The Leader - March/April 2008 - (Page 48)

real e stat e MaNaGeMeNt Beyond Benchmarking: Getting to the Real Issues in Today’s Competitive Marketplace By liNda lee aNd kay sarGeNt I n today’s competitive employment market, companies are competing with each other to recruit and retain talent from a smaller and more demanding work force. As organizations are competing, they are looking to see what their competition is offering – from salaries to workplace environments. The new generation of worker ranks having a desirable workspace almost as important as salary, and the work environment is accepted by HR departments as a key factor in recruiting today. Hence, the C-Suite is looking more and more to their facilities and real estate team to provide state-of-the-industry work environments that entice workers. As a result, corporate real estate professionals are looking at industry benchmarking as a tool to measure their workplace environments against their competition. Many companies, however, take a short-sighted approach by utiliz- ing studies that report what companies are “doing” instead of evaluating what is “working” or what those companies WANT to be doing versus what is in effect. The key is assessing what practices are valid and worth emulating, which requires going beyond benchmarking by considering: n Is what they are doing by design or by default? n Is it successful from a real estate perspective? n What is the impact on productivity and effectiveness? n Are the employees happy, has recruiting eased and has churn been reduced? n How is morale? n Are they looking to change their current practices or expand them? The current work force entails four generations of workers…all looking for flexible solutions that embrace the concept of working anytime from anywhere, hence, a distributed work force. Companies want their facilities and real estate teams to provide them with the type of flexible work solutions that alternative officing and distributed work solutions create, such as hoteling, free-addressing and telecommuting. But in many cases these environments have failed to net the desired results, either because they were the wrong solutions for the situation, or they were implemented poorly without a viable change management program. Understanding the goals and culture of a company are key to successful implementation, and a strategic change management program is essential. Evidence-based strategic analysis is also an essential tool in defining and programming the right requirements and right solutions for an organization. Addressing how your company’s staff uses space, what type of space is really needed, and creating out-of-the-cubicle solutions that 2 0 0 8 tHe le ade r 48 M arcH / ap r i l

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - March/April 2008

The Leader - March/April 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Taking CRM Programs to the Next Level A Commitment to Sustainability GSA’s National 3D-4D-BIM Program Sustainability at ABN-AMRO Getting to the Real Issues in Today’s Competitive Marketplace ManPower Consolidates Real Estate & Project Management with One Provider HP's Renee Leach and Team Como's Robin Harris San Antonio's Mario Hernandez Chicago Workplace, Mid-Atlantic, and Boston The Gold Standard: California Is the State for Innovation Pat Crumley: Education Is a Path to Success Postcards from the Edge Tribune's Stephanie Pater Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead EDP Continues Expansion in Asia-Pacific

The Leader - March/April 2008

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