All around the world, a revolution is underway. Gone are the old ways of the workplace, where tenant appreciation was shown through quarterly (oftentimes annual) events. In fact, gone are the old ways of working entirely. Now that 62% of workers work remotely at least occasionally, office landlords and property teams are tasked with finding new and exciting ways to engage their tenants no matter where they work – and more importantly, to create a strong culture that will attract and retain them.
And, as time goes on, this sense of workplace culture is proving to be extremely important. As a recent Propmodo report explains:
“Most tenants also pursue spaces that improve the overall wellness of their staff members, including factors like mental health, fitness considerations, and community. Building that sense of shared culture and community is itself a major priority […] For this reason, hybrid offices need to have the right tools and services to help their occupiers build culture for everyone in the organization. This could mean providing the right spaces for social events, but it could also mean utilizing technology to bring remote workers into the fold more completely.”
But how are these strategies being applied in real life? To find out how landlords and property teams are tackling these modern challenges, we surveyed our global HqO customer base to learn from their tenant engagement plans in 2022.
Here are a few key highlights that we found.
Events On the Rise
Though in-person events took a hit in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of socialization and play for the hybrid workforce has given new life to events in the upcoming year.
In 2021, 29% of HqO customers did not host any on-site events at their properties, followed by 27% hosting 3-5 events, 16% hosting 6-11 events, 15% hosting 12 or more events, and 13% hosting only 1-2 events.
These numbers are projected to change dramatically in 2022, with 82% of property teams planning to host on-site events this year. The breakdown is as follows: 29% plan to host between 6-11 on-site events at their properties, 27% plan to host 12 or more on-site events at their properties, 21% plan to host between 3-5 on-site events at their properties, and 23% plan to host at least one on-site event at their properties.
These numbers make it clear that after a year of strict caution, properties are committed to doubling down on their investments in 2022 to connect with the people in their spaces.
To better communicate these events and happenings at their properties, property teams are also heavily leveraging modern technology solutions. Though 91% of HqO customers still use email to disseminate information to designated point-of-contacts, an additional 86% have discovered the benefits of sending updates directly to tenants and employees through their building apps, thus strengthening relationships and increasing efficiency.
High-Value Workplace Amenities
To further add value to the workplace in 2022, property teams are offering a variety of physical and digital experiences that increase efficiency within their buildings for every end-user.
Property teams found the following features or amenities valuable to the workplace: 32% cited that the most important feature is collaboration and events space, 27% cited that the most important is on-site fitness or activity centers, and 20% cited that the most important is access control and visitor management technologies.
In addition to the amenities and features listed above, our customers are planning to continue their investments in technology capabilities that can add to and elevate the overall workplace experience.
For example, more than half (52%) of property teams are planning to increase the role of digital programming in their workplace strategy this year to bring exciting and curated content (including online fitness classes, cooking and hobby classes, wellness tips, and more) directly to tenants and employees using their building apps. Additionally, no property teams are planning to decrease their investments in these capabilities, revealing how central they are to workplace engagement strategies that reach every stakeholder.
Perks, Benefits, and Special Causes
At the same time, 52% of respondents will use special perks, benefits, and discount programs facilitated through their app to increase workplace and tenant engagement at their properties.
When asked for specifics, respondents explained that they planned to offer in-app perks such as general neighborhood information; local retail, service, and food and beverage discounts; fitness discounts; local parking discounts; local attraction discounts to museums, theaters, and amusement parks; monthly raffles and giveaways; and more.
Property teams also acknowledged the important role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices to tenants and employees: 68% of decision-makers state that ESG causes are very important in the workplace, and a significant 80% plan to use technology to support these practices in 2022.
Want to learn more to kickstart your 2022 workplace planning? Download our new Tenant Engagement Report today.
