Despite DEI Backlash, Inclusive Office Designs Are Gaining Ground

While corporate DEI strategies have faced heightened challenges over the past year, one strategy for fostering a greater sense of belonging in the workplace is gaining prominence: inclusive office design. Corporate leaders, grappling with persistent talent shortages and poor office utilization, are increasingly adopting inclusive office strategies to attract employees by enhancing community and inclusion within the workplace.

Despite the trend of some companies scaling back their DEI initiatives, there is a growing focus on inclusive office design. After dealing with years of low office utilization and contentious return-to-office debates, many senior leaders have concluded that current office designs often fail to meet the needs of their employees. To address this, organizations are taking a more participatory approach, collaborating with members of their Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to create more engaging and productive work environments.

Historically, office design has primarily catered to the needs of managers and senior leaders. In previous eras, when employees’ daily tasks were often routine and predictable, it was feasible for leaders to represent the needs of their staff. However, recent changes in work dynamics have shifted the landscape significantly. Today, employees collaborate with a diverse range of colleagues, use numerous digital tools, and benefit from AI-enabled processes that reduce repetitive tasks and enable more innovative problem-solving and co-creation. Few leaders fully understand their employees’ work processes, and even fewer grasp how the design of a physical workspace can support these processes effectively.

As a result, offices are now expected to do more than just support traditional work methods. Modern offices are held to higher standards, aiming to foster connection, improve employee well-being, and facilitate change. This requires input from those who actually use the space. New strategies for interviewing and surveying employee groups have become increasingly prevalent. When this user-centered approach involves ERGs or other underrepresented groups providing feedback on how existing spaces fail to meet their needs, it enables employers to boost productivity and foster a greater sense of belonging among employees.

Few understand the impact of this approach better than Retired Senator Tom Harkin, who sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. Prior to the ADA, offices and other commercial buildings lacked basic accessibility for individuals with physical disabilities. Since its enactment, the ADA has enabled millions of people previously unable to work in office environments to do so productively. When Drake University in Des Moines began designing a new building for the Tom and Ruth Harkin Center, home of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement, Senator Harkin saw an opportunity to extend beyond ADA requirements and model a more comprehensive approach to inclusive design.

Speaking about the goals for the facility, Senator Harkin remarked that it, “had to be state of the art accessible, not just ADA compliant, but state of the art accessible. Not just for people with physical disabilities, but for people with intellectual disabilities and other forms of disability.”

The design of the facility, led by the architecture firm BNIM, began by engaging employee and student resource groups to better understand their needs and identify aspects of existing structures that either empower or hinder their use. The final design features inviting and easily navigable spaces, including a wide ramp that wraps around the building to encourage casual interaction among workers while providing access for those with mobility limitations. Quiet areas address the needs of neurodivergent individuals and those seeking a place to focus. Easily reconfigurable spaces accommodate various team activities and individuals with limited physical abilities. Overall, the design equitably supports those with physical, cognitive, and sensory disabilities, fostering both belonging and greater productivity for the entire organization.

While the ADA and the Harkin Institute have focused heavily on the needs of individuals with disabilities, including underrepresented employees in the design process benefits many other groups as well. Input from ERGs representing working parents, people of color, veterans, younger employees, and many others can reveal needs that often lead to design improvements that benefit everyone.

In an era where employees can work from a variety of locations, offices must meet the day-to-day needs of their occupants. If they don’t serve their employees effectively, they simply don’t work. While the politics of DEI strategies may continue to evolve, the benefits of increased access to talent, enhanced productivity, and a stronger sense of belonging will incentivize organizational leaders to embrace inclusive office designs.