By Keith Perske
In 2017, companies around the world will spend billions of dollars on their workplaces. But now more than ever, companies must challenge themselves to break old spending habits. The nature of workplace strategy is evolving so rapidly that keeping up — let alone staying ahead of the curve — can be a definite challenge.
Workplace strategy used to be about maintaining facilities and trimming expenses — but it’s just not that simple anymore. Businesses need to create workplaces that attract the best talent, adjust to shifting workforce demographics and promote employee well-being while staying ahead of new demands and new technologies. And all of this must be accomplished while containing costs in an increasingly competitive recruitment and retention landscape.
To win the talent arms race, the importance of creating an effective workplace can’t be understated. For the average company, more than 80% of total costs are typically tied to people. This means that even modest improvements to employee productivity, engagement and satisfaction in the workplace can have significant returns on investment.
In our work, my colleagues and I find that the most successful companies look at workplace strategy as a true business opportunity rather than just a design challenge. By bringing together our insights and experiences from every corner of the world, we have identified five major shifts we believe businesses need to make in the workplace over the next five years.
Keith Perske is Head of Workplace Solutions - Americas at Colliers International.