nationwide in April-May 2022 via the iVox platform, on a total sample of 1,180 internet users in Romania. Almost 52% of the participants are men, almost 60% are aged between 20 and 45, and almost 55% have a net income of more than RON 3,000.