Winning War for Talent Workplace

Workplace:
Winning the War for Talent
CBRE RESEARCH CBRE WORKPLACE STRATEGY
LEVERAGING ON DIVERSITY, CHOICE AND COMMUNITY TO
ENSURE EMPLOYEES ARE HAPPY, ENGAGED AND PRODUCTIVE

01
Table of Contents
1. People-centred workplace strategy 02
2. How sharing and mobility is changing 03
the way we work
3. What mode of work and workplace is right 05
for your organisation?
4. Impact on the landlord-tenant relationship 15
5. Conclusion 16
Workplace: Winning the war for talent
LEVERAGING ON DIVERSITY, CHOICE AND COMMUNITY TO ENSURE EMPLOYEES ARE HAPPY,
ENGAGED AND PRODUCTIVE
Pick up any magazine, or scan through your LinkedIn newsfeed, and you will see weird and wonderful
examples of the latest “cool” workplaces. Articles will extol the virtues of these new workplaces,
particularly their ability to attract, retain and motivate the millennial generation.
Underlying these workplaces are much more fundamental shifts in the nature of work. These shifts are
providing opportunities for all organisations to rethink the places where their people work without resorting
to playful or flippant design concepts.
This special report by CBRE Research outlines a variety of approaches to creating a physical workplace
environment that satisfies the high expectations of the millennial generation, whilst controlling or even
reducing real estate costs. The report explains how people-centric workplace strategies that embrace
diversity, choice and community keep talent happier, more engaged and more productive, and also
explores how these changes might impact the landlord-tenant relationship.
You don’t have to be a cutting edge tech company to build great people-centric workplaces. Even in Asia
Pacific, these workplaces are becoming mainstream solutions, so don’t be left behind.
CBRE WORKPLACE STRATEGY© CBRE Ltd. 2016

CBRE WORKPLACE STRATEGY © CBRE Ltd. 2016
02
The drivers of workplace design
are shifting from real estate and cost criteria
to attracting and retaining talent
Key elements required to align human factors and real estate parameters
BALANCING “ME” AND “WE” SPACE
INCLUSIVE FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE
CONNECTING THE INDOORS AND OUTDOORS
Accessibility Visual and physical connection with other public
spaces, public transportation and buildings
Walkability Easily walkable to and from the surrounding
business precinct, promote active streets and pedestrianisation
Community Provide a wide range of amenities and leisure
areas for social activities and events
Ergonomic design
Encourage movement
Adjustable furniture
Focused
touchdown
area
Enclosed
office
Address-free
workstation
Shared
table
Meeting
room
Work
Cafe
Provide a wide
range of amenities
Understand expectations
Social elements
Focus on wellness
Indoor environment
Promote health
WE (COLLABORATION)ME (FOCUSED)

03
The relationship between landlords and
tenants is changing from a contract based
on a lease agreement to a partnership with
the common goal of creating a rewarding
workplace experience for employees
Open lines of
communication
to understand and
cater to tenants’
requirements beyond
basic property
management
Create a sense
of community
by providing
communal space
within and outside
buildings

04 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
2.
How sharing and mobility is
changing the way we work
3.
What mode of work and
workplace is right for your
organisation?
4.
Impact on the landlord-tenant
relationship
The increasingly fierce war
for talent is prompting more
organisations to take into account
human factors in the workplace
to complement their talent
attraction strategy and shape
workplace cultures that will help
them survive and succeed in the
changing world of business. In
the hunt for talent, workplace
is generally seen as a “hygiene
factor”. A great workplace is
unlikely to be in the top three
reasons why a talent will work
for an organisation, but a poorly
considered workplace is symbolic
of an organisation that is not
people-centric – and that’s a
huge detractor.
Finding the right talent is becoming
more challenging, according to
Manpower Group’s 2015 Talent
Shortage Survey. The difficulty is
higher in Asia Pacific compared to
globally (48% vs 38% respectively).
Employers are more aware of the
potential for workplace design to
attract talent and they are putting
more emphasis on flexible working,
environmental quality and the
provision of employee amenities,
according to CBRE’s Global
Occupier Survey 2015/16 (Figure 1).
Figure 1 demonstrates that the talent
challenge is even higher in Asia
Pacific than the rest of the world.
From an employee perspective,
it indicates that employees in this
region place stronger importance
on resolving the basics, such as
amenities and transport, and lower
emphasis on flexible working.
However, there is a growing
awareness of alternative, flexible
workplaces and work practices
amongst the younger generation,
so we expect demand for this
to increase.
Whilst there are some notable world
class exceptions, generally speaking
companies in Asia Pacific are only
1. People-centred
workplace strategy
just now starting to create people-
centric workplace strategies.
However, in mature markets and
gateway cities such as Sydney, Hong
Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, the
rapid transformation of office design
is already evident. Companies are
creating environments where people
love to work and workplace settings
that align with business needs for better
collaboration, efficiency and job loyalty.
Source: CBRE Tokyo
Figure 1. In the war for talent, workplace has to be a talent
attraction strategy
Source: 2015 Talent Shortage Survey.
Manpower Group
Source: CBRE Asia Pacific Occupier Survey
(2016)
Employers have
diﬃculty ﬁnding talent
Most important features
for employees in workplace
Global APAC Global APAC
%ofhavingdifficulty
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Flexible
working
Indoor
environmental
quality
Provisionof
amenities
Public
transport
accessibility
Connectivityto
partners,
suppliers
Flexible
workspace
options
Sustainability
0
20
40
60
80
100
%

