LIFE AT WORK
It may be harder than ever to keep an employee at
a job for the entirety of their career. Recent research has shown that the
average worker stays at his or her
job for just 4.6 years. What’s more, that worker is likely to have had 10 jobs
before reaching the age of 40. This type of volatility poses a real challenge
to companies trying to retain top talent and keep their employees happy,
engaged and productive.
To meet this challenge, companies must focus on
providing their employees far more than just a desk and a phone.
“In today’s global, hyper-connected economy, a
company’s people are among its primary assets,” says Jamie Georgas, managing
director of the occupier business in CBRE’s Chicago region.
“People want to be in an environment where they
can thrive—where the workplace is less about the physical space and more about
the experience and the opportunity. This is what the best talent is demanding,
and employers are increasingly eager to heed their call.”
Fighting Employee
Flight
In today’s digital age, workers are always
mobile, always plugged in, and often overwhelmed—which leaves them feeling
impatient, distracted and with
little time to develop their careers, according to Bersin by Deloitte’s “Meet
the Modern Learner” report.
In today’s digital age, workers are always
mobile, always plugged in, and often overwhelmed.
In fact, workers surveyed in the report said they
had only 1 percent of a typical workweek to focus on job training and
development. Job candidates value opportunities and
professional development as a key consideration when looking for a new
position, and eventually to “craft a sustainable career,” writes the Harvard
Business Review.
If workers don’t feel that there’s a chance for
them to develop their careers inside a company, they will likely (and quickly)
be gone, says Georgas.
“A super-talented person in a good job market
will be presented with opportunities, and an ambitious person will likely go
where the best opportunity is,” says Georgas.
The challenge for companies is how to keep such
an ambitious person engaged while also providing them the workplace experience
they desire.
“Talented personnel thrive on challenge and
opportunities for growth, so why not expose them to a variety of different
viewpoints and disciplines within the company, and in doing so, satiate that
desire for something new, different and challenging?” says Georgas.
To do this may mean introducing these
workers to different divisions or business units within a
company, to foster innovation and collaboration with other team
members.
That, says Georgas, is where the workspace comes
into play.
Using Space to
Foster Collaboration
“It’s all about the workplace experience—using
the space you occupy to support and foster the energy, culture and community
demanded by today’s talent, while at the same time honoring your corporate
values,” says Georgas.
That experience, like the space itself, should be
“nimble,” she adds—and fluid. For instance, a smaller room in an office that
might have been designated for file storage or some other purpose might not be
optimized for its best use. “Instead of storing files in cabinets or holding on
to an underutilized conference room, you can build out a team space that
fosters both scheduled and opportunistic interactions,” says Georgas.
Then, collaboration becomes a valuable
opportunity for workers.
“The reality is that people are at the office for
longer than before. When you’re able to carve out space for collaboration and
social interaction, you create opportunities for people, and ideas, to collide.
You create space for ‘buzz’ and for business. Often, the best work comes when
you engage with a coworker who you don’t regularly work with in your day-to day
activities,” she says.
Wellness Counts
The age-old motto, “first to arrive, last to
leave,” was a good way to get noticed by your boss as a hard worker with
promotion potential. In today’s 24-7 culture, however, employees prefer to be
more mobile, says Kevin Bender, executive vice president at CBRE, who
represents office tenants throughout Los Angeles and Orange County.
“People want to work in different environments,
and not be penalized for it by their bosses or peers,” says Bender.
“People want to work in different environments,
and not be penalized for it by their bosses or peers.”
As a 100 percent “free address” workspace, CBRE’s
global corporate headquarters in Downtown L.A. places an emphasis on
collaboration. There are no assigned desks or offices for anyone, even for
management and top producers.
“People can sit with a different group of people
every day, depending on the project, the opportunity, or even their mood,” says
Bender.
Placing an emphasis on collaboration can be
budget-friendly, too. A report by CBRE Research showed that the cubicles at its
previous L.A. headquarters were occupied only 48 percent of the time. CBRE now
occupies 10 percent less office space at its headquarters, with room for 25
percent more people.
“This is not simply about driving
efficiencies—it’s about building a more collaborative, mobile and healthy
environment,” says Lewis C. Horne, president of CBRE’s Greater Los
Angeles-Orange County region.
Delos, a firm that partnered with CBRE on its
Downtown L.A. office, helped incorporate wellness features into the design of
the space in order to optimize “the health and well-being of the employees.”
The office was the first commercial office space to be certified under the WELL
Building Standard pilot program.
“The office is a place where people spend a lot
of their time, and investing in employees—and especially in their health and
well-being—is one of the most important things a company can do,” says Paul
Scialla, founder of Delos.
The CBRE headquarters in Los Angeles is the first
WELL-certified commercial office space in the world.
And workplace well-being counts to the average
worker. In a report by Unum, an insurance company based in England, 26 percent
of workers surveyed said that
poor workplace well-being would make them less likely to stay with an employer
for the long term, and 21 percent said this would make them less motivated and
productive.
Making the workspace open, collaborative,
ever-evolving and exciting is key to improving an employee’s workplace experience
and, in the end, their obligation to developing their careers at the same
company.
Says Georgas: “If the physical space can help get
people excited and engaged about what they do, there is immeasurable value in
that for any company that wants to retain top talent. We’re seeing it, and our
clients are seeing it.”
by Daniel Rosen
First Published on blueprint.cbre.com
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