Mar 2019 corenet the leader

March2019
Also in this issue:
Workplace digitization
Using labor analytics
Designing to attract talent

2 March 2019 the leader
CoreNet Global board of direCtors
Your leadership makes the difference.
direCtorsEDITOR
Tim Venable
MANAGING EDITOR
Molly A. Badgett
CONTRIbUTING WRITERs
Reena Agarwal
Cristina Banks
Symphony Chau
Beth Choulas
Caitlin DeClercq
Tica Hessing
Luc Hoffmann
Nicholas Holt
Melissa Jancourt
Chris Kane
Noam Livnat
Elizabeth Lowrey
Paul J. Luciani
Carl Powell
Skender Rugova
Sonali Tare
Beth Teig
Jonathan Wright
ART DIRECTOR
Steve Nowak
ADvERTIsING MANAGERs
Tim Abrams
Matt Dirks
Michael Mooney
EDITORIAl OffICEs
CoreNet Global
133 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 3000
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: +1.404.589.3221
Fax: +1.404.589.3202
Web: www.corenetglobal.org
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Boulder, CO 80304
Toll Free: 866.362.4181
Phone: +1.303.565.4023
Fax: +1.303.443.6943
The LEADER, CoreNet Global’s Official Publication, is
published four times a year, as a quarterly publication
commencing March, by CoreNet Global. Subscription
rates for non-members (in US dollars): in the United
States, $75; in Canada, $85; outside North America,
$95. To order, contact Nicki Williams at 404-589-
3241 or nwilliams@corenetglobal.org. Office of
Publication: CoreNet Global, 133 Peachtree Street,
N.E., Suite 3000, Atlanta, GA 30303. The opinions
expressed in this publication are not necessarily those
of the association. The LEADER is sent as a benefit of
membership to all members of CoreNet Global. Articles
published in this magazine may not be re-printed
without written permission from the Editor. Editorial
inquiries should be addressed to Tim Venable at
tvenable@corenetglobal.org.
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
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offiCers
LEADERSHIP
The leader is prinTed
on recycled paper
shelley frost, MCR
CorporateRealEstateExecutive
Monique Arkesteijn
FacultyofArchitectureandthe
BuiltEnvironment
DelftUniversityofTechnology
Andrew Hallissey
ExecutiveManagingDirector
EMEAOccupierServices
ColliersInternational
Martin Clarke, MCR
GlobalHead,Workplace
Services
NorthernTrust
Kay sargent, MCR.w
SeniorPrincipal-Director
ofWorkplace
HOK
Jon Dandurand, MCR
DirectorBusinessDevelopment
JEDunnConstruction
bill Roberts
ExecutiveManagingDirector
StrategicClientDevelopment
Cushman&Wakefield
Paul Gioioso
GlobalHead,Corporate
RealEstate
Johnson&Johnson
Michael Casolo, MCR
Head of Projects and
Engineering
Bridgewater Associates, LP
Kate langan
Immediate Past-Chair
Group General Manager
Property
ANZ Banking Group
David Kamen, MCR.h
Chair
Americas Real Estate Services
Leader | Business Enablement
Ernst & Young LLP
Michelle Myer, MCR.w,
slCR
Treasurer
Vice President,
Americas Real Estate
OracleCorporation
barbara Donaldson, MCR
Governance Committee
Chair
VP Global Real Estate &
Facilities
Synopsys
David Goch
legal Counsel to
CoreNet Global
Webster, Chamberlain
& Bean
Erwin Chong
Head,CorporateRealEstate
StrategyandAdministration
DBSBankLtd.
assoCiate direCtor

the leader March 2019 3
From Boston to Berkeley, Beijing, and beyond, faculty and career
center staff have asked for one thing universally from CoreNet Global:
internships for students. Opportunities for students to learn by doing,
enhance their classroom experiences, and allow potential employers to
gauge the “fit.”
With CoreNet Global’s internship program, Intern Connect
(www.corenetglobal.org/internconnect), members can post internship
opportunities which dedicated CoreNet Global staff then share with an
exclusive list of faculty and staff contacts at our growing roster of world-
class universities.
Internships are a proven way for students to gain relevant knowledge,
skills, and experience while establishing important connections in the field.
Internships are also a way for students to get their feet wet and find out if a
specific field is right for them.
WHat is an internship?
An internship is work experience offered by an organization for a
limited period of time. They are typically undertaken by students looking to
gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field. Employers benefit
from these placements because they often recruit employees from their best
interns, who have known capabilities, thus saving time and money in the
long run.
More importantly, what isn’t an internship?
An internship is not ‘free help;’ intended to replace an employee; or
more than 20 percent busy work (filing, covering phone, errands).
WHY should i consider offering internships?
An intern provides an extra set of hands that can often help accomplish
goals or finish projects. As long as the project will indeed help a young
person learn a new skill, learn more about the industry, and give them a
great learning experience–interns can work with other employees in the
office on specific projects. Just make sure they are supervised and always
given feedback on their work.
Furthermore, being afforded the opportunity to carefully teach a crop of
young people how to complete tasks and accomplish goals often provides
powerful personal motivation for employees to hold themselves to higher
account and act as stronger leaders. Encouraging employees to guide and
educate others can build strong morale and multiply effective leadership
within a business.
Lastly, why hire people who’ve never worked at your company before?
Why not hire young people as interns, teach them your business and
how your company runs, and hire them when they graduate college? An
internship can feel like a test period. It’s a great opportunity for you to
test out this new working relationship and vice versa. Many Fortune-500
companies retain over 80 percent of their interns as entry-level hires.
WHo needs an intern?
Any organization hoping to recruit younger talent can benefit from an
internship program. Corporate real estate practitioners can attest to the fact
that new employees often have little or no experience with corporate real
estate. Until now, there hasn’t been a focus on CRE as a career path. Some
of our members have fascinating stories to share about how they landed in
CRE, and it’s often a wild, twisted, dirt road kind of journey. Members in top
positions in CRE organizations started their careers in theater, literature,
chemistry, animal husbandry and more!
CoreNet Global’s University Relations function, which has been con-
necting academia to the corporate real estate profession and, by extension,
to CoreNet Global members and member companies, has designed Intern
Connect to enable real estate groups in both end-user and service provider
companies to access a pool of potential interns from some of the best
universities around the world.
While the primary goal is serving your needs, it’s important to also
acknowledge the benefit to students who can leverage this opportunity
and possibly parlay it into a long career in our profession. At a minimum,
we will raise the awareness and profile of corporate real estate as a viable
career choice.
HoW do i post an opportunity?
1. Visit Intern Connect;
2. Click on “Post an Internship;”
3. Complete the Opportunity Template.
We invite you to get acquainted with Intern Connect, the only global
internship site dedicated to corporate real estate.
The what, why, who… and how of internships
M E S S A G E F R O M U N I V E R S I T Y R E L A T I O N S
For more information about any of these initiatives
contact Dean Jordan, VP University & External
Relations, 404.589.3218 or djordan@corenetglobal.org.

Company cultures can mitigate effects of workplace stresses
the “perfect storm” created by today’s high-stress work environments must be met with an
equally aggressive work culture that supports ergonomic, social and emotional wellbeing.
digitization is bringing a fundamental workplace shift
hardly surprising, silicon Valley companies have started a trend toward a more digitally
driven workplace. these companies’ ability to embrace new technology for talent
acquisition and pure experimentation has inspired other companies to follow suit.
look to labor analytics to solve site-selection challenges
By leveraging labor analytics in your location decision-making, you can approach the
opportunities in the correct order of business, first by understanding the workforce and
business needs of the project. that means checking in frequently with business leaders
charged with making decisions.
the future is Gen Z
Generation Z is expected to be 30 percent of our workforce by the year 2030, so corporate
real estate strategies will need to evolve to meet their needs. one study found the key is
to balance digital, natural and human connections, and to take safety, customization and
control into account.
futureforward 2025 puts forth a clear vision
While some professional associations are at a tipping point, corenet Global’s future looks
bright. our five-year membership growth of 70 percent already bests the average of 12
percent. in years to come, futureforward 2025 will explore how we’ll continue to “future
proof” as our profession changes.
attracting today’s talent requires a special design approach
how can corporate real estate executives design a workplace that attracts top talent while
optimizing their workplace innovation? Go beyond the data to include all stakeholders
in the actual design process. this “co-creation” effort creates versatile, effective and
satisfying environments.
take an active approach with iot privacy issues
the internet of things carries a lot of promise to enhance our work lives – or to wreak
havoc on occupiers’ sense of privacy. now is the time to implement some practical
strategies for easing those fears of the unknowns and to define the social implication of
technology on workplace experiences.
Workplace flexibility is ripe for more changes
as companies continue to modify their space allocations, configurations, density ratios,
etc., there is a chance that workplace flexibility models will be optimized once we see
deeper partnerships between the landlord and operator. also on the horizon is a greater
focus on amenities and premium products that redefine the space.
ease the effects of geopolitical and trade tensions
today’s companies face challenging global commerce and geopolitics, full of volatility
and unpredictability. With careful planning and a strict focus on business, however, you
can employ real estate strategies to help mitigate some of the risks associated with the
uncertainties.
featUres
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46
Health and wellbeing in the workplace
a work environment that promotes health and wellbeing is not simply a tactic for attracting
and retaining talent; it’s also a strategy for reducing costs and maximizing productivity and
innovation. the best programs are tailored to fit a specific workforce or location and are
measured for their roi.
occupiers’ role in place-making must evolve
as corporate real estate executives, we need to step up our participation level in deciding
corporate location on behalf of occupiers. one formerly depressed area in london
exemplifies how end-users can lead in the process by appealing to all stakeholders to
work toward a shared vision.
let the digital age work for you in driving efficiencies
in determining what management resourcing strategy is best – insourcing? outsourcing? a
hybrid? something else? – digital analytics can be used to properly align workstyles to an
organization’s functional operating environment.
real estate is out front in healthy-building design
in adopting, implementing and championing evidence-based and data-driven healthy-
design strategies, the real estate sector is leading the way across portfolios of existing and
new-construction buildings. and, they’re following the standards of the fitwel certification
system to support occupant health.
When smart buildings get real, real leaders get smart
deploying smart-building technologies is a big step, and a potentially risky one. But you
and your team can help your company manage the risks by taking three practical steps.
36
dePartMeNts
leadership 2
message from university relations 3
message from the chairman 6
members on the move 8
association roundup 8-9
Young leader insights 23
corporate partner profile 45
mcr profile 47
a look ahead 49
calendar of events 49
40
38
42
Ted Ebbers
Ontario Regional Director
Accommodation and Portfolio
Management
Public Services and Procurement Canada

