FOCUS INTERVIEW
with desking estimated to make up a third to
40 per cent. The remainder he estimates will
be taken up with collaboration space, places
for teams to gather and better-quality meeting
rooms for team events.
“Sustainability is another priority factor for
today’s companies. It is one of the long-lasting
trends to come out of the last decade, as more
companies commit to net zero carbon. When
you consider that the built environment is
estimated to account for approximately 36 per
cent of global final energy consumption and
nearly 40 per cent of total direct and indirect
CO© emissions, the role of corporate real
estate in helping companies achieve net zero
ambitions is crucial.
“As o ice design becomes more sustainable,
better air quality, the measurement of carbon
particles, a greater use of biophilia and
improved lighting, will be a continuing trend in
o ice design.”
Technology he adds will play an important
part in the revisionist workplace. For instance,
meeting rooms will be designed to engage
teams in a virtual setting, and apps will be
employed that can order services within
buildings based on a touchless environment.
“The evolution of technology will continue
as the built environment gets smarter and
a more attractive place for people to come
and work” says Caskey. “For example, there
is a lot of thinking around how to design and
manage the reception and security aspects of
the workplace. We’re seeing a lot of the tech
companies adopt a digital experience around
registrations and notifications, but a human
44 JULY 2021
welcome is also fundamental to add to the
experience, which is why I think there’ll be a
mix of digital with the personal touch.”
Caskey also feels that with social
distancing, occupant’s previous
nervousness around the use of sensors
has dissipated, as people embrace flexible
workspace and desking.
“The innovation we’re seeing around
sensors, and the amount of data they can
gather gives us much more information than
ever before. Sensors tracking occupancy
levels has become less of an issue, and the
innovation we’re now seeing around this
technology and the data it can capture
gives us far more information around the
performance of a building. For example,
JLL’s collaboration with GoSpace’s
Artificially Intelligent Dynamic Resource
Allocation engine (AIDRAT)(iii) helps us
create a dynamic occupancy planning and
management o ering.”
NEW WAYS OF WORKING
Despite research(iv) suggesting the home is
now competing with the workplace in terms
of the quality of experience, Caskey believes
that it’s more important for FMs to ensure
that those at home feel engaged and part of
the company.
“At JLL we’ve released a new o ering
‘Experience / Anywhere(v)’ to enhance
employee connectivity across the o ice,
at home or anywhere that work happens,
which includes health, wellness and
engagement tools that help our corporates
engage with employees wherever they work.
There is access to an array of tools and
techniques in the app. This illustrates how
the level of innovation in technology has
accelerated as we’ve gone through COVID.”
Brand new global JLL research has
investigated the link between happiness,
fulfilment and productivity, with a recent
study finding that 24 per cent of employees
now value ‘feeling connected to my
colleagues’ as a top workforce priority, while
61 per cent of the workforce are craving ‘real’
human interactions with their co-workers.
The research(vi) also found that employees
are now deprioritising aspects of work like
salary and visibility for wellbeing support,
work-life balance and colleague connection,
which have all risen incrementally in
importance since before the pandemic.
Explains Caskey: “In partnership with ART
Health Solutions, we released findings of
a four-month home working study which
examined employee health and productivity
since the start of lockdown in mid-March
2020. The key data findings underlined
the relationship between homeworking
environments and employee productivity
and wellbeing. The data has also shown how
important environment and mental health is
for performance.”
The good news for FM he adds is that it is
increasingly recognised by corporate leaders
as a core element in the performance of
businesses. If workplace is seen as a service,
it marks a professional change from FMs
being viewed only as site managers to that of
creators of workplace experience.
Concludes Caskey: “Facilities managers, as
directors and leaders are now responsible
for the experience within the workplace
that they manage. As o ices reopen,
organisations need to determine ‘what is the
purpose of coming into the o ice?’ This will
link to how organisations engage and lead
their businesses into the future, which is as
much of a leadership/business challenge as
how corporate real estate and FM evolves
to provide great experiences for their
employees into the future.”
REFERENCE NOTES
i www.Mll.co.uNentrendsandinsightsworNplacewhat
companiesaredoingaEoutworNfromhomefatigue
ii www.us.Mll.comentrendsandinsightsresearchgloEal
worNforceexpectationsshiftingduetocovid
iii www.Mll.co.uNenproductsdynamicop
iv www.fmM.co.uNleesmanresearchfi ndsthehomeis
outperformingtheoƝ ceinsomefundamentalareas
v www.us.Mll.comenproductsexperienceanywhere
vi www.Mll.co.uNentrendsandinsightsresearchworNer
preferencesEarometer
SustainaEility is another priority factor for todayƉs companies. ,t is one
of the longlasting trends to come out of the last decade, as more
companies commit to net ero carEon.ƌ
/
/global-workforce-expectations-shifting-due-to-covid-19
/www.ll.co.uenproductsdynamicop
/what-companies-are-doing-about-work-from-home-fatigue
/www.us.ll.comenproductsexperienceanywhere
/worker-preferences-barometer
