Employers all over the world have discovered that creating unusual workspaces for the younger generations has a very positive effect on engagement and retention.
 
In Silicon Valley, there is a war for talent going on that eclipses most others. Google, Zynga and Facebook are all competing for the same top talent and providing a variety of value-adds. Google offers on-site gyms, massages, haircuts, laundry services, shuttles, gourmet meals, snacks galore and more. On top of that, Google offers its employees the opportunity to spend 20 percent of their time working on whatever work-related project they wish.
 
Google’s Singapore office is a great place to work. It has a game room, a meeting table made out of a tuk-tuk (a motorized or pedal bicycle with a cart on the back for carry people and parcels), and micro-kitchens and cafeterias providing staff with a wide array of food choices. Also, in Singapore, the head office of Davison Design & Development, an invention promotion firm, is called “Inventionland.” The facility houses 16 themed sets, including a pirate ship, a cave, a giant robot, a tree house and a motor speedway.
 
In Moscow, the offices of TWIGA have a giraffe-theme. Their office features 836 figures and images of giraffes. However, the office of Pons and Huot in Paris has to win the award for the most unusual. There, each employee works under a Plexiglas canopy, which gives the illusion of privacy and security, while maintaining accessibility.
 
Enlightened organizations will look for ways to add fun to their workplaces, even if they cannot afford to give away food or other benefits. Even small and medium-size organizations will look for ways to create workspaces that are colorful and fun to compete with the larger companies.
 
To see photographs of the offices mentioned here, visit http://en.tengrinews.kz/opinion/240/
 
Special thanks to Human Resources magazine in Singapore for highlighting most of these creative spaces.