Businesses are competing fiercely in the battle for talent, and the very best companies are constantly looking for meaningful angles to gain and retain top performers – cue the perk economy.
With workplace amenity now seen as a given, perks have emerged as the key differentiator for landlords, occupiers and end-users alike.
This was one of three key themes shaping the future of occupier decision making identified in CBRE’s new Australian Office Occupier Survey report, based on a survey of 272 office occupiers across Australia.
CBRE’s Pacific Head of Workplace Strategy, Nicole Fitzgerald said tenant demands and expectations of the workplace had evolved in the three years since CBRE’s first Occupier Survey, with workplace amenity and employee perks having grown in importance as factors driving property decisions.
“Added-value perks are becoming as important as more traditional workplace amenity, with 69% of respondents identifying increased amenity as an important factor when choosing head office accommodation and a rising 47% of respondents indicating that perks inform this decision making,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“However, while the availability of perks – such as meditation, education seminars, wine tasting and volunteering opportunities – was seen as an important driver in choosing a suitable landlord, only 6% of respondents thought their building manager was adequately delivering these initiatives in their building.”
CBRE’s National Director of Client Solutions Suzette Lamont said the response signaled a gap between the occupier demand for perks and how these perks are successfully being delivered.
“An opportunity exists for landlords to fill the perk void with a well-curated program of events and initiatives that resonates with their buildings’ communities,” Ms Lamont added.
“We do this through a systematic way of polling what people want, rather than trying to offer them something they don’t.”
The distinction between amenity and perks is how they relate to the end-user. An amenity is anything pertaining to the built form, including high-quality end-of-trip facilities, lobby cafés and shared rooftop gardens.
Perks pertain to wellness initiatives (on-site gyms, exercise classes, healthy food options) along with experience and concierge offerings that provide access to personal services, events and programs – like running groups and learning opportunities, which fall into the ‘Of Mind’ and ‘Social and Community’ categories and have catapulted in importance in the three years since the first survey.
Ms Lamont noted that while some landlords would be put off by the difficulty in measuring return on investment, participation rates and satisfaction surveys would provide the data required to prove value to the end-user; the key was engaging with building communities to best satisfy their needs.
The survey also revealed that changing market conditions, including the ongoing rise of flexible working practices and an increasing reliance on the gig economy, were driving the need for flexibility and space-as-a-service, and that the possibilities afforded by data and technology were yet to be harnessed effectively by landlords.
Ms Fitzgerald said the increased demand for flexible workspace solutions would sit alongside, rather than overtake, demand for fixed space, and that landlords should move to embrace the occupiers’ desire to access this flexibility.
“Landlords that also utilise advanced analytics will be able to better support and engage with occupiers in tracking and improving productivity and space optimisation, extending their value beyond that of the traditional tenant/landlord relationship and positioning them as an integral partner in their occupiers’ workplace strategy and decision-making process,” Ms Fitzgerald added.
Since its inaugural edition in 2016, the survey has grown to include nearly three times as many respondents and a broader sample of occupier size and location, providing greater insight from tenants in suburban office markets and business parks, as well as revealing trends at the smaller end of the market – tenants sub-1,000sqm.
The report offers actionable insights to help occupiers attract and retain talent and for landlords to attract and retain tenants, while making sense of the changing headwinds impacting occupier needs.
Download the CBRE report here.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2018 revenue). The company has more than 90,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate investors and occupiers through more than 480 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