M E S S A G E F R O M T H E C H A I R M A N
David Kamen, MCR.h
Chairman
Americas Real Estate Services Leader |
Business Enablement
Ernst & Young LLP
FutureForward 2025, a strategic project that began in 2017, concludes with the production of four
workstream reports that forecast how members will want to engage and interact with CoreNet Global by
the year 2025 – and beyond. The ongoing work that stems from this powerful initiative and its insights
will fuel our strategy for many years to come.
Together with Immediate Past Chair Kate Langan, ANZ Banking Group, we have partnered with current and
former Board Directors and CEO Angela Cain to consider what’s next for the association in light of anticipated
changes in the corporate real estate (CRE) profession. It was vitally important, however, to get input from
a broader mix of members. This grassroots, collaborative effort has been perhaps the most inspiring of my
many years in this association.
Smart people. Fresh ideas. Enthusiastic engagement. Cross-cultural collaboration. It’s what we all desire in
our corporate real estate roles. And it played out for the benefit of this association in cities around the world.
On behalf of the CoreNet Global Board of Directors, I thank the many members, chapter leaders,
volunteers and staff who spent countless hours providing us with rich feedback and powerful perspectives.
The global leadership of this association is motivated to bring your ideas to light, remain relevant and push
beyond the here and now.
I encourage you to read the overview document along with the substantive workstream reports that
accompany it. They are a powerful testament to the bright future ahead for CoreNet Global – and our profession.
Provided on pages 20-21 are the key forecasts that emerged from the FutureForward 2025 project broken
down into four workstreams: Belonging, Convening, Learning, and Information & Content. The full
workstream reports and overview provide greater detail, rationale and support for those forecasts. Find
these at https://www.corenetglobal.org/KCO/FutureForward
David Kamen, MCR.h
Chairman
CoreNet Global
training for the future
CoreNet Global’s local chapter leaders
attended the annual Chapter Leadership
Forum at Georgia Tech in Atlanta in
February for two days of association
training and best-practice sharing.
They participated in Experience
Labs, where they experimented with
hands-on leadership activities aimed
at strengthening the global-local
partnership. The group also attended
“Camp CoreNet Global,” where they
swapped stories and spent time focused
on how to apply FutureForward 2025
findings into their local strategic
planning efforts.

Corporate culture ranks as a high priority
in business, yet Deloitte’s global survey
of 10,000 human resources execs
found that, despite 80 percent recognising its
importance, only 37 percent understood their
organisation’s culture and just 33 percent
thought that they’d got it ‘right’.
Culture may be hard to pin down, but its
absence is easy to spot. Signs that it’s missing
include controlling and dictatorial leadership,
high levels of long-term absenteeism,
unhealthy and neglected work settings, and
perceptions of secrecy, lack of trust and not
being heard.
Most of us would agree that culture
includes the organisation’s vision, values, beliefs
and habits, but is there more to it than that?
Although cultural identity remains difficult
to pin down, there’s a tsunami of research
and evidence-based case studies linking
human-centric office design to tangible
returns in productivity and wellness. With
scary statistics on physical, mental and social
health constantly appearing in the press,
it’s no wonder that wellbeing is becoming a
shared objective across all disciplines and
departments, from the boardroom to the
stockroom, architects to cleaners.
the ‘perfect storm’
The volatility, uncertainty, complexity and
ambiguity surrounding new technology and/
or its likely effects on our working habits,
and the health problems suffered by the next
generation feeding into the workplace (from
poor posture and repetitive strain injuries
resulting from overusing mobile devices to
sleep deprivation arising out of gaming and
social media addiction) are together creating
a ‘perfect storm’. For a future workspace to
be able to heal and reverse some of these
alarming trends, they need to be
understood and planned for.
By their own admission, those in
Generation Z suffer from a lack of confidence
in their cognitive skills and collaboration,
coupled with a rather pessimistic view that
their first job will last less than 18 months.
This makes nurturing and fostering positive
culture even more of a challenge.
At the same time, today’s bright young
graduates are shopping for companies with a
coherent wellness strategy, as the chances are
the perks and permissions will be in place for
a supportive, healthy, community-based work
environment, in which flexibility, learning
programmes, community spirit and ‘yes’
culture are tangible and thriving.
evolutionary ergonomics and cultural
belonging
To help ensure the future workspace not
only responds to different generational needs,
but also proactively supports the organisation’s
cultural and wellness ambitions, we should
use ergonomics as a predictive tool to help
us understand changing technologies, user
populations and culture.
Movement. We’re now beginning to
understand that sitting is the new smoking.
Human beings weren’t designed to be
motionless, and the combination of 20th
century working practises (being stuck behind
computers at fixed workstations) and 21st
century social habits (being on the screen
anywhere, anytime) has contributed to a
depressing cocktail of ill health right across
the four generations that now occupy the
workplace.
Biophilia plus. Diving into our
evolutionary past, it’s easy to see how regular
exercise and more naturally influenced
eating habits contribute to our physical
health. But it also shows that the importance
of understanding our primeval responses
to sound, thermal comfort, natural light
and the natural world, which is leading to a
more holistic approach to the design of our
working environments. As a result, biophilia –
designing with naturally influenced stimuli – is
taking centre stage in office design.
Social dynamics. The importance of
collaborative work settings offering inclusivity
and satisfying our overpowering desire to
belong is increasingly being recognised. Google
has published studies showing that high-
performing interactive teams were made up of
more diverse individuals of varying ‘talent’ and
personality types, with happy workers proving
to be 12 percent more productive. According to
data from the Leesman Index, settings in which
informal groups can collaborate, relax, take a
break or successfully access video conference
facilities are up to 20 percent more common in
the world’s most successful businesses.
The positivity ratio. Chilean psychologist
Marcial Losada suggests that the path to
organisational happiness lies in the ‘positivity
ratio’. One negative individual can be
infectious, and will only be cancelled out
by three positive individuals, and unhealthy
cultures and spaces may be operating at
negativity ratios close to 10:1. Aiming for a
ratio of 1:6 negative to positive employees will
improve the situation. Fear, a primeval survival
instinct, blocks working memory and learning.
And with 70 percent of office conflict occurring
not because of what people are saying, but
because of how they’re saying it, humour, fun
and positivity equal serious business.
Engagement. Glenn Elliot’s 2018 model
of engagement recognises that mutually
beneficial collaboration for employee and
employer requires well-defined cultural
ingredients, underpinned by workspace and
wellbeing.
How real estate and work culture
can help organizations thriveby Jim Taylour
Jim Taylour is head of
design and wellbeing for
Orangebox, makers of
collaborative furniture and
acoustic pod systems.

Members on the Move
Here are a few of the things happening at CoreNet Global
Association Roundup
Core award winners recognized in the Carolinas
The Carolinas Chapter of CoreNet Global in November held its third annual
CORE Awards to honor individuals, projects and programs that are “Changing
the Carolinas!” The awards celebrate the professional successes and
contributions of CoreNet Global members, leaders and constituents in the
corporate real estate (CRE) profession in the Carolinas region. Winner of the
Innovation Award was BB&T, for its Atlas Strategic Planning BI Suite; winner
of the small CRE Project of the Year was Artisanal Brewing Ventures; winner
of the large CRE Project of the Year was the BB&T Leadership Institute;
the CRE Executive of the Year was Bruce Sargent of IBM; the CRE Service
Provider of the Year was Ruth Cline, studio principal at Little; the Young
Leader of the Year was John Christenbury of Cushman & Wakefield; and the
Volunteer of the Year was Clarke Hobson, MCR, of Duke Energy.
atlanta Chapter hears 2019 economic insights
The Atlanta Chapter of CoreNet Global
joined forces with CREW (Commercial
Real Estate Women) of Atlanta for a
joint economic forecast in January.
Keynoting the event was Dr. Marci
Rossell, who provided the audience
with her 2019 world economic
outlook, particularly with regard to politics, culture, economics and media.
Rossell is the former chief economist for CNBC. She is shown here, center,
with Gail Crowder, MCR, of Avison Young, left, and 2019 CoreNet Global
Atlanta Chapter President Carmen Granato, MCR, of Assurant.
At Hickey & Associates,
Beth Choulas has joined
the company as principal;
previously, she was with Fidelity
Investments. Guy Douetil has
been named managing director
of the firm’s EMEA operations;
previously, he was with Colliers
International.
Steve Hargis, MCR.w, has
joined Six Ideas as a consultant
and collaborator. Previously, he
was with Woods Bagot.
Kevin Jenkins has been named
vice president and general
manager with Turner Construction
Company. Most recently he was
business unit manager.
Nicholas Luczyszyn has been
named managing partner at
Amplify OSM. Previously he
was vice president of business
development for NorthStar
Owners Representation.
Peter Miscovich, managing
director of strategy and
innovation for JLL, was honored
in December by the city and
state of New York for his
leadership and innovation in
2018 in the areas of ethics and
accountability.
Romesh Poppler has been
named director, Enterprise Real
Estate, at Ameriprise Financial.
Previously, he was associate
director, Real Estate Services, at
UnitedHealth Group.
Lee Utke, MCR, has joined the
Corporate Advisory practice of
The Roseview Group as partner.
Previously, he led global real estate
operations at Whirlpool Corp.
Savills Studley has promoted
Chris White to Southeast
regional lead, overseeing the
Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Charlotte
and Raleigh-Durham offices.
three members to join Global board
The following members will join the CoreNet Global Board of Directors 1 April 2019.
Susan Wagner
Sr. Director Real Estate & Facilities,
Global Center of Excellence (COE)
Microsoft
Gloria Mamwa, MCR
Regional Head of Property, Africa &
Middle East (AME)
Standard Chartered Bank
Ben Johnson
Head of Real Estate & Facilities
Aveva

