Flexibility: the key to a new work order

When it comes to attracting and retaining talent, creating a flexible and inclusive workplace is vital. There is a new work order and if business – and real estate in particular – is to continue to attract the best in the market, it needs to make sure it is delivering the goods. “We’re all in the same competition for talented people and the talent that is coming through today is not going to accept the ways of working of the past,” says Virginia Clegg, senior partner at DAC Beachcroft. “For us that is a key part of our talent strategy, understanding what it is that people want.” And what people want from the workplace today is flexibility. Not just flexibility of the physical space but the flexibility to work when and wherever they like and whomever they like. “Flexibility is key,” says British Land’s head of retail asset management Matt Reed. “The workplace environment is incredibly important to enabling people to work in the way they want to work.” For Gensler design director Valeria Segovia, when that way of working involves a physical workspace, what people want is an opportunity to overlap and collaborate. “Because of technology and how much we are connected to our phones, iPads and computers, what people are now looking for in the workplace is to connect,” says Segovia. “One of the key elements that I never see going away in an office is those areas of overlaps. Those areas of exchange, where people bump into each other, where people can feel that they are part of something.” But creating that space and culture of connectivity in a workplace where apprentices aged 18 may be sat next to employees aged 70 or more is challenging. For Clegg, it is about being mindful to the individual needs of employees and providing a variety of workplace settings. Louise Kennison, head of people development and engagement at Swan Housing Group, agrees. “We do a millennials events to find out what they want. It is about understanding their social purpose. They don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t provide meaning to their life.” “If you think about it, millennials are now in their thirties and the next generation, the Gen Zs, they are wired completely differently,” says Segovia. “If you think about music for instance, they don’t want to own anything. They don’t even want to own the tracks in their laptops. “They want Spotify, they want to be able to listen to anything and everything whenever they want. The same with TV and films, they just don’t want to have anything. No digital clutter. I think that says a lot in terms of their behaviour and their take on life. “It’s a very different generation and that says a lot in terms of workplace. That tells you they’re not going to be having all this stuff at their desks. They want to be able to connect with people, touch on certain things that are going to make them happier or feel more fulfilled. They want to feel that they are making a change.” “What we know is that if you treat people as individuals and are respectful of their work/life balance and the choices they wish to make, then you breed loyalty,” says DAC Beachcroft’s Clegg. “If you can keep people, really good people, by adapting your approach and response to what they need, you will breed that loyalty.” Part of being respectful of work/life balance is allowing for career breaks, be that for personal time out or for children and managing the return to work. “I’ve had various forms of parental leave,” says BL’s Reed. “Having that quality of time with my children has enabled my wife to refocus on starting her own company, which she’s wanted to do for some time but it also gave me time with my children that I perhaps wouldn’t have been able to have.” But taking time off didn’t come naturally for Reed, who explained that while the business had no concerns, he started asking questions about how extended leave might affect his career and what other people might think of him for taking time off. He had nothing to fear, of course, his team survived without him and coming back to work was smooth because of the support structure that BL had put in place. “So much changes when you take two weeks’ holiday so you can imagine what it is like when someone has a year off,” adds Swan’s Kennison. “The company has usually fundamentally changed. What we do at Swan is treat returners as a new employee. We will induct them, we will retrain them. It is particularly important to do because you lose most people in that first year. If it is not done right then you will lose your key talent.” For Clegg, the new work order is about delivering more than just words. It requires action, understanding, the ability for people to safely talk about what has – and importantly, hasn’t – worked and full and total buy-in from the top down. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette