Technology may be changing the dimensions of the workplace, but real estate will also be key to recruiting and retaining talent, says Tom Carroll
The workplace as we know it is undergoing a technology-driven transformation, powered by a new digital ecosystem – one that comprises more powerful computational power, billions of connected devices, faster and more widespread connectivity and huge volumes of data.
These systems will not only improve the operational efficiency of our offices, but also improve the productivity of the people working in them. As businesses continue to digitise their organisations and workplaces, HR will need to play a key role in designing resilient management strategies that place employees’ shifting behaviours at the very core.
Sourcing the right talent is a vital part of this but, as competition for it intensifies, organisations will also need to focus on how to retain that talent. Something that will become a crucial tool in this – perhaps an aspect that you wouldn’t expect – is real estate.
User experience will take primacy in the selection of office space. The businesses that secure the best talent will have placed greater emphasis on employee experience, creating a workspace where people are enabled to collaborate and engage. However, while a leaner, more dispersed business structure will require less physical space and owned real estate, core locations must be attractive ‘places to be’ as they will play an important role in talent attraction and retention.
Data-defined real estate
Next-generation building management systems will give companies access to a plethora of data that can be used to cement the link between building performance and business objectives. Operational and tactical management of workplaces will be delegated to algorithms that will support the productivity of staff. In effect, workspaces will have the capability to shape themselves to employees’ needs. For example, buildings will be able to marry building usage data with information about individual staff movements and work habits to engineer collaboration between staff members, increasing cooperation and driving business success.
Smart buildings will be able to monitor individual devices (such as TVs, PCs and lighting) via power over ethernet technology. The most innovative workplaces have already embedded some of these solutions into their management systems – such as Deloitte’s The Edge in Amsterdam.
A leading American bank has used sociometric badges to identify why some of their call centre employees were more productive than others. Realising that the most productive staff were those that took breaks together, the bank rescheduled employees’ breaks to maximise interactions and saw a 10 per cent increase in productivity.
In the near future, sensors will compile data on space usage within the office building, which will change the very way workplaces are designed. The analysis of this data will reveal crucial information on work patterns and people’s behaviours within the building, which will enable HR teams to tailor a business strategy that places individuals’ needs at the centre of it. Put simply, buildings will adapt to fulfil employees’ needs – rather than their behaviour being driven by the building in which they work.
There’s no denying that being a successful company in the future will be more demanding than it was in the past, and navigating the changes set to take place will be a challenge for even the most forward-thinking firms.
The organisations that will benefit from this disruption will be those adopting a change mindset, ensuring their businesses are ‘tech ready’. Investing in the right talent and planning towards a more intelligent management of space will become key in talent retention and attraction strategies as the current and next generation of workers come to expect greater personalisation and choice.
Tom Carroll is head of EMEA corporate research at JLL