Employees Flock to Hootsuite’s Collaborative Office ‘Nest’

Hootsuite doesn’t have a mandatory in-person work policy. If any one of its 1,000 employees across the globe wants to, they can work entirely remotely.

But in the case of its new Vancouver headquarters, the global social media management company designed an office so enticing and functional that most of its 475 local employees choose to work there instead of their homes, at least a few days per week.

Consolidating two former offices into one headquarters in the Canadian city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, Hootsuite designed its new space to be its first “Nest” — keeping with the company’s owl-themed branding — representing a collaborative office geared towards bringing teams together.

With a strategic build-out designed by Vancouver-based firm Mak Interiors bringing together 260 “work points” across the 27,000-square-foot office space, Hootsuite’s headquarters embodies its ethos of empowering employees throughout their workday.

Before beginning plans for its new headquarters, Hootsuite wanted its office design approach to be employee-led, “so we asked our workforce what they wanted so we could tailor our strategy accordingly,” Carol Waldmann, Director of Global Facilities and Real Estate at Hootsuite, told LoopNet.

The company expected some employees to request fully remote statuses based on global trends brought on by the pandemic, but was surprised by the high percentage of those who said they wanted to work in person a few days each week, with 89% of its 475 Vancouver-based employees noting this preference.

But its office at the time, which was dispersed across four floors in two buildings, didn’t physically support what Hootsuite believes is the current objectives of in-person work: collaboration, social connection, and creative idea generation.

“We had almost 300 desks in very close proximity to each other. Meeting rooms and places to collaborate were few and far between. Basically, you could work at your desk or in a meeting room (if you could find one available) and that was it,” said Waldmann. But even before the pandemic, Hootsuite said 50% of those assigned desks were unoccupied, either because people were working remotely or in meetings.

Hence the company’s new concept of “Nests,” or offices that act as collaboration hubs.

“Our Nests, which is what we call our offices, have been designed to help fulfill our people’s needs and desires for creativity, collaboration and connection, essentially those aspects of the job that they may not fulfill working from home — while also creating private spaces for calm, and keeping the mental health of our people in mind,” said Waldmann. “Today, our offices are centers of creativity and collaboration with a key focus on employee well-being. Employees have many different places they can work while in the office — places that are custom-built for their unique collaboration needs.”

There are still individual workspaces, of course — just not 300 unused assigned desks. “In most locations, we have moved away from assigned desks to an unassigned desk model where you have to book a desk in advance. We are calling this our ‘Perch Program’,” said Waldmann.

Instead, the real estate formerly taken up by desks is dedicated to pop-up collaboration booths and meeting rooms resembling small huts and structures, and large tables that teams can use as touchdown points in between doing individual work, which could happen at a desk, on a comfy couch or in an enclosed phone booth.

The designers also built out numerous lounge areas with comfortable furniture, plus whiteboards and digital Google Jamboards for meetings or brainstorming.

One of the central gathering places of the headquarters is the Sunken Living Room, a cozy lounge space with a fireplace, bright sprawling sectional couches, modern furniture and a large projector screen TV for teams to use.

“So far the feedback has been very positive. More people want to come into the office now as it better meets their needs and everyone feels welcome and included,” said Waldmann.

One crucial way Hootsuite seeks to meet its employees’ needs is by putting a significant emphasis on health and wellness, incorporating features into the new office that support stress relief, mental health, equity and inclusivity.

The office is flush with biophilia, featuring a green wall and potted plants throughout the space to promote connection to the outdoors and to help reduce stress. Each employee can curate their own workspace experience with sit-stand desks, ergonomic chairs, adjustable monitor arms and dimmable lighting in meeting rooms to accommodate for light sensitivity. Some workstations are also exercise bikes or treadmill desks.

An individual Wellness Room with calming blue velvet curtains, lounge chairs, blankets and dimmable lighting offers a calming multipurpose space for nursing mothers, people who need a quiet place to relax or decompress from sensory overloads or headaches, or to meditate or pray, said Waldmann. “There’s a Bluetooth speaker and a lavender diffuser if you want a peaceful environment, and we’ve added biophilic artwork in the space. It is very calming,” added Waldmann.

Hootsuite brought their diversity, equity and inclusion policies to the physical environment to ensure that every employee feels welcomed and supported, and can thrive in the office. All rooms incorporate braille signage and the accessible office has automatic doors.

The Vancouver Hootsuite headquarters is a testament to putting employees’ needs first through design, allowing them to be their best selves in their physical workplace, Waldmann said.

“We will continue to listen to our employees and try to incorporate their changing needs,” said Waldmann. “We call it the ’test and iterate’ model. We will continue to test and iterate, until we get it right — or as close to ’right’ as it ever will be.”