RE:Connect conference
Discussion with Vedrana Likan, Managing Partner at Colliers Croatia, Juuso Ilmäla, Sales Director at Haltian and Klemen Fajmut, Expansion and Development Manager at Imagine.
Workplace solutions provide for a holistic approach on how to design and organize office spaces to create an empowering work environment. Creating the physical space by designing spaces’ organization, equipment, and technology to satisfy clients’ requirements. Workplace solutions strongly influence the workplace culture, employee productivity and talent attraction.
The business landscape has changed, the way we work has changed, the way we organize and manage our buildings has changed. And the most important thing to realize is the change is here to stay. The question now is how to attract employees back to offices? What do they expect in terms of health safety, collaboration possibilities and flexible workplace and time management? Working with all these variables designing the right office space becomes rather complex.
With the right workplace solutions, office spaces are becoming generators of value, not just a cost component.
These are the questions we have been discussing on the panel and we presented some ideas and examples of what possible solutions we advise/provide. We talked about three aspects which we believe are the key components of a wholistic approach to a redesigned way of work organization and building operations: “Humanware”, Hardware and Software.
Workplace solutions need to be customized solutions that suit specific clients best therefore providers of services and products need to work hand in hand. Advisory needs to understand and integrate IoT providers, IoT providers need to work with Software designers to enable tools for data analytics and workplace management, etc.
On the other hand, Juuso was asking who is actually the entity that provides IoT or workplace solutions? Is it the landlord, the tenant, the facility manager…? Talking about the landlord-tenant relationship said Vedrana, what has changed is that landlords and tenants need to work hand in hand on implementing the right technology and solutions in the building and in spaces.
In September 2020 survey 67% of respondents reported they would like to work from home (WFH) more than two days a week now, compared to only 34% in March 2020.
According to Colliers Global Survey employers and employees perceive work from home productivity very differently. Employees argue that they are much more productive whereas employers feel the other way around. With help of the right work organization and flexibility and support of the right technology employee work and productivity can be tracked properly to satisfy employer uncertainty. However, we all agreed that offices are here to stay so we can expect some kind of flexible WFH and office work blend in the future depending on the processes and products the companies are providing.
90 % of costs of companies are allocated to salaries, therefore the key to higher value add is to improve staff performance.
Juuso brought forward the fact that 90 % of costs of companies are allocated to salaries, therefore the key to higher value add is to improve staff performance. Companies need to provide for the environment and spaces that enable employees’ wellbeing and productivity. Workplace solutions combined with the right IoT technology and user-centered applications are the right answer to this challenge. Then as Vedrana said office spaces are becoming generators of value, not just a cost component.
All in all, Klemen finally summarized that the workplace and work organization now and in the future will be a complex set of flexible solutions and technology which will bring well-being and productivity for employees which will satisfy the employers and ultimately landlords who will be able to retain tenants with quality smart building and smart workplace solutions. The most important in this process is close cooperation and conscientiousness of all stakeholders.