india Chapter discusses future developments, work
environments
The India Chapter of
CoreNet Global held
two panel discussions
during a half-day
event in Mumbai in
November.
The first addressed
transformational
changes ahead for
occupiers and was
moderated by Joe
Verghese, managing
director of Colliers
International, India.
Panelists, top photo,
were Commander Sujoy Majumdar, global operations lead for Pfizer, India;
Jay Nambiar, director of CRE facilities and administration for BNP Paribas;
Devaray Nayak, CRE head at AGS Transact Technologies, India; and Shashi
Kiran, general manager of corporate facilities and I.T./India, Middle East,
Africa and Turkey at DOW Chemicals.
The second panel covered designing for health, wellness and
productivity, and was moderated by Dr. Christine Bruckner, director at M.
Moser Associates. Panelists were Ramesh Nair, CEO & country head for
JLL India; Barun Aggarwal, founder & CEO at Breatheeasy Consultants and
co-author of “How to Grow Fresh Air”; Raefer Wallis, founder at GIGA and
RESET and an air-quality expert; and Kunal Kasliwal, architect and lighting
expert for Philips Lighting.
introductory courses draw interest in Johannesburg
and Nairobi
Courses on
corporate real
estate, drawn
from CoreNet
Global’s “The
Essential Guide
to Corporate Real
Estate” series,
were held in
Johannesburg,
top photo, and
Nairobi by
CoreNet Global
and the South
Africa Networking
Group. The first
session of each
course, “Corporate Real Estate: What’s It All About?” was an introductory
course facilitated by Gloria Mamwa, MCR, regional head of property, Africa
& Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank. The second session, “Property Life
Cycle,” was facilitated by Elliot Lewis, MCR, Consultant, Actis.
Washington state Chapter celebrates another great year
The Washington State Chapter
of CoreNet Global gathered in
December for its annual holiday
party. Recognitions during the
event included that of Brian
Collins of Microsoft, center, who
was recognized as the Corporate
Real Estate Executive of the
Year. Also acknowledged were
incoming chapter president, Cushman & Wakefield’s Sean Prasad, left, and
current chapter president, Michelle Kelly of DIRTT. The event was held at
Mohawk Group’s showroom in Downtown Seattle.
Winning ‘solar decathlon’ team is guest at Middle east event
The Middle East Chapter of CoreNet Global featured the winner of the DEWA
Solar Decathlon 2018 at its new year event in January. FutureHAUS, based
in the U.S., was one of 14 university teams to compete in the 2018 Solar
Decathalon Middle East. The competition was launched by the United States
Department of Energy and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, and was
designed to produce and test sustainable, grid-connected solar homes in
Dubai’s desert climate; the city seeks the world’s smallest carbon footprint
by 2050. The FutureHAUS entry was a less expensive and more energy-
efficient alternative to conventional construction, a pre-fab delivery method
for assembling medium- and high-density urban housing.
Corporate real estate is ‘rethought’ at singapore symposium
Letting go of old ways of thinking and doing was the theme of the 2018
annual symposium held by the Singapore Chapter of CoreNet Global in
November. Guests were encouraged to be bold and to re-examine the work
ecosystem of CRE. Shown here is the “A-Team” responsible for the event’s
success, from left to right: Stephen Louie; Chee Kiang Lim; Tiffany Totien-
sri; Anna Williams; Yuying Deng; Darrin Neil, MCR; Jade Tong; Thangaraj
Muthu, MCR; Mok Weng Yeong; Gautam Midha; David Jones; Grit Henoch,
MCR; and Adeline Liew.
New england Chapter ends 2018 with a full slate
An awards gala, facilities
tour and holiday party
helped close 2018
for the New England
Chapter of CoreNet
Global. In October, at
the Awards of Excellence
Gala, Chapter President
Suzanne Cooper, MCR, SLCR, of CIEE presented Sarah Abrams of Iron
Mountain with the year’s President’s Award. In November, the chapter
presented “New Building, New Collaboration, and MilliporeSigma’s Focus
on Client Experience” to showcase a new biotech and technology campus in
Burlington, Massachusetts. And in December, the chapter’s Young Leaders
and Talent in Transition committees were hosts to the annual holiday party
benefitting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston and sponsored by Unispace.

F E AT U R E A R T I C L E
Silicon Valley:
a model of technology-driven
workplace innovation
by Noam Livnat
Silicon Valley can be an outlandish
place, a surreal mix of a future that has
arrived early and a future that may not
(and maybe should not) happen. From the
driverless cars that already roam the streets of
Mountain View, Google’s home, to CryptoKitties,
a blockchain-based breeding ground for
collectible virtual kittens, Silicon Valley pushes
the boundaries of the imaginable and the
possible. Crazy fads aside (Google glasses,
anyone?), Silicon Valley is often a harbinger of
things to come.
That certainly is the case for the workplace.
Over the last few years, many Silicon
Valley-based companies have made substantial
changes to how they manage the workplace,
setting off a trend that appears to be spreading
globally. Silicon Valley isn’t the only source
of workplace innovation of course; far from
it. European companies have pioneered
many flexible work concepts and WeWork,
the co-working giant, is based in New York
City. Nevertheless, Silicon Valley’s dynamism,
cut-throat competition for talent, openness to
technology, and willingness to experiment have
made it a great place to observe the evolution of
the workplace.
Innovative companies now use the
workplace as a competitive advantage. Visible
aspects of the workplace – such as hip interior
design and amenities ranging from free snacks
and meals to gyms and laundry services – help
with recruiting and retention. As a tech worker
in her mid-30s recently confided in me, “I
wanted to join a company that would feed me
so I won’t have to worry about it.” But taking
good care of employees doesn’t have to come
with a hefty price tag. Providing mouthwash,
toothbrushes, and hand lotion in the bathrooms
can go a long way, too, and is now de rigueur
across Silicon Valley.
Beyond the easily visible, innovative
companies often focus on three key workplace
fronts to maintain a competitive advantage:
operational flexibility, employee experience
(independent from amenities), and data-driven
planning. And while technology isn’t the sole
enabler for these, it plays a key role.
Stretched real estate, facilities, and
workplace teams (understaffing in these
groups is as common in Silicon Valley as it
is elsewhere) rely on
technology as a force-
multiplier to support
their companies, which
often have distributed,
global footprints and agile
mindsets. This comes
naturally in a tech-forward
culture and it’s aided by
the fact that, especially in
rapidly growing companies,
a new generation of tech-
savvy facilities and real
estate managers are in key
positions.
Technology at the
heart of it all
The first key step to leveraging technology
to optimize and scale workplace management
is digitization. No sales organization worth
its salt operates without Salesforce or an
equivalent cloud platform. No self-respecting
IT organization runs without ServiceNow or a
similar solution. Similarly, workplace, facilities,
and real estate teams are now going digital.
Digitization benefits everyone: it streamlines the
work of the workplace and facilities teams; it
improves employee experience; and it generates
the data the teams need for strategic decision-
making. And when they go digital, innovative
companies up their game in how they manage
the workplace.
One key shift is managing people rather
than square footage. As activity-based
workplaces (ABW), neighborhoods, and open
floor plans have taken root, companies have
shifted focus from managing area to managing
people. For example, many companies no
longer obsess about untenable polylining,

