Opinion/Theoretical Analysis of Corporate Real Estate Workplace Strategy
Contents
The main contents to be researched and analyzed on this report include; implementation of a flexible work arrangements, corresponding changes to human resource practices, type of organizational structure, space, and alignment with an organizations corporate real estate strategy. Corporate real estate managers view on the flexibility of work arrangements such use of high end technologies together with selection of working spaces- workstations that can be pre-booked and selection of a serene and quiet workstations by staff is also discussed.
Executive summary
This report seeks to show the relationship between the current technological revolution in the workplace with impact it has on the productivity of employees. New technologies that are now being used in workplaces are discussed at a greater length. Also, factors such as culture, communication, changing external environment, changing working behavior and the flexibility of the workplace have an influence employee’s productivity are also discussed together with the Corporate Real Estate Strategies in the workplace. Finally, this paper seeks to give recommendations on the types of workplace strategies that an organization can develop and adopt in order for them to achieve the set goals and targets.
How the business place aligns with a business strategy and corporate culture to increase on productivity while minimizing costs and improving employee retention.
The design of the workplace environment has a greater influence on the employee performance. Business organizations have workplaces that are aligned with the business strategy and corporate culture whereby these businesses seek to increase productivity and revenue while minimizing cost and improving employee retention. In order to achieve the above objective, it is vital that the organization make changes in their workplace and the technology which is used its employees.
Physical workplaces as defined by (Kamarulzaman, et al., 2011) refers to the surroundings when working for example the lighting conditions, tools and air condition. This physical workplace has undergone tremendous evolution over the recent years, majority of the businesses are now focusing in building a corporate work environment together with new technologies that will help in boosting productivity.
Physical work environment influences employee well-being and directly influence their work performance and productivity. In the work place it is always assumed that employees who are more satisfied with the physical environment are more likely to produce better work outputs. Various studies conducted have consistently shown that the features of the physical work environment can significantly affect the behavior and productivity of employees.
Changes in the physical workplace environment such the change of workplace design have shown to have an effect on the productivity. The design of the office layout away from the conventional closed private office to open-plan designs, these open-plan designs are featured with the absence of ceiling walls and internal walls but they divided by panels. If this design is implemented, sharing of equipment will increase and also employee communication among one another will be fostered (Kamarulzaman, et al., 2011).
Another important change in the work environment is the implementation of a proper indoor environment such the use of indoor plants, proper regulation of temperature, noise condition, and lighting conditions (Leaman, 1995). The above conditions affect employee concentration at work thus bearing a relationship with overall performance. Furthermore, things like the color used in the office has an effect on the productivity, in order for a business organization achieve its goal of increasing productivity, it should clearly define the nature of work done by its employees, for instance work that require a greater level of concentration require a neutral color scheme, whereas jobs like accountants and attorneys require a strong color scheme (Garris & Monroe, 2005).
The changes of the physical workplace must go hand in hand with the change of the kind of technology used by employees. Corporate real estate should incorporate technological changes in the office design which will facilitate easier office communication, increase speed and efficiency, and facilitate remote working. In practice, the following four technologies is crucial in increasing employee productivity; electronic monitoring systems, robots, teleconferencing, and wearable computing devices (Monga, 2015)
An organization workplace strategy should encompass hiring employees who are competent enough to adapt easily with new changes both in the physical workplace environment and also be able to use the new type of technological tools that are available.
How the demographics of the work force in an organization impacts the ability to optimize workplace strategies so as to improve the underlying financial position.
Organizations that knows how to manage demographics in the workplace effectively will lead to a good financial position of the company. Workplace demographics include age, race, gender, education level, experience, and marital status. Understanding demographic trends is very important as it is a determinant in the labour market. The supply of quality labour force is directly influenced by demographics. An organization should always maintain a diverse employment environment this is because with diversity new talents and ideas, this is fundamental in the development and growth of the company (Yidirim & Uysaloglu, 2012).
The productivity of the workforce is directly proportional to the revenue, productivity is defined as the ratio between the output and input needed to create a product whereas profitability is determined by how much money is left after all the expenses are deducted. In order to increase employee productivity, their engagement is vital this in turn increase employee turnover. Employees who are engaged most of the time are more likely to be productive leading to more revenue.
