The Manhattan office of Bain & Company sits on the northern edge of midtown's Bryant Park. From the 42nd, 43rd, and 44th floors, employees are treated to sweeping views of both ends of the island.
On the 43rd floor, just beside the lobby, is the office's main communal space. It contains the kitchen, ping pong table, and a host of cafe- and diner-style tables for "Bainies" to work.
Red is Bain's signature color, and it can be seen on multiple accents throughout the office.
Also strewn around the office are wall-mounted TVs, which broadcast global news, NYC subway statuses, and upcoming office events. The TVs also showcase new hires and highlight recent jobs well done.
Bain's blend of traditional work stations and quiet breakout spaces makes it highly flexible, says Chris Congdon, director of global research communications at the office design company, Steelcase. (Steelcase declined to comment on whether it worked on Bain's office.)
Based on Steelcase's research, one of the biggest drivers of employee engagement is a sense of control, Congdon says. That's not just in the physical workspace, but nearly everything related to their work.
"There's so much more of a shift today from process work to creative work," she says. People who generate new ideas need the solitude to nurture them. People who strategize on a team need joint spaces to brainstorm.
Bain, for its part, has its very own Rainbow Nap Room. Employees can rent it out to take a much-needed siesta or simply get work done in private. (Its name comes from the Rainbow Room at NBC, which sits inside the Comcast Building directly out the window.)
A lot of work, however, still gets done in the computer bays. Each bay contains anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen Bainies, none of whom are necessarily working on the same team.
The idea is to get people thinking across different parts of the company and to learn to deal with different personality types. Some of the desks remain empty because employees spend so much time traveling internationally.
The people sitting at each bay name their space, typically following the tradition of groan-inducing (or superb, depending on your style) puns. Take the Obi-Wan Kenobay, for example.
Or the Austin-Powers-inspired bay, the Groovy BayBay.
Physical spaces aside, Bainies often say it all comes down to the people. "No one thinks they're the bee's knees," manager Som Sowani says. The best place to work may be spacious, but there is still no room for ego.
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