the bane of space planners everywhere.
Instead, they concentrate on planning and
managing seat and neighborhood assignments
to improve productivity, and on being able to
quickly reorganize spaces and shift people
around to meet changing business needs.
They may still track usage for chargebacks,
but prefer to do it by headcount or space
standards rather than through laboring on
“fencing” each individual space.
Digitization also enables easy delegation
of certain tasks such as seat assignment to
business units. This has multiple benefits: it
further frees up the workplace team, gives
business units more control and flexibility, and
helps keep the real world and its digital twin
in sync. With the aid of the right technology,
planning scenarios become a more collaborative
effort, with automated reports showing the
occupancy impact of each scenario.
Naturally, companies are using technology
to improve workplace experience. This often
starts in the lobby. Guest registration screens
notify hosts of visitors and issue temporary
access codes to the guest Wi-Fi network,
saving time, increasing security, and reducing
frustrating incidents of “who remembers the
new guest password?”
Meeting rooms now indicate their current
availability through display screens that
employees can use to book the room on the
spot or request facilities service. These display
screens offer the added benefit of enhancing the
high-tech feel of the office and are very popular
despite the added hardware, installation, and
maintenance expense.
Similarly, wayfinding has evolved from its
printed, obsolete-before-the-ink-dried origin,
to a new digital incarnation. Large touch
screen displays show employees how to find
one another, see the real-time availability of
hot-desks and huddle spaces, and even book
meeting rooms. They are often accompanied
by a mobile app offering a visual employee
directory, wayfinding, meeting room booking,
and issue reporting.
Sensors and integrations to interact with
building-management systems are slowly
making their way into the workplace, too.
Following Silicon Valley’s standard modus
operandi, companies tend to introduce these
new technologies gradually and iteratively,
going after the highest ROI first. They may start
with occupancy sensors in meeting rooms,
add them later to hot-desks and huddle
spaces, and ultimately work their way towards
environmental and lighting controls.
A key driver behind these efforts is
data-gathering. As the Economist magazine
announced in 2017, the world’s most valuable
resource is no longer oil. It’s data. Innovative
companies, large and small, are collecting
and combining data to gain a complete
picture of the workplace, which drives space-
management actions and strategic real estate
decision-making. They do this by pooling data
from traditional sources – attendance data
from access-control systems, meeting room
utilization from the enterprise calendaring
system, operational costs from the general
ledger, and headcount changes from the HR
systems – and combining it with new data
sources such as sensors and Wi-Fi analytics.
Going digital may seem daunting, but
it’s actually easier than it seems. New cloud
technologies don’t demand much, if any, of
IT’s time or expensive third-party integrators to
deploy or connect data sources. And modern
workplace platforms often provide built-in
analytics with actionable insights that don’t
require a data scientist or dedicated analysts.
Many of these concepts are not new.
Silicon Valley invented little, if any, of this.
But, in typical fashion, with their healthy
disregard for old practices and their willingness
to experiment, Silicon Valley companies
are dropping old practices and leveraging
technology to gain competitive advantage in
a rapidly changing world. And what works
well for tech pioneers will work for others.
As William Gibson, author of Neuromancer,
a nerdy cult book, once said, “The future is
already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.”
Noam Livnat is co-founder
and chief product and
innovation officer of
SpaceIQ, a cloud-based
workplace data and
operations platform.

Roughly 70 percent of businesses see labor analytics as a
high priority in their organizations. However, many business
leaders find themselves struggling with how to integrate this
critical data and key insights into their site strategies.
Labor analytics is no longer about finding and flagging
seemingly interesting information and sending it to human
resources and business leaders. In fact, many companies still use
excess capacity as the primary factor for placing talent that is critical
to the success of their business strategies. While optimizing your
real estate footprint is important, using it as the most important
factor in placing talent is like putting the cart before the horse.
Labor can account for 60 to 70 percent of a company’s
cost structure while real estate is less than 10 percent. Yet, few
companies have plans to use labor analytics in curtailing issues they
face. Labor-analytics tools can help find solutions to the challenges
that face businesses in real time and that businesses will continue to
face as they move forward. So, what are some of the challenges with
creating a discipline around leveraging labor analytics in your site
strategies?
so much data – but what does it mean?
There is a wealth of data available. The question is, what do
you do with it? The most successful programs leverage this data
to answer key business questions and link it directly to location
decisions. Questions like, “What’s the tipping point before I start
seeing wages rise or time to hire increase,” or, “I need new skills in
the future; can you tell me the top locations to acquire these skills?”
Another common application for this data is to benchmark
an existing real estate portfolio and effectively recalibrate a global
footprint. Labor analytics can accent the HR process by providing
data regarding employee attrition, hiring metrics, employee cost,
market competitiveness, and employee engagement by geography.
Best-in-class programs implement their own internal
workforce-planning process that is linked into the corporate
strategic planning process annually. But industries and companies
are going through transformation at an accelerated pace. These
companies realize that the skills of the future might not be the same
ones that have been required in the past; therefore, they assess
critical skills and their locations through their internal business-
planning processes.
Amazon’s second-headquarters decision was a clear example of
how important talent was to the site-selection process. Cities across
the United States and Canada were competing for one of the most
visible and public site-selection processes on record, and yet it
came down to those cities that had the right skills at the right price
to meet Amazon’s needs – now and into the future
Going from knowing what to do to actually doing it
Labor analytics can give a wealth of information about what you
should do and where you should do it. But that’s only half the battle.
Building a compelling business case that successfully gets buy-in
from business leaders is often where labor strategies stall.
Why? There are several reasons:
1. Costs: Even though a solid business case may demonstrate
a clear path based on wage rates and the size and quality
of the workforce, the upfront costs are steep. Costs such as
severance, dual staffing, relocation, hiring and recruiting can
all be heavy in the first few years of establishing a new site.
Looking at various options for mitigating the impact of the
costs can help in getting over this hurdle.
Labor analytics: the horse before the cart
by Beth Choulas

2. Change: Some of these location decisions can have
real impact on people and businesses. It may require
that teams need to work differently. It may mean
that managers need to build community for a virtual
team. It may require that new skills and behaviors
are needed, that new people altogether are needed
for an organizational transformation. Building a
robust change program to help employees and
leaders though the transition is critical.
3. Time: Implementing these strategies takes time.
Many companies are locked into long-term positions
and find it difficult to execute before the next round
of changes occur. Building flexibility into real estate
portfolios can help bring agility into labor and
location strategies.
The best lessons learned in taking a labor strategy
from something interesting to something impactful is to
create a clear process that gets you to a decision. From
there, be sure to check in frequently with business leaders
charged with making decisions. Don’t get too far over your
skis before making sure you 1) solve the right business
problems, 2) have the right assumptions about business
strategies, 3) vet the right options (don’t get caught with a
business leader asking, “Have you thought about…?”), and
4) have well-articulated decision criteria.
Amazon’s HQ2 decision had very clear decision criteria
that the company deployed in assessing locations. Sites had
to be located within 30 miles of a population center; mass
transit had to be located on site; a major airport had to be
within 45 minutes; it had to accommodate expansion to 8
million square feet (743,224 sq. m.); and it had to have
fiber Internet connectivity, a highly educated labor pool and
university system, a high quality of life, a local government
eager and willing to work with the company, and a
business-friendly environment and tax structure, with tax
breaks and exemptions, fee reductions, workforce grants,
and utility incentives.
In the end, Amazon successfully synthesized all of the
labor data and proposals and made the right call for the
company because it was clear about what it wanted and what
business problems and opportunities it was trying to solve.
Labor-analytics influence was clear across the site-
selection process for Amazon and its justification for
splitting its second headquarters into two locations. Had
Amazon proceeded with a plan to create 50,000 jobs
in either of the single locations, it would have absorbed
roughly 20 percent of the NYC market or a little over 25
percent of the Arlington market, which undoubtedly would
have disrupted the established tech job market and upset
the competitive and naturally innovative nature of those areas.
The economic value in creating 25,000 jobs in each
location is palpable. It includes increased funding for
infrastructure; creation of more housing; lower cost of
living for tech workers who are priced out of West Coast
locations due to the high cost of living in both rental and
residential properties; and an economic boost due to
employees making higher wages and spending more
money locally.
Ultimately, business leaders need to start using
labor analytics in their site strategies in a way similar to
Amazon’s example. Before moving forward with a location
decision, real estate teams should work closely with other
key stakeholders to first understand the workforce and
business needs of the project. By leveraging labor analytics,
leaders can put the horse squarely in front of the cart –
guiding their companies to the right decisions for their
locations, now and in the future.
Beth Choulas is principal, labor
analytics and location strategy, at
Hickey & Associates.

by Christina Banks, Caitlin DeClercq and Melissa Jancourt
By 2030, Generation Z (Gen Z) will make up 30 percent of the workforce (U.S. Census Bureau).
Born between 1996 and 2012, Gen Zers already make up 20 percent of the U.S. population. They are
currently the largest and most diverse and educated generation in history (Pew Research Center, 2018).
Understanding their needs and expectations for work and workplaces is essential, as their health and
productivity is our nation’s guarantee for future competitiveness and innovation capacity. However,
some corporate real estate (CRE) strategies today may need to evolve for this valuable future workforce.
ZStudy explores Generation
and the workplace of the future

To understand the unique needs and preferences of this generation and how
to respond effectively to its members, HGA and the Interdisciplinary Center
for Healthy Workplaces (ICHW) at UC Berkeley joined forces. Together, they
designed a study about Gen Zers that would help prepare real estate professionals,
employers, property managers, investors, and others for this future workforce. They
sought information about how Gen Zers think about work – how they want to work,
where they want to work and how they want to work with others. The study revealed
that they differ from those of other generations in important ways. To recruit and retain
Generation Z, employers will need to provide workspaces that balance digital, natural,
and human connections. Following are details from the study.
the study’s approach
Wellbeing occurs when basic
social, emotional and physical human
needs are met. People are at their best,
most productive and healthy selves
when they experience need satisfaction
through their work and the workplace.
Prior research done at ICHW linked the
wellbeing framework to seven attributes
of the built environment that support
need satisfaction: comfort, connection,
flexibility, equity, predictability, privacy
and safety. These seven attributes
formed the backbone of the research.
a multi-faceted methodology
For the HGA/ICHW study, four different avenues of data collection were pursued
over 18 months: surveys, focus groups, charrettes and virtual prototyping. The team
noted a high level of consistency across the four sets of data, starting with an initial
survey produced by HGA that asked Gen Zers to identify the tools, attributes and
environments that would support learning, creativity and productivity.
The early survey results suggest alignment in both the method and means across
the three work modes. For example, learning and productivity were best achieved
through small group work, experimentation and prototyping. Respondents saw a
critical balance between digital and physical tools, with the pen/paper and the laptop
tied as the top choices to support learning and creativity. These themes of balance
and the immediate nature of work and learning would continue to express themselves
throughout the results.
Two rounds of focus groups were conducted. The first round led by ICHW
confirmed and expanded the team’s early survey findings by refining how the seven
attributes could be articulated in a work setting to suit Gen Zers’ interests. A substantial
body of research was generated to inform a two-part charrette held in HGA’s San
Francisco and Minneapolis offices. The charrettes further explored the workplace
attributes articulated in the research with a broader, more diverse set of participants
and market perspective. Lastly, HGA’s Digital Project Group prepared for the second
round of focus groups by creating a virtual-reality (VR) experience for Gen Zers to