Any change in the physical work environment is usually accompanied by different reactions by employees. When the physical workplace environment is changed employee’s attitudes towards work may shift if this behavior is not noticed it may be catastrophic as it might lead to rebellion among the employees. Introduction of new equipment without proper training of employees on its usage may lead to strain and lower the efficiency of the workforce. If major changes occur abruptly, other may opt out by either resigning or requesting a transfer to another station (Kegel, 2017).
Corporate real estate strategies entails cutting of costs, improving flexibility, providing room for innovation, and increasing the value of the asset (Koetsveld & Kamperman, 2011). In order to align a workplace with these strategies flexibility must be developed. This is done through; creating shared need which involves assembling a higher level executive task force and aligning the company’s goals to achieve a strategic outcome, shaping the vison of the organization by building a business case.
How individual work styles, culture, management, participation, communication and changing working behavior help improve the corporate real estate function in an organization.
Individual working styles, culture, management, participation and communication play a crucial role in trying to improve the corporate real estate function in an organization. Corporate real estate strategies include things like flexibility of the office environment, facility management, facility operations and the use of new technologies in the physical workplace environment. A highly motivate workforce will lead to the ease of attaining corporate goals. Culture is the way of life of people, it has a huge influence on the real estate corporate strategies, a multicultural workforce brings a lot of advantages to the workplace, for example, new method of achieving an objective may be brought to the table (Heywood & Arkesteijn, 2016).
Different types of managerial styles have been to have different impacts on the work environment, these styles vary from a highly autocratic to extremely participative. No styles completely fit into every organizational culture. However, some management styles tend to work better in environments where teamwork is needed hence it is important to fully analyze your workplace management needs before hiring managers (Deloitte, 2020).
One of the management styles is autocratic influence, in this form of management style, a single-minded approach is used by the management in decision-making so as to achieve an individualistic model for activities (Deloitte, 2020). This style has proven to achieve faster decision-making while improving on the morale of worker thus bring closer to the aligning towards the corporate strategies.
Another management style is the coaching and participative style; in this style the management tries to make employee development a primary factor. It encompasses democratic methods of decision-making so that employee alienation in the company is minimized. This style encourages team work among the employee and helps a lot in achieve the organizations goals.
Proper communication is very important in any organization. Communication channels from the management down to the employee and from the employee up to the management should follow a preset procedure, this will minimize distortion of messages and also ensure proper dissemination of information. Also with proper communication channels in the workplace, worker productivity is improved, employee job satisfaction is also increased. Furthermore, the organization goal and strategies will be well known to the workers.
The organization does not exist in isolation, external changes such as technological changes, competition, and consumer behavior are key factors that affect the organization. If an organization fully understands these factors, its risk of failure will be greatly reduced. Technological changes affect a business organization directly, if a company does not align itself together with the upcoming new technologies it may risk being left out. Through the adaptation of new technologies, an organization can cut down its running costs and therefore increase its revenues. Also, new technologies will increase employee satisfaction while doing their jobs since things such as remote working can be implemented easily.
An established business organization must have done a proper analysis on its competitors in the market. This is important due to the fact that the company will be able to gauge its share in the market and also make strategies to gain more shares. Competition is not a static factor but a dynamic factor that keeps on changing depending on the market conditions. If a company seeks to be ahead of the pack, it must have a well-functioning marketing and competitions department.
Changing of employee working behavior from the norm should be given a priority, the human resource department should seek to find the root cause of the changes and address it immediately. Behavioral changes might be caused work related stress, new technologies that are hard to use and understand. Corporate real estate should incorporate in-house psychiatrists to help employees cope with day-to-day work related stress. Furthermore, use of indoor plants have proven to reduced work related stress to a greater extent. Also, relaxing stations should be made available to enable employees blow–off steam in the course of their work.
Consumer behavior is also a factor that directly affects a business organization. Consumer behavior helps the organization decide what products and services to manufacture and offer. When an organization knows what the consumers buy and they go about buying those products, organization can easily spot a need that has not yet been satisfied. Consumer buying trends is also important as it is an indicator of the changes that is occurring in the market.
Organizations and corporate real estate(CRE) mangers should provide a well maintained working environment with high quality technology which is understandable and flexible.
