The short answer is Yes this is a real opportunity to reset your expensive real estate costs. In a time of economic turmoil, there will be an understandable tendency to further slash already anorexic budgets. In many organisations, where the management of workplace is seen as ‘non-core’ these activities are typically perceived to be less valuable than core activities.  

This makes them a more likely target for economy-focused challenges and cost-cutting. There will be recriminations and much weeping and gnashing of teeth but, the reality is that we need to shift the focus and rhetoric from the economic downturn, junk status and job losses, to proactively managing the transition to new ways of working.

Progressive organisations equally will want to retain what has until now been the unmeasurable value add benefit of those expensive properties in reinforcing brand values, corporate culture, creativity, collaboration, and innovation and recognise that creating and managing amazing workplaces means their people can do amazing work to start growing the business again. This is not about aesthetics alone it’s about improving their business performance, employee experience and brand value.

So, smart organisations invest in their people, technology and workspace. For these organisations’ workplace is core to what they are about.It is the tension between costs and value that sits at the heart of the plans you will need to formulate to make the most of this workplace opportunity. These disruptive forces require organisations to change rapidly. Infrastructure and workplace services need to be agile and adaptable to that change. Only if we are focussed on achieving this, will we find the opportunity to emerge economically stronger, as individuals, as organisations, and as nations.

As the CEO, if you were to ask this question of your Board what would be the response? Perhaps more poignantly, who would respond? Who is responsible for the workplace? Is it Corporate Real Estate? Finance? FM?, HR? or even IT?

In truth, all of these disciplines can all lay claim to managing a part of the workplace that is critical. But, we advocate, that unless the CEO delegates overall responsibility for the Workplace to one person the workplace will remain in a permanent state of disarray and you will lose the potential benefit the current Workplace revolution promises.More recently other more progressive companies are beginning to see their workplace as an organisational and competitive advantage enabler. Accordingly technology and human capital are rising to equal importance. This is facilitating a healthier change in reporting lines to HR or IT.

A Workplace team lead with a direct reporting line to the Chief Executive Officer is preferable. This role acts as a super-connector to removes obstacles, foster collaboration and oversees an environment in which peer-to-peer information sharing, collaboration and production can occur. They will need to engender a ‘one team’ approach across all disciplines and to empower the Workplace team to act as integrators, not just facilitatorsThe companies that have executed on this intent and that are learning from their employees about their workplace needs are showing marked improvement in employee engagement, productivity, effectiveness and competitive advantage and perhaps the most telling, customer satisfaction.

In almost all the organisations I consult with there is  a fragmented approach to workplace strategy and the reporting lines of those responsible for the workplace. In my experience, most in-house facility and workplace teams report into the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Perhaps unintentionally this almost guarantees a cost-driven approach where utilisation rates and cost per metre squared are the metrics by which the teams are measured. 

Considering the cost impact of the workplace, it is puzzling that there has up till now been little or no assessment done on its effect on the commercial impact of organisations with little or no connection having been made about the vital contribution of the workplace as a performance inhibitor or facilitator. 

However, progressive organisations recognise that creating and managing amazing workplaces means their people can do amazing work to start growing the business again. This is not about aesthetics alone it’s about improving their business performance, employee experience and brand value.

So, smart organisations invest in their people, technology and workspace. For these organisations’ workplace is core to what they are about.The centrality of workplace to individual and organisational activity means that the workplace strategy is important at an organisational level because it can, amongst other things, be used to project an organisation’s purpose and brand, boost productivity, attract and retain talent as well as initiate and support change.

Smart dynamic businesses have long recognised the importance of delivering a differentiated and engaging experience for their customers particularly in the service sector. Why then have we not applied the same philosophy to creating memorable employee experiences in our own backyard?

Forward-thinking organisations will need to articulate a revised workplace strategy now. Alignment with what will unquestionably be a new set of challenges will not be achieved by ‘carrying on regardless’.

The remote working experiment that was being conducted in some organisations will now become a pre-requisite for those workers that we’re able to operate successfully from outside the workplace during lockdown. This has undoubtedly accelerated the take up of remote working but there will be a significant and permanent transition to more of the same where this is feasible. Organisations will need to invest in technology to meet the needs of their home-working employees to maximise the likely benefits in reducing real estate costs.

There will need to be a shift in attitudes and workplace culture to support this, but the rigidity of an office only based environment simply won’t be viable or excusable.Organisations will also need to deal with the economic shock from the prolonged period of lockdown and this will likely mean a complex and challenging cocktail of less staff, more space, more services, higher costs and less flexibility.

The  ‘productivity’ debate within the knowledge work environment is the subject most likely to fuel vociferous discussions amongst workplace professionals. When only 53% of employees agree “that their Workplace allows them to work productively AND 30 % of employees actively disagree!, Business leaders should be highly concerned with productivity and with performance.

This is reflected in the predictive Index Annual CEO Benchmarking report in 2021 which said that:
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58% of CEO's say they needs a consultant’s help to improve productivity.
56% of CEO's say employee performance is their highest high concern.
51% of CEO's cited employees “working well remotely” as their biggest challenge

There is no all-encompassing panacea for the workplace productivity debate but why with employees representing 90% of an organisation’s cost base, would businesses not be driven to invest financially & intellectually in ensuring that their working environment will optimise employee performance?

This is why the first stage of our process does a deep dive into understanding clearly which factors will directly and positively affect measuring how effective workplace environment design and management contributes to employees performing at their peak. The most influential and successful companies in the world utilise the workplace strategy as a tool for competitive advantage.

They acknowledge that workplace is high on their business agenda. It is a way of enabling their people to deliver their best contribution to their organisations every day, inspired by their experience, supported in their work endeavours and unencumbered by failures in services or systems.