evaluate workplace designs generated during the charrettes and
based on study findings. With the aid of embedded capabilities
of narration, environmental manipulation and real-time survey
responses, the VR immersion enabled Gen Zers to report their
preferences and feedback as well as validate proposed designs
and workplace features.
What we learned
The research study generated four key themes important to
Gen Zers:
• Balancing connections to nature and technology
• Using technology to facilitate connections, with people
remaining at the center of problem-solving
• Expanding safety requirements to include psychological safety
and equity
• Providing customization and control via choice-rich
environments
balancing connections to nature and technology
Gen Zers are recognized for their
use of and reliance on technology, but
they do not want to be defined by it. As
the world continues to automate, there
is a deep desire from this generation
to incorporate the natural world into
the workplace – 100 percent of focus
group participants stated they craved a
connection to nature, and 71 percent
preferred a nature view over an urban
view. This finding should be viewed in
balance with other preferences around
access to amenities and transportation,
however; as 86 percent indicated that the
office setting would impact acceptance
of a job offer, the associative context
does matter.
Indeed, access to nature was a non-
negotiable for Gen Zers. Incorporating
nature into the workspace is good for all employees, research
shows. The benefits of biophilic design are measurable and
impressive: reduced stress, recovery from mental fatigue and
enhanced focus, to name a few. Maximizing natural light, using
natural materials, and incorporating plants and biomorphic form
and pattern into spaces are a few of the ways to implement nature
in the workplace to meet Gen Zers’ basic needs.
Using technology to facilitate connections
While Gen Zers are fully integrated into the digital world –
harnessing its potential and pushing tech forward – the inherent
need for human connection remains strong. Gen Zers view
people, not technology, as the key to problem-solving, building
communities and feeling safe. An illustration of this preference
occurred during the VR focus groups in which Gen Zers, when
given a choice between a virtual or actual person reception
experience, chose the actual person. In fact, 43 percent said they
preferred a digital-free reception experience. Why? An actual
person would be able to respond to a visitor’s unique needs and
create a sense of confidence and belonging upon arrival and
throughout the day. This is key to engaging this new generation.
Gen Zers see “connection” as multi-faceted, so the creation
of spaces that foster face-to-face connection and multiple
opportunities for spontaneous interaction and learning remain
evergreen. Gen Z is accustomed to on-demand learning and will
look for work experiences that facilitate the building of a self-
curated learning portfolio. After all, this generation grew up with
social media; it places a high value on individuality. The digital
experience must work seamlessly with the physical one as Gen
Zers view technology as an avenue for both connection and privacy.
Balancing connection and privacy in workplaces will be vital to
their success.
Social relationships have always been a significant contributor
to life satisfaction at work and was identified as a top priority by
study participants. They look to the built environment to support,
even facilitate, social relationships, but in a special way. Gen
Zers want places for social gathering to be intentional rather
than ambiguous. That is, they want to have places that provide an
excuse for being there (e.g., coffee bar, meeting places to sign up
for company events, steps for sitting and listening to presentations
or lectures). They are less inclined to go to locations where
they are by themselves or where they feel they have to explain
themselves. Social prompts such as opportunities to contribute to
the cultural fabric by leaving a “mark” or sharing stories will help
this generation better navigate social settings. These strategies
also support an expanded definition of safety, a prevalent topic in
our findings.
expanding safety requirements
Typically, safety and security are regarded in the physical sense;
however, this was not the focus for participants when asked to
consider these attributes. Instead, Gen Zers incorporated mental
safety into the equation. Thinking beyond the building when it
comes to security to account for inclusion and psychological safety
will be a telling characteristic moving forward. Remember, this is a
SAP: Gregory Cortez, Cortez Media Group, Inc.

generation that has grown up with safety drills
in schools and they are now wired to believe
that these physical safety protocols are already
in place in their work environment. Yet, in
their mind, it may not be sufficient in providing
the sense of safety required for wellbeing.
Both physical and emotional wellbeing in the
workplace ensures a well-rounded approach
to safety. And, presumably, accounting for and
providing mental-safety resources act as a
deterrent to physical security threats.
Gen Zers’ expanded definition of diversity
and orientation toward social justice has
resulted in a heightened consciousness around
inclusion and how participants viewed the
relationship between equity and safety in the
workplace. In both the breakout sessions and
large group discussion, participants believed
that the future office for Generation Z meant considering a place
that welcomes everyone. This belief was consistent with thoughts
around equity, which was defined as having equal opportunity
or access to resources – a clear break from the approach of
sameness in favor of recognizing the individual.
Creating human-centric design fosters the empathy and equity
Gen Zers want in the workplace. This can be achieved by the
addition of natural light, transparency, openness and color – all
of which are perceived as safer, according to study participants.
Ensuring employees have access to human resources and gender-
neutral bathrooms, and that site selection, amenities and design
consider a broader range of abilities such as neurodiversity and
cultural diversity, can increase the feeling of inclusion and safety.
Providing customization and control
While connection has been a recurring theme in the research,
Gen Zers look to control when and how their connections occur.
From on-demand learning opportunities to how and when
information is shared, designing the workplace of the future
should include choice-rich environments. Just as the boundary
between digital and physical is blurred for this generation, we saw
a similar blurring between privacy and connection in 100 percent
of participants. As one participant explained, “Trust is at the core
of privacy and connection; they must coexist.” While privacy was
valued, isolation was not: 64 percent reported a preference for
transparency as opposed to partitions, regardless of material,
between private and open spaces when given options within the VR
environment.
Layered over all of this was a desire to control or adapt
spaces to support the personal needs of the individual or group.
The curation of spaces that aid in connection and privacy may
take the form of time schedules for “concentration hours” and
“connection hours.” These are workspaces with a private area and
a social area, cleanly and acoustically separated from each other
or with the capabilities imbedded through building automation.
Workspaces that include areas where a variety of postures for
working were often discussed in the focus groups.
While these findings suggest mobility, we also discovered that
the desire for personalization or even a “home base” should not
be overlooked but rather rethought. Gen Zers want to have their
own space, with 50 percent seeking an assigned space and 100
percent indicating that personalization is a must.
the challenge ahead
To meet the wants and needs of this group demands new,
thoughtful and intentional workplace design efforts to balance
digital, human and biophilic elements.
Does designing for nature dictate a shift to suburban settings
as opposed to urban? Knowing that Generation Z is mindful of a
workplace meeting the needs of other generations, is the equity-
based approach equally important to those other generations?
More research and data will be useful moving forward.
Exploring more opportunities to engage participants in VR-aided
designs, as well as working with other generations to see how
they respond to workplace design ideas generated from Gen
Zers, research will allow our team to approach the future more
holistically and confidently.
Sleep Number headquarters: Corey Gaffer Photography
Cristina Banks, Ph.D., is director of the
Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy
Workplaces at UC Berkeley, leading a team
of scholars and practitioners in innovative
research projects on healthy workplaces.
Caitlin DeClercq, Ph.D., is a core researcher
at the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy
Workplaces at UC Berkeley, leading a study
to identify workplace design features that
promote positive psychological states in
employees.
Melissa Jancourt, CID, LEED BD+C, is a
designer and strategist who co-leads HGA
Work|SIGHT, HGA’s national strategic
planning group.

FutureForward 2025 began with a desire to engage members in
creating a shared vision of the association’s future. From there,
it grew into a globe-spanning project that afforded thoughtful
engagement and meaningful insights into what the future may hold
for CoreNet Global and corporate real estate (CRE) professionals the
world over.
CoreNet Global is one of thousands of professional associations
caught up in what many consider to be the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. The broader changes sweeping through business,
industry and society are requiring associations to actively explore
“future proofing” their organizations. Associations need to
understand who their members will be in the future and what the
new expectations are for that member experience.
Some association experts view this current era as a critical
tipping point in the life of associations. Those who don’t adapt to
change face the risk of losing membership and, ultimately, failure.
envisioned future of beloNGiNG
1. Belonging to a professional association will be more important
than ever as members seek community and meaningful
connectedness.
2. CoreNet Global will transition from a traditional membership
model to a consumer-driven organization allowing immediate
access to people, experiences and information.
3. The CoreNet Global value proposition will become more
diverse to meet the diverse needs of members and customers,
irrespective of geography, member category or career stage.
4. CoreNet Global will broaden its focus beyond advancing the
practice of corporate real estate (CRE) to incorporate business
enablement through digital, human and built-environment
experiences.
5. CoreNet Global will be a mission- and purpose-driven
association that takes positions on issues that matter to
members – and inspires action.
6. Technology will enable a frictionless member experience with
ease of access, just-in-time connectivity and flexible, on-demand
content.
Future forecasts by workstream
by Sonali Tare
envisioned future of learNiNG
1. CoreNet Global will promote a trusting and innovative culture of
continuous learning, meaningful relationships and camaraderie
that will legitimize the professions served by the association.
2. CoreNet Global will build a diverse community of tribal
learners that will challenge traditional education models with
a less-formal approach of organic learning and peer-to-peer
information sharing.
3. CoreNet Global will serve as a learning incubator, providing
virtual spaces and experience labs for problem-solving and
ideation.
4. Access to CoreNet Global’s learning opportunities will be
seamless across all aspects of the association, including
conferences, designations, professional development and other
knowledge-sharing opportunities.
5. CoreNet Global will leverage technology to establish a learning
delivery model that focuses on methodologies and solutions that
can be applied immediately.
6. Learning will evolve over time to incorporate multiple delivery
styles and formats, including on-demand, just-in-time micro-
learning opportunities.
7. The skills needed for CoreNet Global stakeholders will change
dramatically as workplace automation becomes more prevalent.
Many associations are already experiencing declining membership
numbers. CoreNet Global is proving to be a notable exception to
that trend. Over the past five years, the association’s membership
has grown by 70 percent or roughly 11 percent annually from
6,434 members in 2010 to 11,000. In comparison, on average,
other professional societies have had an increase of 12 percent
over the past five years combined. Additionally, only 10 percent of
organizations have seen growth over 50 percent, putting CoreNet
Global in a very strong position.1
It is from this position of strength that the association embarked
on its FutureForward 2025 strategic initiative. This project was a
challenging one, with a goal of obtaining a diverse mix of viewpoints
and forecasts about the future of belonging, convening and learning,
and about information and content for the association – all within
the context of anticipated changes in the CRE profession. More than
130 members convened for in-person work sessions in Singapore,
Clear vision is set for FutureForward 2025

