Changes brought by the pandemic will endure for the business value that they have unlocked; workplace mobility is one of them. After seeing the benefits of remote-work programs, financial services companies are boldly redefining the office as a destination. Dedicated individual space is giving way to new and varied multi-use space types to drive employee connection, spark innovation, and embrace flexibility. As clients and customers face ongoing financial anxiety, the ability to foster intimate human connections will differentiate the most successful companies.

Financial workers have emerged from the pandemic with new ways of working and utilizing technologies. These new practices must be embraced in the financial workplace itself to facilitate ongoing hybrid working and to support an even higher-performing workforce than had existed before. Increased flexibility and opportunity for local community presence come as banks reconsider networks of private wealth management offices, retail branches, and business continuity sites as alternative workplaces.

Hospitality-inspired, welcoming workplaces generate a sense of belonging, safety, and engagement with the brand. As mobility for all frees up space, employers are investing in designs to support collective activities, such as learning and development, onboarding, and training. With the exploration of these new space types, financial firms have an opportunity to promote equity by assessing how supportive their physical and virtual environments are of underrepresented talent groups.

One of the chief successes of bank responses to the pandemic was the alignment of real estate, facilities, HR, IT, and other departments in making decisions about workplace design and experience. Seeing an organization as an integrated system opens new possibilities. Collecting and sharing data across this system will inform better decision-making. Smart technologies are of the utmost importance in this process to support real estate and facilities teams in making occupancy decisions, especially as the roles of AI and automation grow.