I grew up loving Herman Miller, Haworth, and Steelcase. These three companies brought us the Eames Lounger, Wanders’ Tulip, and that one steel desk that we all know. I am sitting on a Steelcase Leap v2 chair as I write this post.
I like these firms because I know how it feels to work with bad office furniture. I’ve sat in task chairs that left me with aches after only a few hours of work. I’ve used desks that wobble or don’t comfortably accommodate computer peripherals. Ergonomic design is front and center for all of these firms. When you buy a Herman Miller task chair, you are buying years of research and expertise on the human body and how it must be supported during extended periods of office work. A good office chair and desk should be added between shoes and sheets on the list of things to spend money on.
The importance of ergonomics cannot be overstated. Although sitting might not really be the new smoking, there is no shortage of research the promotes good ergonomic habits in the workplace. Offices responded to this research by improving proactive ergonomic improvements throughout the 2000s. Now, many offices provide sit-to-stand desks, monitor risers, and the ability to move during the day. The workplace is improving and commercial furniture manufacturers drove many of those improvements.
A few months ago, many employees had to leave their ergonomic offices and start to work from home. In many places in the US, there is no end in sight to the new normal of work from home. The improvements in office furniture and employee ergonomics are no longer relevant to much of the US office workforce.
I started this post with a lot of praise for a few companies: Herman Miller, Haworth, and Steelcase. I could have included Knoll, All-Steel and others, but I’m not as familiar with their business model and future vision. Here comes the criticism.
Herman Miller, Haworth, and Steelcase fail to understand the market where they will need to compete in the Post-COVID landscape. Let me summarize their positions:
- Herman Miller probably does not deserve to be criticized in this post. Herman Miller sells furniture online and does not require a dealer network. Herman Miller has a work from home section of their website. I won’t give Herman Miller undue credit, they are best positioned to succeed in a work from home environment because they have the strongest position in residential furniture.
- Haworth does not appear to have changed their corporate strategy in the face of COVID. When I asked for information on how to create an ergonomic home office (more on that in pt.2) I was told to visit a dealer (closed due to COVID) for more information on how to create a home office due to COVID.
- Steelcase, who continues to champion open offices, is publishing material aimed at reassuring the public that work from home will remain a marginal mode of work. Steelcase, a furniture company, points to the lack of ergonomic furniture available to individual contributors as a reason that employees will need to go back to their open office to be productive. Steelcase, like Haworth, uses a dealer network to sell their furniture to the general public.
Although the “reopening” date remains unclear for many US workers, there will be a time after COVID-19. I don’t think there will be a wholesale change from office work to work from home as the default, but I think we will see a shift at more than just the margins (and urban parking will become much more expensive). In a world with more workplace flexibility, commercial furniture giants will need to become more flexible as well. Offices will shrink a little and require less furniture.
All three will need to compete with less expensive residential options for office furniture found on Wayfair, Overstock, IKEA, and Amazon to retain market share and profits. I don’t advocate that any of the three attempt to compete on price with their current offerings. I described their differentiator above (ergonomics and durability).
That said, convincing a person to spend more on office furniture will be tough when there are myriad cheaper options (food is a perfect analogy for something with a similar cost+ health scale in the US). I advocate a few strategies to improve their competitive odds in the residential business market:
- Remove the reliance on the dealer network for specific work-from-home product lines (Steelcase and Haworth). I know dealers will denounce the move and demand exclusive access to furniture sales, but purchasing must be easy for the consumer.
- Create frequent partnerships with large employers to encourage employees to use their office furniture at home. This strategy should be natural for all three and retains the returns to scale of the current model. Employees would either need to place an order through their employer or have an employer-specific login to receive a discount. These partnerships should be advertised as a benefit by the furniture manufacturers as well as the companies involved in the program.
- Spin-off home office design studios that compete on price and meet the consumers where they are. Leverage older technologies and cheaper materials to build smaller pieces designed for home use at a price point that is competitive in the Wayfair marketplace. Limit the number of products and colors available to keep costs down.
Without these strategies, all three companies will remain industry leaders in the commercial market. Retaining the same percentage of a shrinking pie is not good for business, however.
Polly Wanna Math 