1. “2018 Membership Benchmarking Marketing Report.” Marketing General Incorporated. 2018. http://www.marketinggeneral.com/knowledge-bank/reports
As director of knowledge and research for CoreNet
Global, Sonali Tare leads the FutureForward 2025
initiative.
Envisioned future of INFORMATION & CONTENT
1. CoreNet Global will leverage the collective power of its
membership through an information exchange designed to
support member-to-member sharing and real-time problem-
solving and decision-making.
2. CoreNet Global will leverage technology tools and solutions such
as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, predictive
analytics and virtual assistants to deliver timely, customized and
interactive content experiences.
3. CoreNet Global’s digital information and content platform will
break traditional language and geographic boundaries, remove
barriers and ease access for audiences.
4. CoreNet Global will become THE trusted source for timely,
relevant content as it will audit and test the veracity of the data
and information it provides.
5. CoreNet Global will provide relevant information and content to
professionals beyond CRE to include those engaged in the built
environment, work experience and corporate enablement.
Envisioned future of CONVENING
1. The personal connection and human experience of an event will
be even more important to participants.
2. Participants will expect a fluid experience with digital-physical
integration but technology will not replace the need and desire
for face-to-face events.
3. CoreNet Global will create a universal event experience that
removes language, time and distance barriers and fosters an
open, international marketplace.
4. CoreNet Global events will be designed with greater creativity,
flexibility and the ad hoc ability to “convene on the fly.”
5. Participants will, through a trusted source, seek purpose and
values-driven experiences that are authentic and exceptional.
London, Northern California, New York and Chicago. More than 245
members joined virtual focus group sessions, and 18 local chapters
conducted their own futures sessions that contributed to this body
of work.
In addition, CoreNet Global engaged a number of consultants,
association industry partners and subject-matter experts in everything
from technology to sociology to geopolitics and the economy. Their
guidance and unique perspectives helped challenge the groups’ thinking.
Four workstream white papers and an overview report were
produced to highlight the key forecasts made by participants along
with supporting data, research and rationale. The project’s key
forecasts indicate a strong desire in the future for the following:
frictionless, trusted and authentic member experiences; just-in-time
and on-demand access to information; digital-physical integration of
events; events that break time, distance and language barriers; and
tribal, organic micro-learning and co-creation. The forecasts made
will guide the future strategic planning of the association for years
to come.
Perhaps what resonated most for those involved with this project
was how much members value the sense of community that comes
from their engagement in this organization – something they expect
to value even more in the years ahead. Technological advancements,
new modes of working and the pace of change will continue, but the
human connection will remain at the very core of the association
experience.
Members can access the FutureForward 2025 reports by
going to the CoreNet Global website or following this link:
https://www.corenetglobal.org/KCO/FutureForward.

Co-creation: designing a workplace that attracts
top talent and maximizes innovation
by Elizabeth Lowrey IIDA, RDI
A recent report by Deloitte Consulting identifies
new realities in the future of work, and one of the key
findings is that organizations are increasingly composed
of an “unleashed workforce.”1
Instead of a static group
of employees, today’s workforce is a dynamic system of
full-timers, part-timers, job-sharing teams, contractors,
freelancers, crowdsourcing, joint ventures and temporary
partners. Combined with well-documented skills
shortages, today’s business environment raises the stakes
for workplace design. How can corporate real estate
(CRE) executives design a workplace that attracts top
talent and maximizes workforce innovation?
Workplace designers are drowning in data. Our
proposals are filled with data on demographics,
economics, environmental factors and technology
projections. We present the latest information on maximizing
usage of lobbies and minimizing square footage per
employee. We present research on what attracts today’s most
valuable talent, and how the latest technologies, management
techniques and cultural attributes will best enable the work
of these smart, independent and in-demand employees.
We search for the precious signal in the noise of all this
data. We study the models of business transformations and
talk to leaders about the need for open innovation. We study
reports on the radical changes rippling through the global
workplace – agile teams, learning organizations, mobile
work, mobile talent and all the other issues relevant to a
particular project. This is important stuff, critical for making
sound business decisions – but are architects and designers
missing the most powerful information of all?
What if workplace designers are neglecting the creative
potential of their clients?
Designers are trained to think we’re smarter than anyone
else when it comes to creating a building and its interiors.
Our little secret is that, deep down, we think we know what
our clients need better than they do. But developers, CRE
professionals and the individual employee are smart people,
and we need to engage them instead of talking at them. Let’s
change our thinking about how great commercial design
happens, by enlisting our clients – all of them – as full
partners in a philosophy of co-creation.
continued on pg. 24

What’s your educational background?
I double-majored in business management
and public accounting & financial strategy at
Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology
(ITAM), a university in Mexico City. During my
studies, I participated at an exchange program
in Carlos III University, Madrid. After five years
of working in Mexico, I wanted to explore a
different region of the world. I decided to pursue
my master’s degree in Hong Kong and moved to
the other side of the world to study for an MBA at
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
While pursuing my MBA, I did a summer intern-
ship in India working for a cinema company
managing global vendors and ensuring the
successful procurement and installation of movie
exhibition items (screens, kitchen equipment,
seats, sound equipment).
Tell us about your career path. Where
were you prior to joining HSBC?
After college, I joined a consulting firm
that focused on strategic sourcing, generating
savings from clients in indirect spend. I worked
for banks, retailers and home developers, which
was my first experience within the real estate
field. After five years of consulting, I moved to
Hong Kong to study for my MBA. After that, I
joined CBRE in a procurement role for facilities
management. In 2015, an internal opportunity
opened and I told my manager I was interested
in operations within facilities management. It was
Lorena Compean
Corporate Real Estate Operational
Management, Asia Pacific
HSBC
a natural transition as I already knew the team
and the services. This role helped me to develop
my leadership skills, as I was responsible for 180
staff members and 10 services lines.
Please share some details about your
current position. What are some of the
interesting things you’re working on?
My current role is within the Operational
Management team in HSBC Corporate Real Estate
Asia Pacific. HSBC has around 3,900 offices in
67 countries and territories across Africa, Asia,
Oceania, Europe, North America and South
America, and around 38 million customers. For
me, this role is very interesting because it gives
me the opportunity to learn how all the CRE cycle
works together in multiple countries and with
numerous suppliers. I am working on different
projects about operational efficiency, which, of
course, require a lot of stakeholder management
around the world.
Is there a single project or accomplish-
ment that was particularly rewarding?
In one of my past roles I had the opportunity
to work with a client to help them achieve their
environmental goals. Although it was not part of
my role, I engaged with different functional lead-
ers in Asia, Europe and USA to learn the metrics
and to brainstorm ideas and initiatives to make
it possible. I rolled out/developed a measure for
initiatives that support the environmental goals in
every phase of the CRE cycle: acquisition, project
construction, operations, and disposal. I drove
the development of the print reports in Asia to
drive campaigns on print reduction. As a result
of this “side” job, I am very happy I managed to
create awareness with a lot of people about the
impact to our environment and as a result of the
initiatives implemented the client was awarded
as one of the best financial institutions with ESG
practices in Asia that year.
How long have you been a member
of CoreNet Global? Tell us about your
involvement and how you engage with
the association.
I have been with CoreNet Global for about
five years. I started joining a few events in 2013,
and since 2015 I have been a member of the
Board of the CoreNet Global Hong Kong Chapter.
I am a great believer in education as a way to
progress, so I am mostly involved in the univer-
sity relations. In 2016, I organized the CoreNet
Global event, “Making the Workplace Work,”
promoting corporate real estate as a career path
for current undergrad students.
What aspects of your involvement with
CoreNet Global are most valuable?
Please comment on the value that Young
Leaders get from membership in the
association.
It’s definitely about the people. With Hong
Kong being such a diverse place, CoreNet Global
has given me the opportunity to meet great smart
people and to learn about many more aspects of
the profession that I didn’t have exposure to be-
fore. From a Young Leaders perspective, it taught
me about different career paths that I was not
aware of and gave me the chance to learn about
how the industry is evolving and how technology
is changing the ways of working.
Tell us a little about yourself (e.g., family,
hobbies, favorite places to visit, etc.).
I love to set up personal challenges every
year, and in 2015 I decided to enroll to a very
ambitious challenge of completing a 100-km.
(62-mile) race at the Himalayas in Nepal. That
was a very difficult challenge, with over six
months of training, but I loved it. Since then I
have completed five 100-km. races in the Gobi
Desert (Mongolia), New Zealand, Nepal and
Hong Kong. This year’s challenge is to complete a
100-km. expedition in Greenland carrying 15kg.
(33 pounds) – not easy, as I am petite! I also love
to travel (I’ve been to over 50 countries, with still
many more to go) and to experience the local
culture and food.
I am also a keen supporter of the Cambodian
Children’s Fund, a charity that supports children
and delivering education, family support and
community-development programs into the heart
of Cambodia’s most impoverished communities. I
do some volunteer work and support fundraising
events for them in Hong Kong.
YOUNG LEADER INSIGHTS

