Wealth Management Office Design
Are you a wealth management company approaching the end of your office lease? Maybe you have several years left on your lease, but your office no longer meets your needs.
If so, you're not alone. Dozens of wealth management companies we speak to each year find themselves in these situations. They know they need to relocate or refurbish their workspace when we speak to them. However, they're not sure how to make their redesign the success it needs to be.
In an industry such as wealth management, your workspace design is incredibly important. You are heavily reliant on your staff. As a result, you need a cutting-edge workspace. Such a space will help you attract and retain talent, enable collaboration, and optimise productivity.
In this article, we'll go through 5 factors to consider when redesigning your wealth management workspace. By the end, you'll know the most important drivers, why they matter, and how to maximise their impact on your workspace project.
1) Client Experience
Creating a great client experience is one of the most important ways that your workspace can contribute to the success of your company. As the place where your staff meet your clients, your office needs to create a welcoming and professional atmosphere. This is regardless of whether the meeting is in person or virtual.
For new clients, a visit is likely the first time they will have met their wealth manager in person. It's a critical part of their journey. Your office will impact how relaxed and comfortable they are. This, in turn, will affect whether they choose to appoint you or not.
To create a great client experience in your workplace, you need to design an environment that suits your client base. Older clients may appreciate a more formal environment with wooden and mahogany features. Younger clients may prefer a more modern and relaxed aesthetic. Your office has a huge impact on your client experience, so it needs to be one of the prime considerations in your office design.
2) Staff Experience
In the same way as your workplace affects your client experience, it also affects your staff experience. By creating an office design that is uniquely tailored to your company culture, you can improve your staff experience.
Staff experience is no less important than client experience. Being the place where your staff spend so much of their time, your workplace has a big impact on their performance as well as their job satisfaction.
To apply this design consideration to your project, you need to create a unique workspace that brings your company's culture to life. This includes much more than a logo in the reception and some walls in the brand colours. It includes the entire experience your people have while in the space, from the location and the layout to the furniture and the finishes. It all impacts the experience of your staff, so it all needs to be considered. To learn more, read How to Create an Office Design Tailored to Your Culture.
3) Confidentiality
Confidentiality is another crucial consideration when you are refurbishing or relocating your office. This includes the digital file storage and management systems you use as well as the design of your space enabling confidential client conversations.
Your wealth managers are dealing with highly sensitive data, both in terms of client and market information. It's crucial for you that this information remains secure. It's also crucial that your clients feel that their information and conversations are confidential. Otherwise, they won't trust you.
To ensure your new workspace is confidential, you can include separate meeting rooms private meetings. You can also install soundproofing materials and even a sound masking system throughout your space. Confidentiality is of utmost importance in wealth management, and your office design needs to cater for this.
4) Technology
In such a technology-reliant industry, your company must put technology at the heart of your workspace project. This includes user technology such as laptops, secure audio-visual systems and access control.
This is important because advanced technology is a crucial part of confidentiality. It can also make your staff more efficient and make client interactions more seamless. In today's market, most of your staff's interactions with your clients will be digital. This means an excellent digital experience is as important as an excellent physical experience. Given that all transactions are also conducted digitally, advanced technology is essential.
In your redesigned workspace, a high-speed and secure internet connection is non-negotiable. Advanced audio-visual systems will make remote meetings with your clients much safer and smoother. Privacy monitors should also be used to ensure all on-screen information is private. In such a tech-reliant market, your wealth management workspace has to have advanced technology.
5) Flexibility
Concern about how needs might change in the future is one of the major reasons many wealth management companies have been reluctant to invest in their workspace. However, not improving your office means that it is certain to be obsolete. You can mitigate this risk by designing a flexible workspace that can adapt to changing staff and company needs.
The ability to scale and reconfigure your workspace to suit the changing needs of your company over time will ensure long-term effectiveness. In such a dynamic industry as wealth management, your workspace needs to be ready for the future.
There are 3 key parts to designing a flexible workspace: creating multi-purpose spaces, planning for future expansion, and using modular & zoning furniture. These 3 strategies will ensure your workplace is effective long into the future, delivering ROI for years to come. To learn more, read How to Future Proof Your Office Design.
Improving Your Office Design
By using your redesign to optimise your client experience and confidentiality, you will give your clients confidence. By optimising your staff experience and flexibility, you will maximise your staff performance. As a result, your office redesign will provide tangible benefits for your business. It will contribute to the ongoing success of your wealth management company.
Now you know what the top 5 office design factors for wealth management companies are, why they matter and how to apply them, you’re ready to start applying them to your project. As a result, you're well on the way to making your redesign a success.
To take the next step, download the Definitive Guide to Office Design. There, you'll learn everything you need to know about office design before you reach out to an office designer. By the end, you’ll be ready to decide if you need an office redesign, and if so, where and how to begin. Get your office design guide here.
To learn more about creating effective office designs, read How to Create a High-Performance Workspace and 5 Ways to Unlock Performance Through Your Office Design.
