Corporate real estate asset management : aligned vision

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between corporate strategy and corporate real estate (CRE) strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper will identify, and evaluate, a number of components that collectively form the CRE strategy. Linkages between the business environment, the aims and objectives of the organisation and the real estate solution will be explored. Findings – The paper will illustrate the alignment of the CRE strategy to the corporate strategy through the development of a CRE alignment model. The model will demonstrate that only when optimum alignment is achieved can the CRE strategy deliver added value and enhanced organisational performance. Practical implications – CRE managers can use the model to evaluate the alignment of their CRE strategy with their corporate strategy. Originality/value – The paper fills a void by proposing a framework that seeks to identify the true impact of real estate to business by examining the benefits of optimal alignment between, planet, position, purpose, place, paradigm, processes and people to produce performance and productivity.</p

Office design for the multi-generational knowledge workforce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact the workplace can have on knowledge working for a multi-generational workforce. Design/methodology/approach – A case study analysis is undertaken of Leeds City Council (LCC) workplace in the UK. Findings – The findings from the study show that in the context of LCC there are some key differences between the generations regarding knowledge working preferences for formal/informal meeting spaces. In other aspects, such as knowledge sharing, the generations appear to agree on key aspects such as mentoring and team-based working environments. Practical implications – Corporate real estate managers can use the research findings to assist them in providing a range of workplace settings to enhance multi-generational interaction. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in current research by evaluating workplace preferences based on generational differences.</p

The impact of generational differences on the workplace

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore workplace implications of the changing workforce demographic. Design/methodology/approach – The author identifies the different generations in today's workforce. The workplace expectations of the different generations are explored. Findings – Corporate real estate (CRE) managers need to establish the different needs of the different generations. In addition, the CRE manager needs to create an environment that allows all generations to coexist in the same workplace. Practical implications – CRE managers can use the information to assist in alignment of their workplace to the different generational expectations of the workforce. Originality/value – The paper fills a void by evaluating office occupiers' workplace preferences based on age.</p

The impact of office comfort on productivity

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact that office comfort has on office occupiers’ productivity. Design/methodology/approach – The author evaluates the literature that claims to make a linkage between the physical comfort of the office environment and the effect on the productivity of the office occupiers. Office comfort will initially be discussed as a generic concept and subsequently be broken down into sub-components. Findings – The review of the literature reveals that the evaluation of office comfort is a complex one. There appears to be no universally accepted definition of office comfort, and there is a clear lack of agreement as to how office comfort should be measured. This paper establishes that, there is enough evidence to support the claim that office comfort can affect productivity. Originality/value – This paper adds to the debate by identifying the need for a common and universally accepted measurement of office comfort. It is proposed that this can largely be achieved by evaluating office comfort with a multi-item scale, and adopting an office occupier perspective to any future research.</p

Examining the building selection decision-making process within corporate relocations : to design and evaluate a client focused tool to support objective decision making

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to consider the complex decision-making process involved in corporate relocation and the validity of a tool designed to improve the objectivity and strategic management of this process and to change the focus of the decision upon the strategic management objectives rather than the real estate deal. Design/methodology/approach – The authors identify the progression of the decision-making process; disaggregate components of that process; and evaluate a tool designed to improve the decision-making process. Findings – The size of the organisation can have a significant impact on the building evaluation and decision-making process, smaller firms with less resources are more likely to make the relocation decision based on “gut feeling” rather than detailed evaluation. However, with increased transparency, accountability and corporate social responsibility, decisions based on more rigorous and objective approaches are being demanded. The evaluated tool facilitates a more objective approach and shifts the focus from a real estate to a business decision. Practical implications – Corporate real estate managers can use the information to evaluate their own decision-making processes against the framework of the tool and decide if it may be applicable to their context. Originality/value – The paper fills a void by examining the decision-making process from a fresh perspective, updates the thinking by providing a contemporary tool which has been beta tested with students and is about to be piloted with corporate clients.</p

The impact of office layout on productivity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact office layout has on office occupiers' productivity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper evaluates the literature that claims to make a linkage between the office layout and the effect on office occupiers' productivity. Two main themes are developed. First, the literature that links office layout to work patterns is evaluated, and second, the open-plan office vs cellular office debate is developed. Findings – The review of the literature reveals that the connection between the three major components of office layout, office occupiers' work patterns and productivity is not clearly established. Originality/value – The paper establishes that there is a requirement to link together office layout to the work patterns of office occupiers. It is only when the connection is made between the office layout and the office occupiers' work patterns that productivity gains can be achieved. To support the different work patterns undertaken, the facilities manager can create office environments that consist of a balance between private space and communal shared space. The amount of balance will be very much dependent on the mix of the work patterns in the office.</p