design for the era of complexity
Co-creation regards every stakeholder in a project as a creative
contributor without hierarchical limits to their input. The most junior
line workers as well as the most senior executives may provide key
insights to a successful project when they are part of a disciplined
process – and managing that process is the responsibility of the design
firm. It’s no longer sufficient for designers to have great ideas or lots of
data. The most important role of the designer today is to discover and
merge the appropriate data, the appropriate narrative, the appropriate
culture and the appropriate engineering into an authentic and beautiful
physical experience.
Complexity expert Chris Clearfield says, “The antidote to complexity
is not simplicity – it’s transparency.” That’s a fitting description of
why co-creation works. It incorporates all the data and insights I’ve
described into a dynamic, transparent and inclusive process that
applies techniques of agile development and open innovation:
• Set clear goals but seek flexible solutions.
• Gather insights from individuals inside and outside traditional
decision-making circles.
• Facilitate collaboration, openly discussing problems, challenges
and tradeoffs with all stakeholders.
• Discover and include a wide diversity of opinion, experience,
skills and perspectives.
• Prototype, test and revise ideas quickly with end users.
• Document the creative process and share openly.
How do we achieve co-creation? Our clients possess untapped
creative raw material – data, experience, narrative, culture. Our role
is to help them visualize their workplace without preconceived notions
and teach them a whole new vocabulary to relate their ever-changing
work needs to a built environment.
When the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) engaged Elkus
Manfredi Architects to design its new global headquarters, it
brought its own advanced methodology to the project. BCG
believes the most effective way to bring value to a client is to
become its partner; as BCG’s partners, we set out on a multi-year
project to express and enable the transformation of BCG through
its new workspace design.
As world experts in business transformation, BCG needed its
headquarters to embody the principles like openness and agility
that it teaches its clients. Elite consultancies must attract and
retain the most sought-after talent in the world, and BCG’s success
depends on enabling employees to be as effective and innovative as
possible in a turbulent, constantly changing business environment.
As data and culture experts, BCG understood that co-creation’s
combination of data analysis and creative brilliance could result in
a spectacular realization of both sides of the BCG ethos – human-
centric workplaces powered by expert data acumen.
Co-creation includes principles learned from agile
transformation methodologies, including rapid prototyping and
transparency of information. For several years, our partnership
tested and piloted ideas like activity-based workplace design in its
traditional workspace, gathering detailed data and rich narrative.
This is especially apt with a partner whose core business is
understanding which innovations drive success.
The final design reflects the partnership: BCG’s headquarters
on the Boston waterfront is both beautiful and capable of
transforming to accommodate new business needs. Emphasizing
the firm’s ethos of openness and community, we replaced
traditional closed-door office concepts with workspace that is
hospitable, friendly and easy to navigate. A central “Lighthouse
Stair” connects seven levels, each themed to suggest Boston’s
vibrant neighborhoods like Beacon Hill and the North End.
Elements derived from hospitality and residential design
encourage interaction among employees, clients and the global
business community. Thus, lounges, pantries and seating areas
are comfortable and inviting and encourage “creative collisions,”
where information and insights are shared spontaneously.
Private and confidential spaces necessary for consulting work
integrate both functional and artful detail with advanced data
and communications technologies. The company’s culture of
openness, innovation and excellence thrives today in its new
headquarters.
Open for innovation
continued from pg. 22

1. Heather Stockton, Mariya Filipova, Kelly Monahan, The Evolution of Work: New Realities Facing Today’s Leaders, Deloitte, January 30, 2018
Co-creation in practice
Co-creation begins like most design projects, with high-
level requirement meetings among designers, developers,
CRE executives, management and other stakeholders to set
requirements, high-level budgets and a broad vision for the
project. Then the process opens to a larger circle, including
current or potential occupants (for example, employees
of a company for corporate headquarters, or tenants and
customers for a retail project). The leadership team might
choose to involve its larger community of clients, customers
and business partners in a spirit of open innovation. We
train project staff to ask open-ended questions and listen
carefully to users’ stories. For example, we ask employees,
“Take me through a typical work day.” The answers reveal
insights about how work is accomplished – sometimes
through silo-crossing relationships and informal networks of
peers. Follow-up questions
spark design solutions
that make the workplace
more comfortable and
welcoming.
Sometimes the process
is formalized but still allows
a vast range of inputs.
Working with the global
marketing firm Publicis
Groupe, we created ten
task forces, including
employees, management,
designers and technical
consultants, in a series
of meetings combining
data analysis and creative
brainstorming. The process
unleashed a flood of ideas
capturing the authentic
experience and creative inspirations of the Publicis Groupe
workforce. Our designers and each task force brought those
ideas to a high-level steering committee and transformed that
narrative into design solutions unique to this client’s project.
We stay alert for ways to design “creative collisions,”
which is our term for chance encounters among employees
and others that result in new ideas. The Innovation and
Design Building in Boston, for example, is fronted by a
sheltered pop-up market of food and service kiosks where
people from many companies, including ours, meet and
chat about their work. Over fusion lunch bowls, they
share ideas about everything from web start-up ideas to
workstation design.
In re-imagining workplaces for such leading-edge
companies as Citizens Bank, Elkus Manfredi has found
that co-creation results in design solutions that align well
to the new patterns of workplace activity. Like today’s agile
management practices, co-creation is ongoing throughout
the design process and responsive to change. Employees
who participate in the design of their own workspaces show
greater engagement and satisfaction with their surroundings,
as well as appreciation for the employer who trusts their
judgment.
This is the right time for co-creation – a time when we
as designers release the untapped creativity of our clients,
merge that with our expertise in data and design, and create
uniquely useful, timeless and beautiful work. Employers and
developers who use the co-creation process make the most
of their real estate investment.
Elizabeth Lowrey is a principal at
Elkus Manfredi Architects, a multi-
disciplinary design firm providing
interior architecture, architecture and
master planning.

Privacy issues over IoT
your attention now
by Carl Powell, Skender Rugova, Luc Hoffmann and Tica Hessing

merit
You walk into your workplace and your chair automatically adjusts to your
height, the air conditioning turns on, and your favorite cappuccino awaits
you at the employee lounge. Does this personalization leave you feeling
empowered and fulfilled…or ultimately threatened by the invasiveness of it all?
In recent years, advances in technology such as sensors and the Internet of
Things (IoT) have transformed the workplace and will continue to do so. In fact,
Gartner predicts there will be 20.8 billion connected devices by 2020, and the
National Science Foundation says IoT is on track to connect 50 billion “smart
things” by 2020 and one trillion sensors soon after that.
There are numerous benefits resulting from smart technology, including
enhanced user experience, operational efficiencies, maximized space utilization and
improved safety. But collecting so much personal data is leaving many employees
feeling unsettled and uncomfortable – especially since the technology is so new.
How exactly is all this personal data being used? What happens if the building’s
technology gets hacked? Are your rights being compromised?
While there may not be answers to all these questions, what we do know is
that this technology isn’t going away anytime soon. Instead, it’s only getting more
prevalent. Now more than ever, real-time analytics have become essential as data-
fueled insights continue to highlight new efficiencies in how we work. This article
explores the good and bad that comes with smart technology, and what companies
can do to ease fears of the unknowns.
the good
There’s no doubt about it – IoT in the workplace significantly improves the
health, productivity and comfort of its occupants. Smart building applications not
only enhance the overall user experience; they can also optimize space utilization
and improve safety within a facility.
Enhancing the overall user experience
Collecting data over time enables companies to fine-tune the employee
experience by:
• informing employers about the types of chairs people prefer, and the types
of desks – height-adjustable or not – in which the employees are more
productive
• knowing the preferred temperature and lighting intensity in work areas
• measuring the amount of time spent working heads-down versus collaborating
with others
• getting instant feedback
• automatically generating service requests
• optimizing traffic flows around common areas (cafés, parking, etc.)
• offering a seamless security experience where biometric scanners eliminate
the need for physical passes
Having this information allows employers to meet employees’ needs on a more
consistent basis, which improves overall productivity and satisfaction.

