CoreNet Key Takeaways: Put People and Collaboration First

Remember when Real Estate was all about Location, Location, Location?

Well, if the recent CoreNet Global North America Summit event held in Chicago earlier this month is any indication, the newest Corporate Real Estate priorities is all about People, People, People.

Whether it’s employee experience and engagement or getting the right technology in their hands, CoreNet speakers and attendees focused squarely on the people factor.

Here’s three key takeaways from the Lambent team in attendance:

PRIORITIZE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

Prioritizing employee experience can lead to “22% higher profitability,” said Katie Koncar, Corporate Real Estate Manager at EY, during the _C-suite to E-suite_ session discussing how and where executives have the potential to drive value across the employee experience ecosystem.

More and more, the employee experience is a priority for the C-suite, and focusing on the employee experience leads to increased revenue, according to many industry publications. In April, ZDNet listed these five factors: Trust, C-Suite Accountability, Alignment, Recognition, and Seamless Technology, as the core components of employee experience that influence overall growth. They also highlighted a big disconnect: 71% of C-suite leaders believe their employees are engaged with their work, but only 51% of employees say they are.

HR AT THE CENTER OF WORKSPACE PLANNING

HR, Workplace and Technology are an unlikely trio of cross-departmental teams. But Nishar Fatema, Global Workplace Strategist at ServiceNow, pointed out that creating a unified experience across the enterprise through journey mapping can “wow” employees when she spoke at _How to “Wow” Employees by Aligning CRE, HR, and IT session._

Instead of focusing on “What an employee wants”, companies should ask “What an employee does”, according to Fatema. That’s because understanding an employee’s journey allows HR to present them with the right choices, making the workplace more effective and seamless.

BRINGING PEOPLE BACK TO THE OFFICE

Return to Office (RTO) is a challenge that seems never ending.

“When considering returning to office – we should be asking the reason for the office.” said Bryan Berthold, Global Lead Workplace Experience at Cushman & Wakefield in a CoreNet session on how to replace subjectivity with data when discussing the employee experience. Cushman & Wakefield found that flexibility in location was most important to employees – and the leading factor in returning to an office was the opportunity to socialize with a manager or corporate leader.

Identifying what matters most, and creating an inspiring work environment for employees, should be the starting point of any program designed to bring employees back to common workspaces, according to Berthold.

The CoreNet Global North America summit left us inspired to make smarter spaces and let efficient data do the talking when it comes to strategic space planning. Join us next Thursday November 17 at 3:30 PM EST as Julie Johnson Roberts, Chief Strategy Officer of Lambent joins Real Estate Leader and CIO, Edward Wagoner and Marc Fournier, VP of Real Estate at Georgetown University for a panel discussion.