I fully agree with this statement because as seen earlier, the nature of the physical work environment goes hand in hand with employee productivity and ultimately with the organizations revenue.
Encompassing of new technologies such as smart mobile phones and smart buildings have also increased employee participation and engagement. Confidential video conferencing boosts productivity, it saves time, reduces travel expenses and promotes collaboration. communication culture in the organization is rallied as it cuts physical distances between employees and the clientele. Comparing travel costs and costs of video conferencing, it is obvious that video conferencing is the true winner. If the business is built in a remote place, video conferencing can cut all the barriers making face-to-face communication at every interaction.
A well maintained and serviced building plays a critical role in the productivity of individuals. A building that has proper lighting, water, air and ventilation facilities is more like to inspire employees during their normal work schedules. As seen earlier the coloring of the building also affects workers psychologically, a building with good conforming colors tend to motivate and reduce boredom in workers during working times. All these will in turn boost on the productivity of each employee.
Flexibility of the workstations is also important, of employees are able to choose workplaces of their liking by either booking selected workplaces which provide social, quiet, and a serene environment, it is more like that the employee will be fully engaged in their work thus increasing their productivity.
Recommendations on how organizations should develop workplace strategies in the modern world of business (Xenofontos, 2019).
- Efficient and flexibility in the use of office space that is traditionally dedicated, expensive and often unoccupied, this will lead to improvement in asset performance.
- The organization should allow their employees to be flexible enough to choose their own working environment in either corporate sites, customer locations or remotely at home.
- The organization should device cost saving measure associated with the normal real estate portfolio, through the identification of space reduction opportunities and changing workplace standards.
- The organization should develop a change in management strategies which support communications, training, and the integration among all the players in the workplace environment(Xenofontos, 2019).
- Integration of new forms of technology into the business is vital, as seen new developments in video conferencing, smart buildings has shown to increase employee engagement thus boosting on productivity. Mobile technological tools which enable access and collaboration on demand should be incorporated.
- The human resource department should focus on hiring a multicultural workforce. The influence of a diversity in an organization cannot be quantified, but the obvious fact is that it boosts the public image of the company and also it increases on the overall creativity of the employees.
- Business organizations should put future considerations of their workplaces. The organization must consider emerging competitions, new technologies and their service or product innovation.
- Cost is major issue I any workplace, proper business strategy should seek to minimize on the running costs. The organization should ensure costs are being controlled across the complete process of your workplace strategy being executed(Xenofontos, 2019).
Conclusion
It is clear that Corporate Real Estate (CRE) is trying to change the convention physical workplace environment into a more diverse, sustainable and effective modern workplace. In order to achieve this goal, new technologies such as smart buildings, video conferencing and mobile technological tool must be incorporated into the organization. Also, management changes must be done so as to fulfill the goal of CRE which is to increase productivity. The issue of cultural diversity in workplaces and communication channels also play a vital role in the above.
References
Deloitte, 2020. Five Areas that Corporate Real Estate Leaders Should be Thinking. [Online]
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Garris, L. & Monroe, L., 2005. The Color Factor. Journal of Building, 99(10), pp. 72-73.
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Kamarulzaman, N., Saleh, A., Hashim, S. & Abdul-Ghani, A., 2011. An Overview of the Influence of Physical Office Environments Towards Employee. Procedia Engineering, 20(2), pp. 262-268.
Kegel, P., 2017. The Impact of the Physical Work Environment on Organizational Outcomes. Journal of Facility Management, Education and RESEARCH, 1(1), pp. 19-29.
Koetsveld, R. v. & Kamperman, L., 2011. How Flexible Workplace Strategies can be made Successful at the Operational Level. Corporate Real Estate Journal, 1(4), pp. 1-17.
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Monga, V., 2015. The New Bookkeeper is a Robot. The Wall Street Journal, 2(1), pp. 1-7.
Xenofontos, A., 2019. Developing a Thorough Workplace Strategy. [Online]
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[Accessed 5 September 2020].
Yidirim, H. & Uysaloglu, B., 2012. Impact of Demographic Factors on Employee’s Perception of Mobbing. ScienceDirect, 59(4), pp. 634-644.