The document provides guidance for CRE executives on creating change in the workplace. It discusses the changing CRE environment and the demands placed on the CRE function to lead change initiatives. The CRE function must develop a vision for change and understand how employees react to change. A six step process for change is outlined, including being aware of reactions, considering different viewpoints, recognizing need for help, using the change curve model, obtaining specialist support, and reviewing success. Effective change involves exploring a shared vision, impact on the organization, and establishing new practices. A roadmap for change through various iterative phases is also presented.

1. Creating Change
in the Office
Through people, process
and perception
A Cushman & Wakefield Publication
It is not the strongest of
the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one most
responsive to change
Charles Darwin
2013

3. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
OUR CLIENTS And OUR COMMITMENT
Founded in 1917 in New York City,
Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) is the world’s
largest privately-held commercial real estate
services firm, with approximately 15,000
employees operating from 253 offices in 60
countries and six continents.
What makes Cushman & Wakefield the
preferred choice? It’s simple. Our success
and longevity are built on a simple
philosophy which guides everything we do
and has made us the world’s preferred real
estate services provider for the last 100
years – our clients come first.
Every aspect of our platform has been
honed to achieve value on behalf of our
clients. With a commitment to global
collaboration, consistency and creativity,
we provide customised services and
solutions that see beyond the brick and
mortar of each real estate transaction.
Whether you are a tenant, landlord,
investor, or developer, a global company
or a small business, Cushman & Wakefield
provides solutions that fit your strategic,
operational, and financial goals.
OUR SERVICES
OUR PEOPLE
We provide services across the real estate
continuum, advising, implementing,
transacting, and managing on behalf of
owners, occupiers, investors, and
developers through every stage of the real
estate process. These services are
consistent in every office around the world.
Whether you’re in Miami or Moscow,
Cushman & Wakefield offers the same
resources, same intelligence, uses the same
processes, and the same platform.
To ensure creative thinking, we recruit
talented professionals from all backgrounds
– not just real estate – including
management consulting, finance,
engineering, tax, legal, and systems
management. Our people come to the
table with entrenched networks and
relationships that enhance their ability to
make the deal, optimize the engagement,
and maximize results.
OUR GLOBAL REACH
Our partnership with our clients goes
beyond the ‘deal’ to support your core
objectives. We demonstrate how your real
estate holdings can be harnessed to
improve productivity and profitability,
optimize asset value, strengthen branding,
and sharpen your competitive edge.
Our professionals have in-depth expertise
in more than 200 local marketplaces. But
we understand that having offices around
the world is only part of the story.
Cushman & Wakefield takes the extra step
– we have put standards and processes in
place that ensure collaboration and sharing
of intelligence across borders.
OUR RESULTS
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
3

4. introduction
Businesses around the world
are exploring new and existing
channels and networks to access
clients. However, businesses
need to be aware of how their
clients are changing and
adapt accordingly, to ensure the
proposition they present is an
attractive one. But how does
this relate to the workplace?
Businesses need to adapt and change in
accordance with their clients, but this
needs to go beyond the surface. Simply
changing the product or service offering
is no longer sufficient. With increased
competition in the marketplace, it is
essential to explore all areas for
change including the business itself.
This includes the workplace.
Businesses need to become more
chameleon-like and adapt not only to
the clients they work with, but also adapt
to change within their organisation and
workplace. As we see it, real estate is the
Trojan horse through which the modern
business can drive and achieve such change.
The Corporate Real Estate (CRE) function
can be the catalyst for change in the
workplace, spearheading disruptive and
challenging activities. The CRE function also
has a significant role to play in where the
business operates in the world, how new
markets are accessed and how to attract
the best talent. Firmly sat in the middle of
all of this, is also a need for change. The
CRE Executives of today really are
therefore, change agents in disguise.
4
This briefing note explores the
changing CRE environment, how to
develop a vision for workplace change
and how to effectively engage with the
organisation and its employees, so
change can be successfully
implemented. The process of change
and the roadmap for change are also
presented as tools that can assist CRE
Executives with this journey.
The note focuses specifically on
workplace change, but the principles
can be applied to any change initiated
or supported by the CRE function and
across multiple areas of a business.

5. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
5

6. THE CHANGING CRE ENVIRONMENT
ADAPTING TO CHANGE IN
THE WORKPLACE
THE DEMANDS PLACED ON
THE CRE FUNCTION
Real estate is increasingly used as a catalyst
for change in the workplace, with the
intention of enhancing the culture and
improving working styles and working
practices adopted by the organisation and
its employees. If change is successfully
implemented, this has a knock-on effect on
the organisations supply chain, the channels
taken to market and the perception of the
business from the viewpoint of its clients.
For the CRE function to successfully
implement workplace change, this firstly
requires an understanding of the change
process and the fundamentals of business
transformation. For CRE Executives who
take on a more traditional CRE role, this
level of knowledge may not exist and fall
outside of their comfort zone. The CRE
function may, therefore, need to evolve
and acquire new skills and knowledge
before embarking on the organisational
change journey.
Workplace change inevitably evokes
emotional and sometimes irrational
responses from employees, who are
directly or sometimes indirectly affected.
It requires employees to change often
ingrained habits and the way work is
approached to fulfil the requirements of
their role. This happens gradually, as they
adjust to the new working environment.
The time it takes for this adjustment to
happen is linked to how successful the
changes are perceived to be and their
immediate impact on the success of the
business.
The CRE function must be ready and
equipped to meet these challenges in a
proactive rather than reactive way.
6
CRE functions that respond to this change
challenge, will benefit from a greater
recognition of their contribution to the
overall business success.
The property industry has, for years, been
asking why real estate is not recognised
and discussed to the extent it should be in
the Board room. The solution to this
problem is very clear. Position the CRE
function as an agent for change,
charged with the task of transforming the
way the organisation operates.
To enable the CRE function to effect the
necessary change, it is critical that the
management team recognise the
importance of involving the CRE function
in the organisations strategic decisionmaking process, from the very beginning. If
this subsequently enables the organisation
to attract the best talent, gain competitive
advantage and be perceived as the
organisation of choice in its respective
sector, the Management team will have no
other choice but to change how real estate
is discussed and positioned within the
overall business strategy.
CRE TRANSFORMATION
The CRE teams of today increasingly
take on both a pan continental and
strategic role, critical to achieving the
often stretching aims of organisations
in terms of footprint and workplace
strategy. This means collaborating with,
if not challenging and leading, other
corporate service functions including
HR, ICT, Finance and even Operations.
This, along with the need for CRE
Executives to understand change
management and business
transformation, presents the need
to develop new competences.
Examples include:
• The ability to devise a business
strategy with key stakeholders,
rather than focusing solely on
developing the optimal property
solution
• The ability to gather and analyse
business data, both quantitative
and qualitative, to develop business
insight
• Know how to engage with
key stakeholders, converse in
their language, be cognisant of
their propensity to change and
understand what is critical to them
as individuals and managers
CRE Executives therefore need to
develop a spectrum of skills and
knowledge to be able to understand,
plan and implement workplace change,
enabling the organisation to then take
advantage of the strategic opportunities.

7. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
7

8. establishing a shared vision
Change management is the term used to
describe the process of change. It can be
defined as:
However, many organisations have tried to
realise these savings and failed. The reasons
behind this are usually:
Change management is the
process, tools and techniques
used to manage the peopleside of workplace change, in
order to achieve the required
business outcome. Change
management deploys the
organisational tools that can be
utilised to help employees make
successful personal transitions,
resulting in the adoption and
realisation of change.
• a lack of appreciation for the change
agenda
For the CRE function, the concept of change
management and the ability to develop,
support and lead change programmes, has a
direct and measurable benefit in terms of
the resulting outcome. For many years, the
property industry has been discussing how
new ways of working brought about by
change management, can reduce the demand
profile for real estate and therefore save
organisations money.
• a lack of appreciation for different
stakeholder perspectives
• the positioning of benefits simply at a
property level, rather than articulating
the value of change to the wider
business
The first step that the CRE function needs
to take is to develop a vision. The vision
will be embedded within every change that
is planned and implemented, to ensure
all efforts are geared around the agreed
outcome.
The vision needs to address:
Why the vision is important to the
organisation and what are the
anticipated benefits
A clear organisational vision can influence
and enable the generation of real estate cost
savings. However, communication,
collaboration and team work are important
attributes that need to be considered as
well. Will the vision help to enhance talent
recruitment and retention? Will the vision
ultimately result in increased time spent
with clients?
The vision must work in tandem with the
organisational strategy and be supported
and promoted by everyone.
Developing a vision based on how the
organisation will work in the future and
what the required employee behaviours will
be, is an essential part of any workplace
change programme.
How the vision will impact the
organisation, teams and employees
The long-term vision needs to be shared
by all teams within the organisation and
therefore, if possible, it is preferable that
all parts of the business are involved in
its development.
• Which working processes will be
disrupted?
The vision will need to consider what is
and isn’t within the scope of change, the
behaviours that need to be discouraged
and those behaviours the organisation
would like to be known for.
Questions that will address this include:
• Who will be impacted and what will
their perception of the vision be?
• Which policies need to change?
• What changes will be necessary?
• Which areas will be necessary to adapt
rather than change?
For certain teams, even if new ways of
working are welcome, it can place added
and sometimes unwelcome pressure on
employees against a backdrop of an already
busy working day. Employees will need to
adjust their working practices and learn to
adapt to a different working environment
and/or working style, often at the same time
as adjusting or responding to strategic and
operational challenges.
With an entire workforce all facing the same
change, the CRE function will encounter
heightened sensitivity amongst the user
community and this will need to be managed
with care if the project is to realise the
anticipated benefits.
‘CRE Executives: change agents in disguise’
8

9. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
9

10. HOW CAN THE CRE FUNCTION DELIVER
EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE CHANGE?
How can the CRE function
create change in the
workplace?
The CRE function can help organisations to
not only plan for and implement workplace
change, but also help employees to come to
terms with and manage the change in a
timely and non-disruptive way.
In order to achieve this, the CRE function
needs to develop comprehensive change
plans centred on the vision for change.
Change plans need to address how to
engage with employees, taking into
consideration the current working practices,
as well as how to manage employee
expectations. Wrapped around this, will be
how the real estate element is to be
addressed simultaneously.
Another essential ingredient when creating
change in the office, is to understand how
and why employees react to change. If this
is realised at the start of the change
process, the CRE function can
help diminish any negative reaction by
supporting employees through the change
process as it happens.
HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO
CHANGE?
Even the most exciting and desirable
change can be unsettling. It might not be
unwelcome, but it is rare to see employees
taking change in their stride without
specific attention being given to how things
will be undertaken differently.
New ways of working require employees
to rethink the things they do automatically
every day. Office location, travel
arrangements, interactions with colleagues,
collaboration opportunities, personal space,
eating arrangements, meeting protocols
and spaces could all be affected and subject
to change and adjustment.
Certain employees will be upset by the
change process or by specific parts of it.
Some employees will make their feelings
known straight away, while others will
remain quiet until they find the opportunity
to discuss their thoughts and feelings with
the right people.
Resistance to change is a common initial
reaction – it’s a natural and necessary
reaction to be cautious about change,
because this also stops us from doing the
wrong thing. Most people will accept
change once they have mentally worked
through the physical and emotional aspects,
although some people will take longer than
others to get to this point.
What is important during the change
process, is to plan activities that provide
employees with the information that will
enable them to firstly understand the
change and secondly, help them to
collaborate and engage with their teams.
Working through change collectively as
a team, provides support and helps
employees to compare, contrast and
solve problems.
Step 2:
Look at change from
different employee
viewpoints
Step 1:
Be aware of
possible employee
reactions to change
Step 3:
Recognise that
employees will
need help
Step 6:
Review and
measure success!
Step 5:
Obtain specialist
support
Figure 1: The six steps of change that the CRE function should look to follow
10
Step 4:
Map out the
change using the
Change Curve

11. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
THE CHANGE PROCESS
+
External expression
Commitment
Shock
Denial
Exploration
Internal focus
Resistance
–
Looking back
(Energy more internally focused)
Looking forward
(Energy more externally focused)
Figure 2: The Change Curve
what happens to people
DURING THE CHANGE PROCESS?
When people are faced with change, the
immediate reaction is one of surprise or
shock. This will of course depend on the
scale of the change and the initial
interpretation of the severity of its impact.
It is likely that at first, people will attempt
to minimise the impact in their own minds,
in an attempt to rationalise and prepare for
the disruption likely to impact on them.
The initial announcement of change to the
workplace could, therefore, result in
managers and teams feeling shocked and to
perhaps deny some of the deeper issues
that will eventually impact on their
day-to-day roles.
Many employees will put off thinking about
the change until they actually have to face
the situation and deal with it. This
reluctance saves time in their minds, when
in fact it can lengthen the time frame for
the overall adaptation process.
Adapting to change requires employees to
think through how the new situation will
relate to the old one and how current
processes and work practices need to be
changed. Employees will also have to make
sense of the change and convince
themselves that the transition will be
smooth and trouble-free. This is the
purpose of resistance – to undertake
a useful process of personal persuasion
and understanding.
Once employees have thought through any
resistances they have, they are able to
move forward and begin to explore and
try out new ideas. This implies a process of
review and adjustment, gradually working
through things so that they work for the
employees themselves and eventually they
feel satisfied with the results.
Workplace change is usually more effective
when teams establish new practices
together to achieve a level of shared
commitment – an essential step towards
delivering the desired outcome.
Finally, when working through
the process of workplace
change, the needs of all
stakeholder groups must be
considered at each stage of
the process, so that change
activities and accompanying
communication will
simultaneously satisfy both
emotional and practical needs.
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
11

12. A ROADMAP FOR CHANGE
It is important to recognise that change is an iterative process with layers of different activity, each
with a slightly different agenda. The workplace change plan has the overall aim of getting executive level
employees on board and will need to have the gravitas to influence managers and teams on the ground.
Initiation phase
early engagement at strategy
stage
• Build relationships with key stakeholders
• Guide change activities
envisioning and planning
• Support the overall change process
executive team engagement
• Engage with the Executive team and
encourage ownership of the change and
the workplace change plan
• Define the desired working styles
• Define activity based working and how
this will apply across the organisation
• Outline the role and responsibilities of
the Executive team during the workplace
change process
SENIOR MANAGER ENGAGEMENT
ALL STAFF COMMUNICATION
• Work on and agree the organisational
values and desired culture for the ‘new’
workplace
• Provide regular, clear and consistent
communication to all employees
throughout the change process
• Review and decide on the flexible working
practices to be utilised
• Outline the vision, values and culture to be
followed and adhered to
• Review employee roles and decide on
their base location and how flexible
working can be adopted
• In the initial stages of change, provide an
overview of what this will entail and how
working practices will change
• Define activity based working and how
this will apply across the organisation
• Provide an overview of changes to the
technology provision
• Outline the role and responsibilities of
the Senior Managers during the workplace
change process
• Build a dedicated website used to house
information relating to the workplace
change – provide feedback boxes for
employees to comment
MANAGER LEVEL CHANGE EVENT
roll out
• Outline the flexible working practices
to be adopted and how these will
support the organisational strategy
• Plan the approach to change at a
manager level
• Develop change management
knowledge and communication
techniques
• Plan and prepare for team charter
events
TEAM CHARTER EVENTS (ENGAGING WITH EMPLOYEES)
• Discuss the impact of workplace
change
• Outline the role and responsibilities
of the managers during the
workplace change process
• Outline the vision, values and culture
to be followed and adhered to and
how these elements relate to the
organisational strategy
• Highlight the importance of setting
clear employee objectives and KPIs
• Ascertain the working needs of
the team
• Practice ‘scenario’ leadership to
prepare for potential pitfalls
• As a team, agree on the future ways
of working and how flexible working
practices can be adopted
Figure 3: A typical change roadmap prepared by C&W for an occupier client
12
MANAGER LEADERSHIP EVENT
• Outline a future development plan
for the teams

13. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
ACTIVITIES TO FACILITATE
THINKING IN A TIMELY WAY
C&W provide specialist support to CRE
Executives throughout the workplace
change process. Our generic approach
includes the set-up of workshops or team
charter events for all employees. The first
event is held at the earliest stage of the
process, so that employees feel like an
essential part of the change and that their
views are being considered.
The events enable managers and teams to
think through how the workplace changes
will impact on their day-to-day working
practices, as well as reach an agreement
as to how they should both change for
the future.
C&W always look to adjust the generic
approach to meet an organisations needs
and work in accordance with their culture
as well as their current working practices.
Each event has an agenda that is designed
such that, the information flows smoothly,
interactions take place and the desired
outcomes evolve.
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
13

14. SUPPORTING workplace CHANGE – through team work
HELPING TEAMS COME TO TERMS
WITH CHANGE
In most cultures, when working in teams,
employees tend to behave in a polite and
respectful manner. In order to avoid
conflict, most employees want to know
that other colleagues agree with their
thinking before making a final decision on
their own.
perspectives. Hence, it is helpful for
employees to get together formally, to
discuss the issues that are relevant to them
and then derive a common approach on
how to face the new workplace
environment. This enables everyone to get
involved with the thinking and decisionmaking process that will ultimately impact
the entire team.
Teams can also function as a support
mechanism. Team members struggling to
cope with change, can be supported by
colleagues facing the same challenge and
discuss issues and share different
THE VALUE OF SPECIALIST
SUPPORT
The outcome of this practice is a much
more engaged and motivated team centred
on the changes that are taking place, with
a high level of commitment surrounding
their success.
PLANNING WORKSHOP
Attended by:
• Project team
• Senior Managers
• HR and Comms
Instructing a specialist change facilitator to
help the team through the change, ensures
all viewpoints are addressed and a more
sustainable outcome is reached. Pages
16-18 illustrate examples of our
experience in this area.
MOVE
PREPARATION
WORKSHOP
Attended by:
• All Managers
REVIEW WORKSHOP
Attended by:
• All Managers
WORKSTYLE PLANNING
Attended by:
• Every team with their managers
ACTIONS
• Plan approach
• Make key decisions
• Plan communications
ACTIONS
• Communicate details
• Discuss implications
• Raise questions and concerns
• Take ownership of change
ACTIONS
• Communicate details to the teams
• Discuss implications for the teams
• Raise questions and concerns
• Take ownership of change
• Decide on how to work in the new
environment
Figure 4: The Change Curve – adapted for an occupier client
14
ACTIONS
• Review successes and issues
• Problem solve issues
• Summarise common
behaviour preferences
• Communicate the change to
the entire organisation

15. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
It is important to recognise
the iterative nature of change
and the different agenda that
each layer will have
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
15