Optimizing space utilization
According to a recent Gensler study, 83 percent of executives rank
space utilization as the most important metric for making the right
workplace decisions. With actionable data, facility managers can make
better-informed decisions on how to add, reduce or redesign space than
they could when their insights relied on subjective employee surveys and
workplace observations.
Monitoring safety measures
Safety in the workplace is a top priority for every company –
especially when it comes to job sites – but it’s hard to ensure 100-percent
compliance. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly changing
this. Now, technology is capable of monitoring and reviewing job site
imagery 24/7, observing field personnel and providing an overall safety
score that relates to compliance issues such as not wearing work gloves or
jobsite conditions like poor housekeeping. Having this smart technology
available has led to dramatically improved safety, productivity and quality on
job sites around the world.
Improving building security
Landlords are looking into implementing biometric data scans to create
a seamless check-in experience, reduce the costs of manual check-ins and
minimize their risk profiles. There are now devices that can recognize faces,
fingerprints, voices, palm veins, DNA, hand geometry and even odors for
identification and access control purposes.
The databases of user preferences, space utilization measurements, site
images and biometrics are growing every day.
the bad
While IoT can offer improved energy optimization and valuable insights
via data, it will inevitably affect the working lives of your employees. Privacy
concerns around sensors and location-tracking devices are not uncommon
as employees may feel uncomfortable having their every move tracked at work.
For example, many banks and financial services companies have begun
installing desk sensors that detect an employee’s presence at their desk.
Spokespeople for these companies have justified these new additions
to office life as a way to make more efficient use of office space and cut
costs. However, it’s clear that employees remain wary of how surveillance
technology like this will impact their right to privacy.
Biometric scanners that can recognize faces, irises and finger prints
seem like a great way to improve security in office buildings. However,
biometric data, though unique, is no more secure than any other kind of
data. Data breaches happen every day and hackers are capable of fooling
readers. Once your biometric “password” is hacked, you won’t be able
to replace your finger, iris or face for a new one. This raises concerns for
tenants about privacy.
In China, surveillance in workplaces is literally getting in workers’
heads. Lightweight sensors embedded in workers’ helmets wirelessly
transmit brainwave data to a computer. Then, AI algorithms scan the
data, looking for outliers that could indicate anxiety or distress. When the
system issues a warning, the manager could, for example, ask the worker
to take a day off or move to a less critical post. In the Netherlands, a
software solution company measures employee engagement continuously
by analyzing internal emails and digital chat. They highlight trends in
commitment and tension as an indicator of employee performance. Their
tools, such as mood metrics and attitude heatmaps, are no longer
futuristic ideas.
the strategy
Moving forward, we need practical steps to ease fears of the unknowns
and to think about the social implication of technology on workplace
experiences. Here are some initial best practices:
1. Be upfront: Executives must be upfront about the purpose of
monitoring and surveillance as well as the extent of it. To feel safe,
employees must know exactly what will be measured and how the data will
be used before anything is implemented. Employees should understand that
sensors are not there to measure them, but their environment and how that
will support them. Take the time to clearly explain to your workforce how
IoT applications will benefit employees personally. Additionally, leadership
should provide examples of how data monitoring and analyses have
benefited other companies.
2. Ensure anonymity: Clearly communicate that the employee data
will be anonymized to diminish the risk of intruding on privacy. As such,
personally identifiable information should only be collected as metadata,
and data results should be aggregated to show trends rather than individual
employee behavior.
3. Be transparent and open: Executives should be transparent
about data-collection results to maintain trust between the employer and
employee. It’s important to share with employees that the purpose of
sensors is to enhance their in-office experience and provide a smarter,
more efficient space. Reiterate that any information collected via sensors
will be used to understand the big picture and analyze trends across the
organization, rather than to hone-in on individual productivity.
4. Celebrate your wins: Whenever possible, celebrate office
improvements made possible by smart technology. This will establish the
connection between data collection and the success of your organization.
Timely communication of measurable results will increase the likelihood of
employees supporting your initiatives.
5. Deploy responsibly: Every company is responsible for protecting
its employees. Whatever monitoring techniques are employed should be,
above all, ethical and legal. Before implementing any tracking devices,
make sure you know the law in your state or country. The misuse of
biometric data can open companies up to lawsuits over breaches of
sensitive information. Check out the sidebar to read about the variety of
privacy laws globally.
IoT is here to stay, so you must involve your employees in the journey
early. Frequent communication and change management are crucial
for success. Getting people fully on board with why your organization
is deploying smart technology is half the battle. Give frequent updates
and address privacy and security concerns. Build trust, and then ask for
feedback and act on it.

Privacy laws vary greatly around the world, from regions like the
EU, where policies are well-developed and getting stricter, to regions
like the Middle East, where there are significantly fewer rules governing
data privacy protection.
As IoT devices capable of collecting all kinds of data at all times
become more widespread, privacy laws will likely fall in line. According
to a Deloitte report on big data, there were only 20 privacy laws
worldwide in the ‘90s. Now, there are more than 100.
Here’s a look at some of the laws currently in place in countries
and regions around the world:
United states
When it comes to privacy laws, the U.S.’s federal and state privacy laws
vary widely. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,
31 states have data-disposal laws and 47 states have security-breach-
notification laws; but, the laws are not uniform. Last year, the Federal
Trade Commission issued a report containing best practices for protecting
user data, aimed at companies who make IoT-connected devices. The
recommendations included designing devices with data security in mind,
conducting tests of security measures on a regular basis, avoiding collecting
more data than necessary, and displaying privacy information in a way that’s
easy to understand and appropriate for the device.
Canada
In Canada, a federal law called the Personal Information Protection
and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) sets rules on how companies are
required to protect personal data. The law requires companies to create a
privacy-management program; limit collection, use and retention of data;
give users access to information the company collects; and provide a way
for users to file complaints with the company.
Like U.S. states, Canadian provinces can create their own privacy laws,
and three of them – Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec – have done so.
eU
The use of personal data for purposes other than what’s communicated
to employees is a breach of confidence. To combat this, General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) was recently enacted. Every processing of
personal data in respect to an activity or transaction within the EU is now
subject to GDPR, and the fines imposed for serious non-compliance are
high, leading stakeholders to bake-in data security from the start.
To achieve compliance, organizations need to map all their data-
processing activities and ensure they meet GDPR requirements by doing
the following:
• Keep records to demonstrate compliance.
• Use data encryption for enhanced security.
• Aggregate or anonymize IoT data that can be directly or indirectly
traced to an individual.
• Limit data processing to the stated purpose.
• Be transparent and clearly communicate how data is used.
• Establish a lawful basis for each processing.
Middle east
Few countries in the Middle East have laws regulating privacy of
data and access to information. According to the 2015 International
Compendium of Data Privacy Laws, Saudi Arabia has some laws regarding
privacy and data collection, but no laws about data security or notification
of data breaches.
australia
Two main federal laws apply to IoT data collected in Australia: the
Privacy Act of 1988 and the Telecommunications Act passed in 1997.
Under the Privacy Act, most companies are required to comply with privacy
principles when collecting information that could identify a user. The
privacy principles require companies to establish a privacy policy, give
users the option to remain anonymous when possible, keep users’ personal
data secure, notify users about the information they’re collecting, and
provide users with access to their data.
The Privacy Act of 1988 excludes employment records from its
operation, which otherwise deals with the statutory requirements for the
collection and use of personal information. Time will tell whether the
Australian government will amend the Act to recognize the implications of
the increasing collection and use of biometric information.
asia Pacific
Countries in Asia/Pacific, like China, Indonesia and India, have
minimal regulation related to data privacy issues; this causes problems for
enterprises when data is moved or collected. China has recently invested
heavily in facial-recognition technology with minimal privacy regulations
attached. Banks, airports, hotels and even public toilets are all trying
to verify people’s identities by analyzing their faces. Security industry
reports show the country will use facial recognition and AI to analyze and
understand the mountain of incoming video evidence; to track suspects,
spot suspicious behaviors and even predict crime; to coordinate the work
of emergency services; and to monitor the comings and goings of the
country’s 1.4 billion people.
Meanwhile, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan have data-privacy laws
similar to those in the EU and Australia.
Privacy laws and how they vary globally
Left to right: Carl Powell is chief information officer, EMEA, at Cushman
& Wakefield. Also from Cushman & Wakefield, Skender Rugova is senior
managing director; Luc Hoffmann is senior managing director, head
of IFM, West Region; and Tica Hessing is human geographer and tenant
advisor for Strategic Consulting, Australia.

Unlocking the
value of flexible
workspace for
the corporate
real estate
leader
The growth of the flexible workspace sector is well
documented, and deepening partnerships with landlords
and developers will help to fuel this growth. But what does
this mean for the occupier and how do corporate real estate
(CRE) leaders unlock value for their operational real estate?
the ‘flex and Core’ approach
Any trend in real estate is occupier-led – over 90 percent of
our clients are seeking flexibility of lease term and, as a solution
to this demand for flexibility, Colliers pioneered the Flex and
Core model, whereby occupiers secure long-term leases with
landlords (or, in some cases, operators) for their core space,
and leverage the flexible-workspace sector to accommodate
on-demand space, such as short-term project space, and access
amenities, such as lounges, meeting rooms and event spaces.
Here, we will explore how to adopt this model.
Some of the issues with this model revolve around density of
space, privacy and security, and level of physical product. Here,
we will go through these items to explain how these can be
overcome for the CRE leader.
Density: this is usually the key issue when we speak with
our occupier clients. Most flexible workspace operators deploy
a density of 1:50 sq. ft. (1:4.64 sq. m.) and some of these
operators non-sensically present cost savings largely driven by
squeezing densities. While we agree that smarter, more efficient,
uses of space can create a more dense environment without
impacting negatively on the user from productivity or wellness
perspectives, there would still be very few occupiers who wish to
hit a density of 1:50 sq. ft.
The Flex and Core model takes the occupier’s standard
density and is able to creatively move this number by leveraging
on the shared amenities within a flexible workspace operator’s
by Jonathan Wright

space, or the landlord’s owner-operated amenity space; this
usually results in a 10 percent to 15 percent reduction in space
required, by accessing workspace, meeting rooms and event
spaces on demand.
Conversations with the operator should then take place
regarding the layout of space and what level of flexibility is
required to implement the Flex and Core model and fully
leverage this to generate genuine cost savings.
Privacy and security: Inherently using shared amenities
and space controlled by an operator creates additional risk
to the occupier. However, mitigating factors include secured
access to dedicated space, private servers, and implementation
of a plan around how employees’ use of space can counteract
this. Most concerns are generally overplayed, as employees are
increasingly mobile in any case and today’s workforce will often
use coffee shops and home-working.
Physical product: This comes down to preference
and company culture. Many operators have a cost-effective
product, but it often falls short of the standards of multinational
corporations. When implementing the Flex and Core model,
the occupier should consider which operator to partner with
and whether that operator will handle the core element of
their space or simply the flex part. Often, when only using the
operator for the flex element, some compromises can be made
on the level of physical product. However, we are certainly
seeing a flight to quality.
Where is the flex in the flex and Core model?
The flex can come in lots of different ways and we have
explored a range of these in the following section. One way
it can be used is to take space with an operator in the same
building or leverage an operator for on-demand space, such
as short-term project space and access to amenities such as

Mar 2019 corenet the leader

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