05
Traditional working
arrangements, whereby all
employees come to work at
one site at the same time and
sit at rows of homogenous
individual assigned desks,
are being challenged.
Not only boring and culture-
destroying, these mostly open plan
environments no longer respond to
the diversity and complexity of work
activities, work processes and
team relationships. Arguably they
never did. New technology
provides alternatives.
2. How sharing and mobility is changing
the way we work
1. HUB
represents what could be called
the “traditional” workplace.
People have an assigned desk
or office, but at times may
work from other places on the
premises or campus, or leave
their desk to use a quiet room
or collaborative area. People
working in a HUB are in a secure
environment in terms of both
space and technology.
2. HOME
refers to working in places
where you have a defined
personal workplace but you are
outside corporate premises.
This could be at home or
could be temporarily at a
hotel, but the individual has
full control over a private work
environment.
3. CLUB
refers to working in an
environment that has a diversity
of different settings where people
in an organisation can choose
where they sit and who they sit
with in order to get their job done
in the best possible way. Some
CLUB environments have at least
one work setting available for
every person in the organisation.
Other organisations choose to take
advantage of the fact that on most
days only a proportion of their
employees come into the office2
. In
this case, there may be less settings
than employees – but always
carefully calculated to ensure that
employees can find a place to
work – even at peak turn up days.
4. ROAM
refers to those people working
off premises in shared work
environments. These might be
free public spaces or places
that make work settings
available by the hour, day or
week. Starbuck’s built this into
its business model for a period
of time and we are now seeing
the dramatic emergence of
co-working spaces that support
these types of workers. The
next stage of evolution will
see government and building
owners create places to work in
and amongst buildings.
The model in Figure 2 explores how mobility has created four modes of work
and places to work.
1
This global market research report surveyed 1,900 senior IT decision makers in August 2012. They largely represent organisations with more
than 1,000 employees across 19 countries across the globe.
(https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/products-solutions/workplace-of-the-future-a-global-market-research-report.pdf)
2
Global studies have shown that on average in most offices only 60% or people are in the office at any point in time. Source: Space Utilisation:
The Next Frontier, CBRE Research, 2015.
According to Citrix’s Workplace of
the Future report, about 89% of
global organisations will offer mobile
workstyles by 2020 enabled by mobile
working technology1
. As the world
shifts from workplaces to places to
work, the information & technology,
human resources and corporate real
estate functions must work together
with leaders and staff alike to craft new
workplace policies and solutions that
respond to this change.
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
2.
How sharing and
mobility is changing the
way we work
3.
organisation?
4.
relationship

06 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
Source: DEGW (CoreNet Summit Hong Kong 2004)
Figure 2: The four different approaches to work
GeographyofWork
Work from home
Workattraditional
assigneddesk
Occasionaluse-
touchdownspace/
quietroom
Onedeskperperson,
non-territorial
Diversityofsetting
Higherstaff-to-desk
ratio
Work in remote
private space
(e.g hotel)
Work elsewhere
on premises
Work at
traditional
assigned desk
Ownership of Space
Individual
Work from
remote premises
/satellite office
HOME
SECONDARY
WORKPOINT
ROAM
WORKING
IN TRANSIT
HUB
ASSIGNED
SPACE
CLUB
UNASSIGNED
SPACE
Shared
OtherplacesOnPremises
4.
relationship
2.

