“Companies should put tenant and end-user preferences at the center of every business decision,” writes Surabhi Kejriwal of Deloitte.
Improving and unifying the workplace experience across a company’s real estate portfolio is a top priority for landlords and property teams. To do so, they are adopting intuitive property technology (proptech) — or more specifically, workplace management platforms. This digital shift accomplishes two objectives: 1) it acts as a business driver for commercial real estate (CRE) teams and 2) it provides tenants and employees with the type of seamless, on-demand experiences found in their everyday, personal lives.
Such technology investments are part of integrated workplace management systems that embrace cross-functional collaboration as a way to create more meaningful workplace experiences in and out of the office.
Bringing Experiences Together
For successful workplace outcomes, organizations and real estate teams should work together towards specific goals. Research has identified 7 key areas of focus that lead to better employee engagement and better business performance:
- Physical environment
- Tools and technology
- Company culture
- Diversity and inclusion
- Performance management
- Emotional responses
- Professional development.
Of the above list, employers and CRE teams can work together with the help of a workplace experience platform to unify the physical environment, tools (like technology), and company culture.
Optimizing for a Hybrid Workforce
The pandemic and the consequential Great Resignations accelerated the pace of employers adopting technology to improve employee engagement and create meaningful workplace experiences. Now, HR teams are ramping up investments in programs to further optimize the workplace and increase employee engagement so they can attract and retain talent.
Research has found that companies that invested heavily in their employees’ cultural, technological, and physical environments are four times more profitable and generate two times more revenue than the average company.
In addition to investing in technology, organizations are investing in people. Roles such as Workplace Experience Managers, Chief Experience Officers, or in the case of McDonalds and Google, Chief Happiness Officers (CHO) have become more popular.
These positions — which exist to foster widespread adoption of company culture and improve the employee experience — are indicators that employers have recognized that employee happiness and engagement are ways to boost overall business results and outcomes.
Combining People and Spaces
CRE and property teams play a vital role in supporting their tenants by further consolidating business processes and offering space management capabilities. Similarly, they are being asked to help create meaningful work environments that support the needs of modern tenants and their hybrid, work-from-anywhere employees.
To accomplish this, many CRE teams are bringing together building management systems and workplace management platforms while also adding dedicated people to unify experiences. These property investments help drive business goals that range from strengthening tenant relationships to bolstering workplace safety and wellness protocols.
And, like the HR side, property teams are adding new titles such as Tenant Experience Managers or even Community Managers. These roles are often the face and the central nervous system of the property. They are instrumental in interacting with tenants while also managing services and programming. As more CRE firms add tenant experience managers to their roster, they are signaling their commitment to tenant relationships — ultimately helping facilitate lease management and preventing tenant turnover.
Moving Forward
Ultimately, property teams that are looking to improve, maintain, or monitor the next-generation workplace experience should help their tenants:
- Unify workplace teams – Workplace experience isn’t a siloed operation. It requires decision-makers from real estate, HR, FM and IT to come together and take ownership of the entire process. The introduction of workplace experience leaders combines elements of real estate, HR, IT and hospitality. This requires constant communication between teams to create a unified approach.
- Unify the tools – Tenants require choice to have a positive experience, but too much choice can inhibit productivity and quickly become overwhelming. Understand what tools tenants and their employees need to access and consolidate that access into one app. This means there is one mobile app which delivers the capabilities for everyone to access and plan their work experience anywhere, anytime.
- Unify the messaging – When it comes to how a tenant views their landlord and their experience, the most important element to keep them engaged is communication. Communicate the culture, values, and experiences your property offers through clear and effective messaging. This could be through a combination of workplace design, leadership messaging, or alerts on a workplace app to keep people up to date.
- Unify the data – Use tenant feedback data and workplace data to create a complete picture of the workplace experience. Create a strong feedback loop in which it is easy and engaging for tenants and their employees to quickly provide feedback on their experiences and marry that information with the knowledge gleaned from workplace data dashboards.
For more information about workplace management platforms, schedule a demo today.
