ARTICLE

Making Work a Destination: Empowering Teams with Smarter Workspaces

November 12, 2025
4 MIN READ
Connected and secure modern workplace
An employee booking a desk using Ricoh Spaces
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While executives weigh strategy, the daily reality of hybrid work is lived by HR teams, Facilities Managers, and IT leaders. These are the people tasked with making hybrid not just possible, but seamless. Yet too often, they are left navigating outdated tools, conflicting demands, and rising employee expectations. For them, the challenge is practical: how do you create a workplace experience that works for everyone, every day?


The Human Side of Hybrid

Two employees from HR discussing the desk booking analytics


For HR leaders, hybrid is more than a policy. It is a cultural shift. Employees are returning to offices only if they see value in doing so. If the workplace is clunky, if they spend ten minutes hunting for a desk, or if meeting rooms are constantly double-booked, they will vote with their feet. That disengagement translates directly into lower productivity and higher attrition.

Ricoh Spaces helps remove those points of friction. With a mobile-first interface, employees can book a desk, locate colleagues, and manage their day before they even leave home. Once onsite, wayfinding tools guide them to the right space, while visitor management ensures that guests are welcomed smoothly. For HR, this is more than convenience. It is a strategy for boosting engagement, inclusion, and employee satisfaction. A workplace that just works signals to employees that their time and wellbeing are valued.


Facilities: Optimising Every Square Metre

Facilities teams face an unenviable balancing act. Real estate is expensive, yet underutilised. Energy costs are rising, while ESG commitments demand measurable reductions in consumption. Without accurate data, decisions become guesswork.

Ricoh Spaces transforms that guesswork into insight. With IoT sensors and real-time analytics, Facilities Managers can see exactly how spaces are used. Which meeting rooms are consistently under-occupied? Where are “ghost bookings” inflating demand? Which areas of the building could be consolidated or reconfigured to save energy? Armed with this data, Facilities teams can maximise space utilisation, reduce waste, and deliver directly on ESG goals. Importantly, the insights are actionable, enabling proactive adjustments rather than reactive fixes.


IT: Secure, Scalable, and Integrated

For IT leaders, every new tool raises questions of compatibility, scalability, and security. Ricoh Spaces is designed to fit seamlessly into existing ecosystems, integrating with Microsoft 365, Google, and other workplace tools. It is cloud-hosted, modular, and scalable, making it suitable for a single office or a global enterprise.

Security is built-in, not bolted on. With enterprise-grade standards and proven deployments across highly regulated industries, Ricoh Spaces addresses IT’s biggest concerns up front. At the same time, the platform reduces complexity by consolidating multiple workplace functions into one system, lowering the overall IT footprint while improving user experience.


Creating the Destination Workplace

Two employees discussing what's on the whiteboard


Together, HR, Facilities, and IT shape the daily employee experience. Ricoh Spaces empowers them to deliver a workplace that feels like a destination, a place where collaboration, wellbeing, and productivity thrive. This is not about forcing employees back into the office. It is about designing an environment that employees actively choose, because it makes their workday easier, more connected, and more fulfilling.

The bigger risk is doing nothing. Legacy booking tools and spreadsheets are no longer sufficient. They introduce compliance gaps, frustrate employees, and undermine strategic decisions. By contrast, a unified workplace platform reduces complexity and risk, providing one version of truth across the organisation.

The results speak for themselves:

  • Happier employees icon

    Happier Employees: better workplace experience drives stronger engagement

  • Ricoh NZ's smarter real estate building icon

    Smarter Real Estate Decisions: optimise footprint while cutting costs

  • Ricoh Spaces ESG Outcomes icon

    Sustainability Gains: measurable impact on energy, emissions, and reporting

  • Ricoh Spaces simplified IT icon

    Simplified IT Management: one integrated platform instead of tool sprawl

  • Ricoh NZ's employee retention icon

    Employer of Choice Reputation: a modern workplace that attracts and retains talent

The return on investment is not just financial, though cost savings are significant. It is cultural. Organisations that succeed in making the office a destination see stronger employee engagement, improved retention, and a reputation as an employer of choice.



Hybrid work is here to stay. The question is whether your workplace helps people thrive in it. Ricoh Spaces gives HR, Facilities, and IT the tools to answer that question with confidence.


Let's talk 

FAQs

Ricoh Spaces brings flexibility to hybrid work by combining desk, meeting room, and visitor management into one connected platform. Learn more about creating a seamless hybrid workplace with Ricoh.
Yes. Ricoh Spaces integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and Teams Rooms to simplify scheduling and collaboration. Explore our Microsoft Teams Rooms solutions to see how they complement your workspace.
Using IoT workplace analytics, Ricoh Spaces delivers insights on how desks and rooms are used so Facilities teams can improve space utilisation and support ESG goals. Learn about our Workspace Management solutions for smarter real-estate decisions.
Ricoh Spaces is built with enterprise-grade cloud security and integrates within your existing IT ecosystem. Discover more about our Cybersecurity services and how they strengthen your digital workplace.
Our team can help you design a modern workplace that boosts engagement and productivity. Contact us to discuss how Ricoh Spaces can transform your organisation’s hybrid work experience.





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