Employee-workplace alignment: employee characteristics and perceived workplace requirements

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the employee characteristics which are most strongly associated with perceived requirements for different aspects of the workplace environment. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was completed by 364 employees from a large private-sector organisation. Respondents were surveyed on different work-related, personality and demographic characteristics. They then completed a series of items measuring perceived requirements for four aspects of the workplace environment (workspace segregation, workspace territoriality, individual environmental control and aesthetic quality). Associations between employee characteristics and perceived workplace requirements were explored using multiple regression analyses. Findings – Numerous significant associations emerged. For example, the requirement for more segregated workspaces was associated with higher susceptibility to distraction, and the requirement for higher workspace territoriality was associated with less positive perceptions regarding the impact of flexible working on work effectiveness. Originality/value – The individual difference factors which moderate satisfaction with the workplace environment have received relatively little attention in past research. The present study addresses this knowledge gap by including a wider range of employee characteristics and comprehensively investigating which of these most strongly predict differences in perceived requirements for the workplace

Salutogenic Workplace Design: A conceptual framework for supporting sense of coherence through environmental resources.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss opportunities for health promotion through the workplace environment, adopting a ‘salutogenic’ perspective of health which more explicitly focuses on factors that support human health and wellbeing, as opposed to factors which cause disease. Design/Methodology/Approach: In the introduction, the salutogenic model of health and the Environmental Demands-Resources model are discussed, providing a conceptual framework to represent the workplace environment as a composite of pathogenic ‘demands’ and salutogenic ‘resources’. Subsequently, a narrative review is performed to discuss the existing literature from the perspective of this novel framework, identifying environmental resources which might strengthen the three components of an employee’s ‘sense of coherence’ (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness), an individual orientation associated with more positive health outcomes. Findings: Comprehensibility can be supported by effectively implementing a clear set of rules governing the use of the workplace. Manageability can be supported through biophilic design solutions, and through design which supports social cohesion and physical activity. Meaningfulness can be supported by recognising the importance of personal identity expression and through design which reinforces the employees’ sense of purpose. Originality/Value: The salutogenic perspective is a potentially valuable but relatively under-considered paradigm in workplace practice. The key contribution of this paper is to encourage researchers and practitioners to recognise the crucial role that an individual’s sense of coherence plays in supporting higher levels of physical and mental health, so that they increase their ability to provide truly ‘healthy’ workplaces, capable of promoting health as well as minimising the risk of disease. The emerging healthy workplaces movement is primarily concerned with the pathogenic (harm-causing) potential of the office environment. The quality of the indoor workplace environment may contain numerous contributors towards ill health (see Al Horr et al., 2016, for review), partly as a result of the cost reduction paradigm which pervades workplace practice, in which space efficiency is prioritised above occupant requirements (Haynes, 2007a). As such, recent certification schemes for optimising heath and wellbeing in the built environment (e.g., the WELL Building Standard; International WELL Building Institute, 2018) largely focus on improving indoor environmental quality through strategies such as the minimisation of airborne pollutants and by reducing various sources of environmental discomfort. In this paper, we will argue that the mitigation of pathogenic environmental components is a necessary but not sufficient step towards the goal of providing truly healthy workplaces. We suggest that it is equally important to consider salutogenic (health-promoting) aspects of the workplace environment, in order to more suitably answer calls for more enabling paradigms in workplace practice (Haynes, 2007a). The distinction between harm-causing and health-promoting factors echoes the World Health Organisation’s (1948) definition of health as a “state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, and also has parallels with the distinction between ‘languishing’ (the presence of mental illness) and ‘flourishing’ (the presence of positive emotions) in the positive psychology movement (Keyes, 2002). In recognition of the fact that the majority of workplace research has tended to be largely atheoretical and segmented by discipline (Sander et al., 2018), we believe future research and practice should be more explicitly designed in accordance with relevant conceptual frameworks. Accordingly, in this paper we explicate two conceptual frameworks to support understanding of the salutogenic potential of the workplace environment. First, we discuss the salutogenic model of health (Antonovsky, 1987), which has received good empirical support in healthcare disciplines. Second, we present the Environmental Demands-Resources (ED-R) model as a way of illustrating the pathogenic and salutogenic aspects of the workplace environment, and how they can be determined through the dynamic employee-workplace relationship