16. OUR EXPERIENCE: WORKPLACE CHANGE
Case Study
client: MARKET LEADING PROVIDER OF DIGITAL INSIGHT SERVICES
About
OUR ROLE
THE OUTCOME
This market-leading provider of digital
insight services, currently employs 350
people with an average workforce age of 26.
The employees within the organisation
were faced with a dramatic change of
working styles from the old, staid, more
paper-based environment, to a more
digitally driven environment. This required a
change in outlook to meet the stretching
vision and goals of the transformed
organisation.
The idea of the office move created a
lot of apprehension amongst the
organisations employees, even though
people were very happy to be moving
to a new building. However, as soon as
the team charter sessions began, a
mood of excited anticipation overtook
the earlier anxiety and teams began to
step up to the new performance
expectations.
The organisation was originally located in a
more traditional workplace in outer
London, which they felt was hindering
efforts to attract the calibre of talent they
needed to develop and grow the business.
The organisation wanted to recruit the top
performing graduates from the top
universities and worked with C&W to
develop a strategy to enable this.
New high specification office space was
acquired in Central London and the
subsequent layout and design, was both
modern and functional to meet the needs
of their employees. The organisation also
underwent a process of workplace change
and new flexible working styles and
practices were adopted, which included the
introduction of multiple work settings and
no assigned seating.
The organisation also wanted to use the
relocation as an opportunity to build
excitement, generate energy and new ideas,
as well as open doors to more
interconnected team working.
Employees could still hang out where in the
office and with whom they liked, but the
change presented, at the time, a
considerable difference to the working
practices adopted. It was, without doubt, a
big change for both the organisation and its
employees.
C&W achieved this by holding a series of
workshops, supporting both managers and
teams, coaching them both on how to
operate differently. The following steps
were taken.
• A planning workshop was held with
the Change Management team, which
included a number of Executive
Managers
• An away day then took place with
the Management team, to outline the
new ways of working and explore the
implications and opportunities for both
themselves and their teams, in a safe
neutral environment and before the
changes took place
• Following this, workshops took place
for every manager and their teams
where collectively, they explored
the implications of the changes and
determined as a team, how they could
and would maximise the benefits. The
output of the workshops was a charter
for each team – an agreement between
team members as to how they would
implement and adopt the new ways
of working, to enhance their team
opportunities and results. The teams
reviewed their respective charters after
6 months, to adjust any activities that
needed to be undertaken differently in
light of the shared experience
• A follow-up workshop was then held
with the team managers, during which
success was reviewed and any further
changes that were needed. The workshop
also looked at how remote teams could
be managed more effectively
16
When the time came to relocate, it
was taken in the stride of the
employees and the organisation
quickly settled into a creative and
flexible output-based approach.
The building and location have played a
large part in the process of changing
and transforming from the old to the
new culture and image, alongside the
new attitudes adopted by the teams.
The change workshops also helped
teams to visualise new performance
criteria and generated a new approach
to cross-functional collaboration.

17. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
OUR EXPERIENCE WITH WORKPLACE CHANGE
Case Study
client: International RETAIL Company
THE DILEMMA
OUR ROLE
THE OUTCOME
This leading international retail company
was, and still is, growing rapidly and at the
time of C&W’s involvement, had outgrown
their premises situated outside of London.
This resulted in the need to acquire new
office space where the majority of the
organisation could be located. Central
London was chosen as a location which
enabled disparate parts of the company to
be co-located and to collaborate more
effectively. It also enhanced the businesses’
recruitment and retention strategy.
The Management team sought C&W’s
support for the process of managing the
changes associated with the new location,
the appropriate policies and processes that
needed to then be reviewed and adjusted,
the communications planning and the
employee engagement activities that were
required to ensure the changes were
managed effectively throughout.
The project support provided an
injection of specialist resource on two
fronts and at a critical time. It enabled
the busy HR team to focus on the
future in addition to day-to-day
activities and also enabled the client to
achieve challenging timescales.
However, the move brought with it
management challenges, as staff based
outside of London were then faced with an
extended commute into the office.
Another separate issue, was that the HR
team was fully engaged in the activities of
recruiting and training new hires and
managing the workforce on a day-to-day
basis, but had little time for designing
and planning changes to where and how
people worked.
C&W provided 1-2-1 management support
for the project, coordinating discussions
with key people, analysing data to
understand the issues and provided advice
around best practice.
C&W also supported the necessary
changes to contracts of employment, to
ensure that all statutory requirements
were adhered to. This included the
preparation of necessary communication
material.
C&W also provided advice on the timing of
activities, to achieve the organisations
move timescales.
C&W also provided programme
management support, which enabled
the team to understand the impact
of the changes and their role and
cohere around the project to
harmonise their approach.
Supporting the detailed HR process
was very helpful in changing the
outlook of the HR team from
uncertainty to real confidence.
Working through the finer details
helped the HR team to envisage and
take ownership, once they were able
to see how to include them in their
everyday work.
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
17

