There’s no denying that improving the employee experience is complex and even challenging for many organizations—further complicated by the surge in return-to-office (RTO) mandates. As we’ve seen in various news reports, mandates don’t operate in a vacuum. While employers continue to push for in-office presence, team members across all geographies and industries have their own expectations. They want the workplace to easily support collaboration and productivity or, at a minimum, not add unnecessary obstacles to getting work done.
Facilities leaders are at the center of this shift and clashing expectations, redefining their roles in many situations to ensure the workplace meets both leadership requirements and employee needs.
The Productivity Paradox: When RTO Becomes a Roadblock
The Appspace 2025 Workplace Experience Trends & Insights Report reflects the dynamic between employer mandates and employee goals and reveals a striking contradiction. While many organizations implemented RTO mandates, employees are not experiencing the productivity that, in some minds, magically happens in a traditional office setting.
Nearly half (48%) of employees say switching between remote and in-person work disrupts their workflow, and 45% feel less productive when working in the office.
These findings highlight the need for a more intentional approach to workplace design that removes friction rather than adding to it. Facilities managers hold one of the keys to reshaping today’s workplace, ensuring office spaces don’t zap productivity and provide employees with a compelling reason to be there.
Addressing the Connection Gap
Collaboration remains one of the biggest struggles for today’s workforce. According to the Appspace report, 82% of employees experience challenges connecting with colleagues, and nearly 20% say their workplace technology fails to enhance productivity or build a sense of connection.
One of the biggest challenges for facilities and IT teams today is meeting employees’ rising expectations for workplace technology. Team members expect workplace tools to be as intuitive and effective as the consumer apps they use daily. For example, reserving a desk or office space for the day should be as easy as making a dinner reservation at a favorite restaurant.
The Department Disconnect: Uniting Teams from the Front Lines to the Corner Office
Workplace challenges are often more pronounced for frontline workers. Only 30% of employees in the Appspace report believe their company does an excellent job supporting frontline workers. This gap underscores the need for solutions that integrate seamlessly into traditional offices while addressing the needs of team members working on manufacturing floors and multiple other frontline environments.
Many organizations have embraced a cross-functional approach, bringing facilities, HR, and IT together to improve the office and frontline experience—and rightly so. But employees across various departments haven’t always had their say.
More than one-in-five operations employees (22%) are unsatisfied with their organization’s employee experience, according to the Appspace report—the lowest of any department. Operations employees were also less likely to believe they influence decisions impacting their workplace, with only 53% saying they directly impact decisions—compared to 76% of employees in HR and IT/digital departments and 70% in finance.
Now is the time to involve team members in workplace technology decisions through surveys, town halls, or other feedback channels that make sense. Their insights and buy-in will help facilities leaders shape spaces and offer tools that work for the people using them daily.
Designing Workspaces for a Multi-Generational Workforce
Another challenge shaping facilities management in 2025 is changing workforce demographics. By many reports, there are now five generations in the workplace. The CBRE’s Trends in Facilities Management for 2025 report points out that Gen Z expects personalization at scale. At the other end of the generational spectrum, the Appspace report found less than half (48%) of workers over 60 feel they have a say in decisions affecting their workplace and employee experience, compared to 58% of all employees.
The challenge: How do you create spaces that support hybrid work while engaging all age groups? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and the answers may vary as much as the demographic differences.
One primary success factor will be central to all: workplace design that promotes both autonomy and collaboration—flexible seating arrangements, meeting spaces that integrate easily with virtual tools, and digital communications that reach employees where they are at work and in life.
The Facilities Leader’s Role in the Future of Work
Cost and value for money will continue to be top drivers of facilities management purchasing decisions in 2025, according to the CBRE report. With that as a backdrop, investments in technology must meet two essential metrics: provide measurable workplace enhancements for employees and hit bottom-line goals.
Facilities leaders today do more than maintain buildings—they shape the employee experience. Leaders and employees alike want facilities managers to make spaces functional, motivating, and easy to use. When employees return to the office, they want to feel like they’re gaining something—not giving something up.
By using the right tech, facilities leaders can transform the workplace experience for employees from “where do I go?” to more “tap and go” with seamless navigation, simplified communication, and hybrid-friendly spaces.
The Appspace 2025 Insights Report makes it clear: Employees want workspaces that foster connection, productivity, and efficiency. As organizations navigate the evolving RTO landscape, facilities leaders are key to delivering an experience that meets business goals and employee expectations.
Carolyn Voelkening is chief delivery officer at Appspace, a workplace communications and management platform provider.