The Leader - November/December 2007 - (Page 61)

“ I’m very struck by the continued focus on workplace and corporate real estate executives’ really seeing the need to formalize a partnership with their other partners, be they in HR, IT, Finance, Communications, or others to take a look at how they are going to build a more integrated strategy around it. ” tions of what should they keep core and what should they turn to partners for, and then refining and refining that over time. I think the biggest mistake that we could make is ever to assume that it’s arrived at a static place. It’s a very dynamic situation. But I think it’s a pretty unmistakable trend that we see companies moving more and more toward that leaner model over time rather than any type of pullback. There will always be exceptions, but they have been exactly that; they’re exceptions. leaDer: What are some of the critical competencies needed most in today’s internal CRE organizations? ellzey: It’s always critical for the internal CRE teams to truly have the ability to focus on the strategic issues and the ability to form the relationships with the business leaders that let them be in that proactive position to develop real estate strategies that are very complementary to where the business is headed. And that’s really easier said than done, because in real estate it’s always easy to get pulled into the day-to-day issues that come up. Obviously, they also need to have a very good eye on the operations and what makes that hum. It’s not all about strategy. Business acumen goes along with that, and the relationship management skills and communication skills that we hear so much about. Those are critical and becoming more so all the time. It’s also really important to have the skill set to manage an alliance, to be able to manage an outsourcing partnership. More and more I view that as a distinct skill set. Certainly we need to have it and develop it on our side, and it’s very helpful when parties on both sides of the table have that capability and view it as a discipline – as a valuable management skill that can be developed and refined like anything else. Increasingly, sustainability is becoming a major issue, and it’s challenging the traditional skill sets. A lot of CREs are being asked to renew their focus on this or to take on responsibilities in this area that they might not have taken on before. Labor and talent issues are heating up too. I’ve seen many of our clients begin to factor that in strategically to their real estate plans. Some have just decided to go ahead and take the lead on it. Those are some of the areas that I think are important. Certainly partners are used to augment quite a bit of that, and it begins with the vision of the internal real state executive to see that they can create a more powerful business case for certain real estate strategies the more holistically they look at it. leaDer: You and your colleagues at CBRE work with many large companies. 2 0 07 the le aDe r 61 November / December

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2007

The Leader - November/December 2007 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Investing in India 110 to One Smaller Workspaces, Better Workspaces Innovating the Workplace Through Design Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Getting It Right Using Location Intelligence to Reinvent Franchises Philips International’s Ron Blanken CB Richard Ellis’ Karen Ellzey The State of Louisiana’s Mike Olivier Industry Tracker Economic Developer Directory Discovery Forum Findings Career Development Emerging Leader Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead Executive Development Spotlight

The Leader - November/December 2007

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