GLOBAL
WORKPLACE
TRENDS
Make Employee Experience a
Core Part of Business Strategy
By Keith Perske
Head of Workplace Solutions - Americas
In a series of posts on global workplace trends, my workplace
strategy colleagues and I explore the five core areas where we
believe businesses around the world must make significant progress
over the next five years. The first shift centres around the most
valuable asset within every company: the employees.
While most business leaders understand the importance of employee
engagement, three-quarters of those surveyed in a recent study
said that most employees are not highly engaged. This presents a
variety of missed opportunities and even business risks. On average,
happy employees have 31% higher productivity, 37% higher sales
performance and a level of creativity three times higher than their
unhappy counterparts. Research also shows the direct impact that
engagement and productivity can have on the bottom line: public
companies with engaged workforces report higher earnings per share.
In the same way that businesses focus on delivering excellent
customer experiences, companies must also focus on creating a
superior employee experience to succeed. This challenge becomes
even more interesting in an environment where technology is making
it easier to work from just about anywhere.
Think about the way this is playing out in the retail sphere: as
e-commerce makes it temptingly simple to avoid stepping foot in an
actual store, bricks-and-mortar retailers are finding new ways to
draw shoppers in by providing authentic experiences that can’t be
replicated online. In the same way, employers must provide engaging
employee experiences in order to realize the benefits of the physical
workplace, from fostering cultural cohesion to inspiring innovation
through personal interaction.
One of Colliers’ clients is a global consulting firm whose
employees spend the majority of their time traveling and
visiting clients. To foster connectivity and engagement, the
company created a “come home day” every Friday, when
employees are encouraged to come into the office to work,
but more importantly to meet, socialize, train, mentor
and be mentored — all as an effective way to maintain
the culture and drive business.
Roadmap to 2022: Create an “owner” of employee experience
Employee engagement often falls into a corporate no-man’s land.
Is it Human Resources’ responsibility? Corporate Communications’
responsibility? Management’s responsibility? While each of these
teams and more should play a role, in the coming years we expect
a greater focus on designating an “owner” of employee experience:
the “CXO” or Chief Experience Officer.
This role or team will function as the company “cruise director,”
focused on engagement, productivity and curating experiences
that make the workplace attractive and “sticky.” Think about what
it would mean to your employees to have access to interesting
speakers, inspiring exhibits and fitness activities, let alone moments
of spontaneity that create delight and drive innovation throughout
the workday.
Remember that old adage, “what gets measured gets done”? By
dedicating a person or team to creating a rewarding employee
experience and establishing metrics for accountability, businesses
can make significant progress in this area.
There are many lessons to be learned from co-working
companies like WeWork. One is the “community
manager” role WeWork has created at every location —
a person who coordinates everything from book clubs to
technology seminars to Easter egg hunts.
These types of activities can encourage connection,
relationship-building and even help uncover new business
opportunities. WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann calls
it the creation of a “physical social network,” or a place
where authentic interactions happen.
Source: “WeWork cultivating ‘physical social network’,” Financial Times
A heightened focus on employee experience also helps create a
“bleisure” environment, blending business and leisure. As it becomes
simpler to work anywhere, anytime, we must be more purposeful
about where we build in time for fun, relaxation and socialisation.
Global Workplace Trends | June 2017
If you can create an office environment where work and play are
blended, you can drive more collaboration and innovation. We expect
that the three primary methods to this will persist:
•
The Campus Approach. Some companies see a tie between
productivity, engagement and employees spending as much time
as possible in the workplace. Companies like Google have set
the standard in shaping behaviour this way — bringing the fun,
food and relaxation to the work campus. In a world of choices,
they have made their workplaces into attractors — making them
the first and best choices for their target employees to work.
•
The Neighbourhood Approach. Within some company cultures,
relaxation and socialisation are strategically centred “off
campus.” With this approach, the key is securing a location near
the right features and conveniences to make your workspace
and the surrounding environment attractive to employees.
Booking.com’s new Amsterdam office (slated to open in 2020)
will be a good example of this strategy, given its location in
Oosterdokseiland — a growing hub of urban business, recreation
and entertainment.