07
When contemplating the four
modes of work there are two
key workplace decisions for an
organisation to consider: options
outside premises and options
within premises.
OPTIONS OUTSIDE PREMISES
To what degree and how should
work be supported outside corporate
premises (HOME or ROAM)? Every
organisation needs to make their
own decision based upon a number
of factors. To some degree the “genie
has already left the bottle” as laptops
and smartphones allow employees
to do some or all their work from
outside corporate premises. For most
people, however, this off premises
work is in addition to working “core”
hours within the hub.
3. What mode of work and workplace
is right for your organisation?
3
DEGW client research presented at CoreNet Mumbai Summit, 2008. The drivers for working from home varied by country: India and Japan were
interested in reduced commute times. In other countries, flexibility to work around family/life commitments was important. In many cases it was seen as
a way to get focused work done – something that can be addressed by better workplace design.
In Asia Pacific, there is still strong
resistance among employers to
letting people work from home
during core hours, despite the fact
that more than 50% of employees
in Asia Pacific would like to work
from home one or two days per
week3
. In most cases, this comes
down to issues of trust and the ability
to manage people remotely. In
other cases, it comes down to team
dynamic and work processes, either
the need for people to be able to
easily interact face to face, or paper
driven processes.
Most organisations prefer to
let working from home happen
informally and without a corporate
mandate to avoid the complexity of
ensuring that home workplaces are
safe and ergonomic, and avoid staff
asking questions such as who will
pay for the Wi-Fi, heating/cooling
costs and home insurance. Those
companies that do officially support
working from home will typically
have formal assessment processes
to determine who is eligible to do
so. Alternatively, others allow people
to work from home until such time
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
WORKING FROM HOME
CO-WORKING CENTRE
4.
relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

08 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
as they prove themselves unable/
untrustworthy to do so. Once a
decision is made to formally support
work from home, then policies and
support processes must be in place.
Allowing employees to ROAM has
also been happening informally
for some time. However, some
corporations are now formally
considering hybrid real estate
strategies that reduce the base HUB
(or CLUB) footprint and supplement
that work space with subscriptions to
shared workspaces outside the office
– in particular co-working spaces.
This creates the ability to drive down
the base real estate costs whilst
providing significant flexibility to cope
with volatile headcount. Alternatively,
some organisations see it as a way to
get their staff out of the more formal
corporate office and into creative
innovative spaces – often mixing
with people from outside their own
organisations to stimulate ideas.
Building owners and developers
around the region are grappling with
new lease structures, service offerings
and partnering with new types of
flexible space providers to capitalise
on opportunities associated with
these changes.
At the far extreme, there are new
types of organisations emerging
around the world that have no formal
office at all – and just occasionally
host pop-up offices in order for
employees to build relationships with
one another face to face.
OPTIONS WITHIN PREMISES
One of the biggest questions facing
organisations today is to what degree
should some, or all, employees move
from a HUB work environment to
a CLUB work environment within
corporate premises? Put more simply,
this is a question of whether or not
people should be assigned a desk,
or whether they should be free to
choose where they sit, such as within
their teams local neighbourhood, or
more broadly.
Before answering that question,
it is worth examining what is high
performance work in a modern
workplace. Productivity is no longer
simply about how many widgets/hours
a person creates or processes. In the
world of knowledge, work productivity
is much more about innovation, rapid
sharing of information, leveraging
ideas, speed and quality of decision
making, and even “fail often fail fast”.
Work is also no longer simple and
repetitive. It is complex, often involves
interaction with others and can move
between highly collaborative and
highly focused activities, the physical
and the virtual, the individual and
the group.
The predominant yet traditional
open plan workplace was based
on the old premise of work, which
is increasingly irrelevant. The
alternative is to create workplaces
that have the same level of diversity
as the nature of work that is
happening, and then give people the
choice as to where they want to work
and how they want to work; self-
organising their work and delivering
to clear targets rather than turning
up to be seen at work.
Every company seems to have a
different name for its workplace
programme: Smart Working,
New Workplace, Agile Working,
Connected Workplace, and so on.
It can be very hard to distinguish
one from another – and in most
organisations this often leads
to unnecessary concerns about
proposed new workplaces being out
of alignment with how people work
in the organisation.
Cutting through all these names,
there are fundamentally four kinds
of workplaces to choose from – and
there is no right or wrong answer.
Every organisation’s leadership needs
to make a decision in terms of what
works for their business – based on
ambitions for workplace culture, the
nature of work and the objectives of
the business.
4.
relationship
2.

