As we look ahead to another year of adapting to the new economy, there's a watershed opportunity awaiting for corporate real estate (CRE) industry change. Big-picture forces like economic uncertainty, complexity and managing the decision-risk surrounding our daily barrage of emergent phenomena, largely through digital and soon simulated media, will no doubt set the context for another major transformation.
In 2013, we have the ability to transform key practices and resulting measures that have tended to shape the perception of CRE as a cost-center or cost-cutting mechanism. This revolves around the growing number of companies that are adopting ‘people-centric’ approaches driven by employee engagement, workplace wellbeing and employee wellness.
We can evolve away from 2D metrics like cost per square foot or revenue per person to 3D metrics like value created per square foot, or even quality of life per square foot.
A major step in that direction happened in 2012 with the finding that the work-life supports enabling this model are no longer just a CRE strategy, they have become a business model.
In 2012, we also realized through our Corporate Real Estate 2020 research findings that work is now viewed as a social experience, and that it’s not just about bricks and mortar any more. Part of our 2020 focus revealed the formation of the “Super Nucleus” inside forward-facing companies that have integrated CRE with HR, IT and other key support functions at a strategic level.
One of CoreNet Global’s 10-year strategic objectives is to create a network outside of CRE for our members to connect more closely those critical internal partners, and the Super Nucleus concept provides a channel for that. In doing so, we can start to work to change from an activity-based model for mobility to a people-focused model for engagement and higher productivity.
The metrics to track our performance need to become less anecdotal and more empirical and evidence-based, so that internal partnerships with areas like HR and IT, and with academia, help inform the new business model, and to ultimately manage to the quality of work environments and work experiences while addressing people, technology and place in that sequence.