•
The Shared Amenities Approach. Smaller companies might find
it difficult to provide a cafeteria or other amenities within their
own offices. As a result, it’s becoming increasingly important that
landlords of multi-tenant facilities provide these kinds of spaces
for occupants’ shared use. Service providers like Convene work
with building owners to create conferencing spaces and casual
meeting hubs, complete with food and technology that draw
tenants in.
International design and consulting firm IDEO hosts
a daily “Tea Time” in their offices. Employees drop their
work and mingle with colleagues for 10 minutes over tea
and cookies. These “casual collisions” create connectivity
between people and foster creativity.
Beyond helping employees with room scheduling, event preparation
and technology issues, more companies will start to provide services
that reduce friction in employees’ personal lives as well. The
hospitality model acknowledges the simple fact that the pressures
of life affect performance in the workplace. By addressing both the
internal and external sources of friction, employees can better focus
on high-priority business issues. If employees can quickly schedule a
car maintenance appointment through a concierge service, they are
left with more time to dedicate to productive work or leisure — both
of which can contribute to engagement.
In its new office in Barangaroo, Australian bank Westpac
provides 6,000 employees with a concierge service backed
by Colliers’ Workplace Management Services. Staffed
by hospitality-trained professionals, the concierge desk
provides everything from dry-cleaning services to help
with technical equipment to restaurant reservations.
Westpac and other companies are increasingly finding
that to attract and retain the best talent, it’s essential to
take workplace design and facilities management to the
next level. And it’s working: since opening the new office,
Westpac has noted that absenteeism is down 15%.
Source: “Westpac raises the bar at new Barangaroo digs,”
The Sydney Morning Herald
While the hospitality model has distinct benefits for employees, it also
creates a meaningful feedback loop that allows for more proactive
facilities management. By constantly assessing requests and issues
through a centralised, service-oriented function, companies can feed
that information into continually improving their processes.
Source: “How to Unlock the Creative Magic at Your Company,” Inc.
Roadmap to 2022: Create an “owner” of employee experience
A fully-stocked break room or a weekly ping pong tournament are
great ways to engage the workforce, but an equally important focus
is improving the employee experience by reducing “friction.” Things
that slow or stop work from getting done can wear on employee
morale and motivation as they build up the level of “frustration time.”
The flip side is that removing barriers or delays — the friction — can
not only make work more efficient, but also more engaging.
One of the ways companies can do this is by putting the concierge
model you find in the hospitality arena to work in the office setting.
Hotels are all about a service-oriented mentality and a commitment
to doing whatever it takes to meet guests’ needs. We’ve seen
businesses achieve impactful results by translating this mindset into
a workplace concierge service — one central place people can come
with needs and questions. We’ve found that nearly 60% of typical
workplace issues can be resolved on the spot, rather than through
the extended, impersonal process of contacting a service centre.
Global Workplace Trends | June 2017
Get Started Now
Think about what defines your employee experience today and
where you have the greatest opportunities to move the needle in
meeting the needs of tomorrow’s employees. Do you know what your
employees value? Do you know where they consistently experience
friction?
If you can create a service-oriented mindset toward employee
engagement and true ownership of the employee experience, you
can create meaningful change within your organisation.
This post is part of a series on the workplace trends and insights that
Colliers International’s global workplace and office experts see as the
most crucial for companies to align with in the future. Don’t miss out on
the weekly updates, email [email protected] to subscribe today.
In the meantime, contact the workplace expert in your region for more
insights and information.
Australia & New Zealand
Peter Black
Head of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
+61 2 9249 2065
Americas
Keith.Perske
Head of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
+1 512 673 3653
Southeast Asia
Samarth Kasturia
Head of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
+65 6531 8685
EMEA
JanJaap Boogaard
Head of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
+31 10 412 00 35
North Asia
Truddy Cheung
Head of Workplace Solutions [email protected]
+852 2822 0584
Colliers International does not give any warranty in relation to the accuracy of the information
contained in this report. If you intend to rely upon the information contained herein, you must
take note that the information, figures and projections have been provided by various sources
and have not been verified by us. We have no belief one way or the other in relation to the
accuracy of such information, figures and projections. Colliers International will not be liable for
any loss or damage resulting from any statement, figure, calculation or any other information
that you rely upon that is contained in the material. © Colliers International 2016.
www.colliers.com.au