09
FOUR WORKPLACE MODELS
To help explain these four options,
CBRE created the Workplace
Compass.
The four workplace models are:
1. Traditional Solution (basic)
2. Hot Desking (basic)
3. Collaborative Workplace
(high performance)
4. Activity-Based Workplace
(high performance)
To determine which option is right
for your organisation there are two
principle elements to consider:
Should people be assigned
to desks or be free to choose
where they sit?
Do you need a basic
or a high performance
workplace?
If assigned desks is the right strategy
for your business, then you have
two options: Traditional Solution
or a Collaborative Workplace. The
difference is the diversity of work
settings (and therefore variety of
work supported) and the degree
of mobility that employees have to
enable work from more than
one place.
If unassigned desks is the right
strategy for your business then
you have two further options: Hot
Desking or Activity Based Working
(ABW). Both solutions offer the
potential to save space and real
estate costs through having more
people assigned to the space than
there are desks. The primary driver
of Hot Desking is the ability to share
desks and save money. The primary
driver of ABW is to provide a diversity
of settings and the mobility that
enables choices.
Although the capacity to drive space
efficiency through sharing is high,
sharing ratios need tto be very
carefully calculated to ensure that
there is always a workspace to work.
In the case of ABW workplaces, it’s
also important that the full diversity
of different types of settings are
available to choose from at most
times (quiet spaces, team spaces,
collaborative spaces, private rooms.)
In either case there can be hybrid
solutions. The level of diversity is a
sliding scale between low and high.
Companies can have environments
where some people have assigned
desks and others are mobile.
Workplace strategists are the people
who can help companies make these
decisions and develop the detail of a
strategy, regardless of what choices
organisations make.
In terms of cost per sq. m., all four
options fall within 2-3% of each other.
So in that sense, cost should not be a
determining factor. However, it makes
more sense to answer this question
from a cost per person perspective.
Using the traditional workplace as
a base, the collaborative workplace
can be up to 10% more expensive
(because desk space is reallocated
to shared collaborative and focus
workspace); the hot desking option
can be 10-20% cheaper (because you
have less desks than people) and the
Activity Based Workplace can
be 20-30% cheaper (because the
diversity of individual work settings
offsets the need to create additional
shared facilities.)
Figure 3: The CBRE Workplace Compass
Source: CBRE Asia Pacific Occupiers’ Fit-Out Cost Guide (2015)
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
HUB
(assigned space)
Group / collaborative spaceDesk space Mobility enabled options
Traditional Solution
HighperformanceBasic
Collaborative workplace
CLUB
(unassigned space)
Hot Desking
Activity-Based Workplace
4.
relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

010 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
Traditional Workplaces and Basic Hot Desking Workplaces are generally well understood workplace options. However, it
is worth diving deeper into these two high performance options to understand the differences and the benefits.
1. High Performance HUB:
Figure 4: High Performance CLUB - Activity Based Workplace
This illustration below is a representative image of an ABW. Space types and
names are included, but not limited to the below.
The High Performance HUB workplace is characterised
by each person having an assigned workspace.
However, compared to traditional HUB spaces, the high
performance space allocates a higher proportion of space
to shared activity spaces to support collaboration and
focused work. The high performance HUB recognises
the human need for personalised space and a sense of
belonging. One challenge, however, is that people get too
comfortable at their individual settings and whilst excited
by all of the “cool” alternative spaces to work actually
often don’t use them as often as might have been attended
(one reason why some tech companies provide free food
is to lure their engineers to spaces where they have to
interact with others.) High performance hub spaces also
do not have the “agility” of a CLUB space and people are
generally told where to sit and teams are well defined. This
limits the ability of teams to self-organise themselves, or for
people to easily work across multiple teams.
2. High Performance CLUB:
The High Performance CLUB is an ABWwhich enables
people to share a diversity of different ergonomic work
settings that support a variety of focused and collaborative
work activities. Private “owned” enclosed offices are less
common; typically there are sufficient small work rooms
for all staff and not just leaders to find enclosed spaces to
work for as long as they need. High performance CLUB
spaces are very responsive to business change and project
needs and allow staff to self-organise themselves, trading
off flexibility and choice for the ownership of their own
desk. Aside from work preferences, these environments
also cater to introvert and extravert personality types –
each able to choose the type of setting that best suits their
needs4
. When properly executed, the desire for ownership
of a single desk tends to diminish, although it’s
invariably a big sticking point when introducing the
concept to employees.
4
https://www.csuchico.edu/eap/docs/empathia-advisor2014-04-IntrovertsExtroverts_and_the_Workplace.pdf
Source: Haworth
Enclosed meeting room
An acoustically insulated room to support
multiple work modes ranging from
focused to collaborative activities.
Work Cafe
Multi-functional space for social
interaction, team gatherings
and individual work.
Enclosed office
An acoustically insulated
room to support focused
work or light collaboration.
Open shared table
Space for team
collaboration.
Ergonomic work setting
Unassigned desks to support
both work and light
collaboration.
High-walled pod
Designed to support
focused work.
Open meeting space
Space for ad hoc activities
and informal meetings.
Focused touchdown area
An acoustically insulated
room to support focused or
confidential work.
4.
relationship
2.

