Just two years ago HOK surveyed 50 corporate real estate managers worldwide about their workplace solutions and published the results in a Work Design magazine article entitled “Global CRE Challenges and Opportunities.” (1) In that article we described how many companies were developing and implementing workplace standards in locations all over the world.
Our key takeaway from that report was that:
“It’s not enough to understand each company’s unique set of business attributes. We also need to understand the cultural influences of who they are and where they work, as well as the challenges and opportunities of each location. A successful strategy depends on creating spaces and guidelines that are flexible enough to accommodate the cultural attributes, work styles and needs of each region.”
But we are living in fast-changing times. Having a global position that entails a considerable amount of international travel, I make these observations based on firsthand experience dealing with clients globally and navigating the different perceptions, practices, cultural differences across those locations. Over the past two years, while collaborating with clients all over the world to create the most effective workplace environments, we already have seen new challenges and opportunities emerge. There have been enough changes that we wanted to revisit how companies are managing their global real estate needs in 2018.
CHALLENGES
Corporate real estate (CRE) executives looking to deliver space globally are dealing with a wide variety of issues including:
Attracting and retaining the best, brightest people
Breaking through employees’ traditional notions of space entitlement
Overcoming reluctance to change
A need for accelerate the design and delivery of space that supports the changing needs of employees and organizations
The emergence of coworking and remote work as viable options for staff and as part of a real estate strategy
Driving up employee space utilization and reducing occupancy costs
Complying with new legislation and regulations
Managing requirements for enhanced physical and online security
Tracking the rise of nationalism, Brexit and the unknowns of the Trump era
Geopolitical unrest and trade wars
New security vulnerabilities introduced by connectivity