18. CONCLUSION
tHE CHANGing LANDSCAPE
CRE: THE TROJAN HORSE
The enormous and rapid changes we are
witnessing in the global business
environment are placing added pressure on
CRE functions. For some, employee
volumes and global locations are growing
exponentially. For others, whole industries
are consolidating as their products become
commoditised and agility is essential to
remain competitive. The world is changing
and organisations need to also change, at
the surface level and beyond, to not only
meet the ever-changing requirements of
clients and employees, but also, to be
perceived as the organisation of choice
– the organisation that is ready to
respond to change to stay ahead of
the curve.
The CRE function, as we see it, is the Trojan
horse for strategic workplace change. The
CRE function is at the forefront of the
organisation, crafting strategy, analysing
data, choosing locations, finding premises,
engaging with all stakeholders to plan and
design new layouts and developing new
ways of working in various locations
around the world.
The drivers of change vary across
industries, but there is no doubt that
change is affecting everyone. Employees are
increasingly expected to take on a more
skilled level of work than perhaps they
would have 10 years ago. With this change,
interaction and collaboration has become
critical to enable the development of new
products, which present an improved
proposition compared with competitors.
As the economy begins to improve,
forward-thinking organisations will be
focusing on how real estate will help to
generate and achieve more engagement
and collaboration amongst their workforce
and as they attempt to attract the
top-performing candidates and retain their
high-performing employees.
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Change can be planned, led and
implemented by the CRE function and if
successful, raises the profile of the function
which will then be accredited with a
contribution to greater business success.
The opportunities, on a personal and
organisational level, are simply too good
to resist.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT: THE NEW
SKILL REQUIREMENT
It follows, that CRE Executives must
possess an understanding of change
management and the fundamentals of
business transformation before embarking
on a workplace change journey. By engaging
with a change management specialist, skills
and knowledge can be acquired, enabling
the function to engage effectively at all
levels of its organisation. A clear vision and
roadmap for change can also be developed,
enabling the CRE function to take a
systematic approach to change.
The new skills and knowledge acquired
through working with a change
management specialist, will allow for the
CRE function to upskill itself and become
an indispensable team.
AND FINALLY... ACHIEVING
THE BENEFITS
With a comprehensive approach taken
with all stakeholders, real estate can then
finally be recognised and discussed in the
Board room and perceived as THE agent of
change, attributed with transforming the
way the organisation works, leading to the
attraction of top-performing talent and
rapidly gaining competitive advantage.
Change management and
workplace change really does
enable organisations and the
CRE function to adapt, change
and transform.

19. CREATING CHANGE
IN THE OFFICE
NEXT STEPS
Every organisation is different and will require
a bespoke solution for their workplace.
C&W’s Business Consulting EMEA team
can help to devise the right workplace
strategy for your organisation.
Neil Mclocklin
Partner – Global Business Consulting EMEA
Neil.Mclocklin@eur.cushwake.com
+44 (0) 20 7152 5049
If you have a workplace challenge that you
would like us to review, we can help you to
navigate through the process of balancing a
variety of organisational needs with those of
the employees working within it, to create a
truly effective and engaging solution.
ABOUT THE WORKPLACE PROGRAMME
Creating change in the office through
people/process/perception, is the third
topic in the Cushman & Wakefield
Workplace Programme. The programme
explores alternative workplace topics and
encompasses a series of events and
associated publications. The topics will help
generate thought provoking ideas to enable
organisations to plan and implement
workplace change.
FOLLOW US
Future Workplace
Programme Events:
• Where in the World?
• The Holy Grail II
@CWorkplace
@CushWakeCIS
To attend any of these events or to receive a
copy of the associated briefing notes, please
contact lauren.marks@eur.cushwake.com
www.linkedin.com/company/4060
DISCLAIMER
Cushman & Wakefield is the world’s largest privately-held commercial real estate services firm. The company advises and represents clients on all aspects of property occupancy and investment, and has
established a preeminent position in the world’s major markets, as evidenced by its frequent involvement in many of the most significant property leases, sales and assignments. Founded in 1917, it has 253 offices
in 60 countries and nearly 15,000 employees. It offers a complete range of services for all property types, including leasing, sales and acquisitions, equity, debt and structured finance, corporate finance and
investment banking, corporate services, property management, facilities management, project management, consulting and appraisal. The firm has more than $3.7 billion in assets under management globally.
A recognized leader in local and global real estate research, the firm publishes its market information and studies online at www.cushmanwakefield.com/knowledge.
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
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