Activity Based Workplace Case Study – CBRE Tokyo office
In 2014, CBRE consolidated its four Tokyo offices into a single location in Marunouchi under ‘Workplace 360’ –
a workplace solution to move into an ABW which enables employees to work anywhere based on their needs. The
rationale is that nowadays people undertake various work activities which require different work settings to fit the required
levels of focus or collaboration.
CBRE’s Tokyo office provides a variety of choices for various work activities including unassigned desks in open areas,
unassigned workstations in focus space, enclosed phone booths, enclosed meeting rooms, open meeting space,
collaboration space, high counter area and a substantial multi-functional cafe area.
CHALLENGES
Employees’ concerns about
moving to an ABW model
Creating a workplace that
supports CBRE’s business
operations in a more effective
and optimal way
Implementing a new technology
strategy and platform including
laptops, softphones and VPN
for staff
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
Strong support and endorsement
from senior management
A clear change management
programme
Listened to and engaged
with staff
Established training and
etiquette for the new office
Implemented the right IT to
support the new workspace
RESULT
The new environment provides an open,
collaborative experience which has
increased connectivity and instigated the
following changes:

100% unassigned seats
100% employees have laptops
and softphones
18% space saved in new office
84% reduction on file storage
25% reduction in electricity costs
More meeting rooms, enclosed
phone booths and focus desks.
In the post occupancy evaluation,

76% employees feel
more productive
88% employees did not want
to go back to old way of working
92% employees think the office
reflects company brand and
corporate values
Photo credit: CBRE Workplace 360
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
011
4.
relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

12 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
CBRE has identified three key areas for consideration when companies design their high performance workplaces:
Balancing “Me” and “We” spaces; designing an inclusive workplace; and connecting the workplace with its
surroundings. All three are discussed in more detail below.
i) Balancing “Me” & “We” spaces
A major focus of the high
performance workplace is providing
a range of different workspaces to
balance the “Me” (focused, solo and
quiet work) and “We” (collaborative
and often noisy work) within the
same office, and for people to
choose the workspace depending
on the tasks they need to do. The
“Me-We” balance also ensures
workspaces are provided for both
introverts and extroverts.
The next generation workplace
should provide a range of space
options for employees to choose
from, depending on whether
they want to work alone or in
collaboration (Figure 5). For
example, when work requires intense
focus or is confidential in nature,
then employees can select an
enclosed space. When work requires
focus but a certain level of distraction
is acceptable, a high-walled pod
booth is suitable.
Figure 5: Examples of different workspaces in a high performance workplace
Source: CBRE Research, 2016.
“We” spaces normally would include
collaborative settings such as
ergonomic work stations or shared
tables in a collaborative zone, and
meeting rooms ranging in capacity
from 4-6 persons and containing
presentation, teleconferencing
and videoconferencing facilities.
Larger meeting room facilities and
conference rooms can also be
provided, along with more informal
“We” spaces such as cafes which can
host meetings and social activities.
Focused
touchdown
area
Focus space Ergonomic work setting Collaborative space Social space
Enclosed
office
Ergonomic
work setting
Shared
table
Meeting
room
Work Cafe
WE (COLLABORATION)ME (FOCUSED)
Focused touchdown area
High-walled pod
Ergonomic work setting in quiet zone
Ergonomic work setting in collaborative zone Small-size collaborative space
Large-size collaborative space Multi-functional work cafe
Multi-functional work cafe
4.
relationship
2.

13
The high performance workplace must feature a variety of ergonomic work settings as one size does not fit all. Ergonomic
work settings can support a diversity of work activities ranging from quiet, noisy, collaborative and inspirational
working zones.
As workplaces have become more diverse and complex, forecasting space requirements has become much more about
probability analysis (“what’s the likelihood of someone needing this type of space?”) rather than traditional linear or
hierarchical calculation processes. Deliberate ambiguity in the physical design of spaces will also help users experiment
and find their own best ways to use spaces – rather than just following the diktats of designers.
ii) Designing an inclusive workplace
Companies’ workforces are increasingly diverse in terms of age, life stage5
, gender, ethnicity and personality types. A
well-designed high performance work environment can easily take into consideration all aspects of employee diversity
including their needs and aspirations and therefore be more inclusive than traditional office solutions. In addition to
providing a diversity of settings, there are three other key areas of consideration (Figure 6):
Figure 6: Elements of inclusive office design
3.
Wellness:
Best-in-class companies value
their employees’ physical,
mental and social health. At
the same time, employees
want to improve their work-life
balance. The next generation
workplace must therefore
factor in wellness. Companies
should ensure their workplaces
provide features to promote
physical health, such as natural
light, temperature and indoor
air and water quality, but also
mental wellbeing, such as
space choices to reduce stress.
1.
Ergonomic
design:
Ergonomics is crucial for
workplace health and safety.
When designing and planning
an office, ergonomics
should be customised to suit
employees’ profiles. Features
include height-adjustable
workstations (ideally with a sit
to stand range); ergonomic
chairs; position-adjustable
display screens; and individual
adjustable lighting. Medical
research in the United States
indicates that every US$1 spent
on ergonomics has an US$18
return on investment.6
2.
Provision of
amenities:
Research indicates that the
millennial generation is
attracted to workplaces offering
a wide range of amenities.
Popular facilities include
daycare facilities; showers
and changing rooms for
staff who cycle to the office;
gaming rooms, rest areas
and green space. Providing
these types of facilities to
employees will make them feel
valued by the company and
drive engagement and staff
retention. However, care needs
to be taken when assessing
requirements as employees
often ask for facilities that are
then never used once built. The
use of social and recreational
facilities is often influenced by
the culture of the organisation
– often requiring senior leaders
to “give permission” to use
facilities – particularly if the
intention is that they are used
during working hours.
5
In workplace culture ‘life stage’ is a stronger indicator of employee needs and aspirations than their ‘generation’.
6
Dr. Alan Hedge, Cornell University, at CBRE Business Intelligence Lunch, Singapore March 2016.
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
4.
relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

14 5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
4.
Impact on the Landlord-Tenant
Relationship
Ergonomic
design
Wellness
Food & Beverage
Sit-to-stand workstations
Sleeping pod
Exercise space Access to natural light Clean drinking water
Bring green elements
in workplace
Photo credit: CBRE Workplace 360
Provision of
Amenities
Ergonomic design
Encourage movement
Adjustable furniture
Provide a wide
range of amenities
Understand expectations
Social elements
Focus on wellness
Indoor environment
Promote health
• Stand to sit workstation
• Ergonomic chairs
• Encouraging movement
in the office
• Rest Area
• Wellness facilities
• Green space in buildings
• Games rooms
• Access to natural light
• Thermal comfort
• Noise control
• Indoor air and water quality
• Bring green elements
2.

15
iii) Connecting the workplace with its surroundings
which are often a major factor
in attracting and retaining staff.
Combining internal and external
placemaking can create a complete
experience for employees.
Relatively straightforward measures
include making better use of
common areas at the building
entrance. These areas should
function as a source of inspiration,
rather than just a lobby or hallway.
By adding F&B or art installations,
permeable small scale public spaces
can be created. These areas can be
linked to outdoor areas featuring
street furniture, vegetation, paths,
cafes, exhibitions and so on, which
could also provide opportunities for
community engagement.
should not only fulfill the functional
needs of office users, but should
also improve their psychological and
social wellbeing. While discussion
in this report so far has been largely
focused on internal workplace
design, it is equally important to look
beyond the physical confines of the
office to its external surroundings
and look at ways to strengthen
employees’ sense of belonging to
the community.
The adoption of mobile working
means the quality of the space
outside a building is becoming
more important than ever. Areas
surrounding a building or spaces
between buildings can be utilised
as part of a network of workspaces,
providing employees an even greater
choice of locations and settings to
work and socialise.
When a building does not have
sufficient internal common area to
accommodate amenities, external
locations can be used to house
facilities catering to staff and
help build a sense of community.
Examples include outdoor furniture
and dedicated areas for events,
games and performances. Where
possible, these areas should be
linked to other amenities such as
F&B, gyms and entertainment areas,
The next step is to integrate
the building into its immediate
surroundings. Since most office
buildings are standalone entities
and are separate from one another,
there are opportunities to create an
“arrival experience” long before an
employee arrives in their workplace.
Poor or non-existent connections
between a building and its
immediate locality can weaken the
arrival experience. Good urban
design can add value to real estate
by facilitating the coordination
of public transport, public space,
pedestrian routes and amenities.
General design guidelines to
integrate a building into its vicinity
are illustrated in (Figure 7.
Figure 7: Connecting the indoors to the outdoors
Accessibility Visual and physical connection with other public
spaces, public transportation and buildings
Walkability Easily walkable to and from the surrounding business
precinct, promote active streets and pedestrianisation
Community Provide a wide range of amenities and leisure areas for
social activities and events
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
4.
Impact on the Landlord-Tenant
Relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

Case Study – International Towers Sydney in Barangaroo South, Sydney
7
https://www.barangaroosouth.com.au/news-and-updates/lend-lease-celebrates-a-high-point-at-tower-2-international-towers-sydney
8
http://www.rsh-p.com/assets/lib/2016/07/12/6120_BarangarooTowers_JS_en.pdf
The International Towers Sydney
comprises three buildings in
Barangaroo South in the Walsh
Bay precinct of the Sydney CBD.
Barangaroo South is part of the
22-hectare Barangaroo renewal
project and is being positioned as
a business precinct with residential
and leisure components. Lendlease
was selected as the developer for
Barangaroo South in 2009 by the
Barangaroo Delivery Authority
on behalf of the New South
Wales Government.
The three towers were designed by
Lord Rogers and Ivan Harbour of
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and
provide approximately 270,000 sq. m.
of large floor plate, premium-grade
office space7
. The three towers have
attracted international investors
including the Hong Kong Monetary
Authority, Qatar Investment
Authority, Canadian Pension Plan
Investment Board and Dutch pension
fund APG, which have all co-
invested with Lendlease.
To minimise the impact of cars,
the three towers share a common
basement accessed from a
single point of entrance, leaving
the surrounding streets largely
pedestrianised8
. This creates a
vibrant and safe public space to
foster a community with direct links to
residential apartments, hotels, shops,
cafes, restaurants and metro stations.
50% of the site area of Barangaroo
is allocated to public space and
including urban parks, a waterfront
plaza, a harbour cove, public piers,
waterfront promenades, boardwalks,
public squares, streets and laneways.
The entire 2.2 km Barangaroo
waterfront is fully accessible to
the public.
All tenants on the site intend to
implement ABW. As a logical extension
there are a diversity of workplaces
spread throughout public spaces to
allow people to work outside their
corporate premises but remaining
within the precinct.
The International Towers Sydney and
Barangaroo South will not only be a
new business district for Sydney, but will
provide a high quality of life for those
who live, work and play there.
The three towers have already
attracted global anchor tenants
including Westpac, KPMG, Lendlease,
PwC, HSBC, Swiss Re, Gilbert + Tobin
and Marsh & McLennan Servcorp9
.
Major tenants include:
Tower One (open end 2016)-
PwC, HSBC, Marsh & McLennan
Servcorp
Tower Two (opened 1 July 2015)-
Westac, Swiss Re, Gilbert + Tobin
Tower Three (open mid to late
2016)- KPMG, Lendlease
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
16
4.
relationship
2.

17
will impact the landlord-tenant
relationship. Just as a company
must provide an appealing
workplace to attract and retain
employees, a landlord must
provide an attractive building to
sign and retain tenants.
This is particularly true for landlords
of older office buildings which may
struggle to compete with newer
properties. Apart from offering lower
rents or providing longer free rent
periods, landlords should consult
tenants to ascertain their most
desirable amenities or facilities. Best
practice examples include Chiswick
Park in West London, where the
landlord is working closely with
tenants to build and maintain a
community through a comprehensive
programme of activities, art and
culture events. Amenities include a
wide range of restaurants, cafés,
bars and a large multi-purpose
outdoor event space featuring a
lake, waterfall and boardwalk. A
fitness club, swimming pool, cycling
and pedestrian routes are also
provided. Tenants at Chiswick Park
report a high employee retention rate
and better productivity.
CBRE Research believes the coming
years will see the landlord-tenant
relationship move beyond a
straightforward contract based on a
lease to more of a partnership type
agreement with the common goal
of providing a satisfying workplace
experience for employees.
Key to this will be landlords
maintaining regular and open
communication with tenants to
understand their needs beyond
basic property management. They
will have to deliver more complete
solutions for their tenants and help
4. Impact on the landlord-tenant relationship
Open lines of
communication
to understand and
cater to tenants’
requirements beyond
basic property
management
Create a sense
of community
by providing
communal space
within and outside
buildings
their tenants create an attractive
working environment for
their employees.
Building a community will also be
crucial. Occupiers will demand
that landlords provide them with a
work environment that helps them
create a sense of community and
fosters a sense of belonging, which
in turn will aid them in attracting and
retaining talent. Landlords can do
this by equipping their buildings with
a full range of amenities or holding
community events.
Figure 8. Future landlord-tenant partnership
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
4.
relationship
2.
How sharing and
way we work

18
To survive in a rapidly changing world, corporations not only need great
talent; they need inspired people who are given the tools, encourage-
ment and freedom to perform in the best way possible. The physical
workplace environment can play a critical role in not just attracting and
retaining talent, but helping employees to be successful and productive.
Talent scarcity is a challenge, and companies who understand this are
already transforming their physical workplace to drive talent attraction,
strengthen employee engagement and boost employee wellness.
Don’t be fooled by fads - there is no single right workplace solution. Equally,
there are only a few basic choices that a corporation needs to make to align
its workplace strategy with its business needs. Key considerations include the
degree of mobility needed to support work inside and outside premises; the
value of providing a choice of diverse settings; and weighing up the need for
personalisation and ownership of settings versus the need to maximise diversity
and organisational agility. The key is putting people at the centre of the process
of making these decisions.
Building owners need to work in closer alignment with tenants to create new
leasing options that provide greater ability for tenants to manage volatile head-
counts. These can include mixing core leased spaces with short term alternative
working places and other facilities that enhance the experience of people using
the building and the surrounding precinct. More than just providing spaces,
those owners can provide events and experiences that enhance the everyday
experience of building users.
The easiest things to measure are often the least important, and the most
important things to measure are often the most difficult to measure. Whilst it is
important to control, or sometimes reduce, the cost of creating and operating
workplaces, it is also critical to understand the value that workplaces create in
terms of attracting, retaining, motivating and enabling a workforce. That value
proposition is unique to every organisation and deserves thorough considera-
tion and alignment with overall business objectives and aspirations.
Workplace matters.
5. Conclusion
5.
Conclusion
1.
People-centered
workplace strategy
3.
organisation?
4.
relationship
2.

19
Bibliography
AMP Capital, The Workplace Fingerprint of the Future (AMP, 2016)
CBRE, Asia Pacific Occupiers’ Fit-Out Cost Guide. (CBRE, 2015)
CBRE, Global Occupier Survey 2015/2016 (CBRE, 2016)
CBRE, Space Utilisation: The Next Frontier (CBRE, 2015)
Citrix, Workplace of the Future report (2012)
Manpower Group, 2015 Talent Shortage Survey (Manpower Group, 2015)
• https://www.csuchico.edu/eap/docs/empathia-advisor2014-04-IntrovertsExtroverts_
and_the_Workplace.pdf
• https://www.barangaroosouth.com.au/news-and-updates/lend-lease-celebrates-a-
high-point-at-tower-2-international-towers-sydney
• http://www.rsh-p.com/assets/lib/2016/07/12/6120_BarangarooTowers_JS_en.pdf
• http://www.lendlease.com/projects/barangaroo-south/?id=b7d8e348-d6fa-45f3-
be0e-e502b5aba8a7
DISCLAIMER
Utilisation data contained herein has been obtained from CBRE MOBY, our proprietary mobility profiling software. The data
includes studies of 14 countries; 36 cities; 77 clients; 63,235 workpoints; and 3,315,170 observations. While we do not doubt its
accuracy, the sample size varies for each country, city and industry resulting in varying degrees of level of confidence in the results
in drawing out conclusions. These results should be treated as indicative of the broad industry trends.

CONTACTS
RESEARCH
Henry Chin, Ph.D.
Head of Research, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 8160
Henry.chin@cbre.com.hk
Ada Choi, CFA
Senior Director, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 2871
Ada.choi@cbre.com.hk
Jonathan Hills
Director, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 2881
Jonathan.hills@cbre.com.hk
Jason Chiang
Manager, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 8151
Jason.chiang@cbre.com.hk
Cynthia Chan
Manager, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 2839
Cynthia.chan@cbre.com.hk
GLOBAL WORKPLACE
SOLUTIONS
Phil Rowland
Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 8122
Phil.rowland@cbre.com.hk
Peter Smyth
Managing Director, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 8181
Peter.smyth@cbre.com.hk
ADVISORY &
TRANSACTION SERVICES
Manish Kashyap
Regional Managing Director,
Asia Pacific
+65 6326 1220
Manish.kashyap@cbre.com.sg
Rohini Saluja
Executive Director, Asia Pacific
+65 6326 1665
Rohini.saluja@cbre.com.sg
Paul Hubbard-Brown
Executive Director, Asia Pacific
+852 2820 2843
Paul.HubbardBrown@cbre.com.hk
Peter Andrew
Senior Director, Asia Pacific
+65 6326 1677
Peter.andrew@cbre.com.sg
Josh Bank
+65 6326 1606
Josh.bank@cbre.com.sg
Mukesh Hemrajani
+65 6229 1107
Mukesh.hemrajani@cbre.com.sg
CBRE RESEARCH
This report was prepared by the CBRE Asia Pacific Research Team, which forms part of CBRE Research—a network of preeminent researchers who
collaborate to provide real estate market research and econometric forecasting to real estate.
© CBRE Ltd. 2016 Information contained herein, including projections, has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. While we do not doubt its
accuracy, we have not verified it and make no guarantee, warranty or representation about it. It is your responsibility to confirm independently its accuracy
and completeness. This information is presented exclusively for use by CBRE clients and professionals and all rights to the material are reserved and
cannot be reproduced without prior written permission of CBRE.
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