In today’s world, businesses are increasingly looking at how they can gain advantage in the war for talent. As a landlord, I’m naturally interested in the role buildings can play.
It is an area I believe many people working in office development just don’t consider. We get distracted by the need to focus on funding, construction techniques, leasing and asset management.
While developers and landlords are far more customer-friendly than in the days when achieving a 25-year lease was the sole focus, I believe we are still not clear about the connection between the working environment we provide and its role as a business tool for our customers.
Call it the “missing link”, if you like – I don’t believe our industry has even begun to communicate the potential buildings have to give companies an edge when recruiting and retaining the finest people.
With the UK employment rate having risen to a record high of almost 75%, and average pay growing by 3% over the past year, the role buildings can play is more important than ever. And with the millennial generation (born between 1980 and 2000) set to form 50% of the global workforce by 2020, it will be crucial for employers to understand their wants and needs.
So at British Land we have been exploring in more depth the link between the workplace and its ability to support our customers in recruitment and retention. It has given us a fascinating insight into our customers’ world.
We polled more than 1,000 UK office workers early this year, with 52% of those polled working for large companies and 48% being London-based. The findings were very interesting.
People are on the move like never before: 67% say they definitely will or might change jobs in 2016, while half are actively looking for a new job. Of all those polled, 39% of millennials claim they will definitely change jobs in 2016, compared with just 16% of those aged over 50.
Workers are looking for more from their employers: 86% say they would stay longer with an employer that had the ideal office location and features, and 80% agree that companies that don’t offer convenient locations and features to employees are more likely to lose them.
So the physical environment really sways employment decisions: 84% say that, when deciding between similar jobs, the office location and features the building offers can help them to choose.
Generation Y is moving to find the right office surroundings: 53% of millennials have “previously moved jobs to benefit from the office location or better features” – more than double the number of people polled who were aged 50 or more and had moved.
Here at British Land we have found that altering and improving the physical environment lifts spirits immeasurably, both through our own work on the refurbishment of our York House HQ and that of our management company, Broadgate Estates, which last year moved to new offices – The Hub at our Paddington Central campus.
At York House the upgrade has allowed enhanced collaboration across teams, particularly through better breakout space, more meeting rooms and a brighter, fresher environment. As many as 95% of staff feel the new office space has a positive effect on workplace culture, compared with 55% before the refit.
At Broadgate Estates the team has relished their move to Paddington, with improved public realm, a canal-side setting and an events programme – a massive wow factor, according to staff feedback.
We have carried out extensive work in future-proofing our office estate – in particular, ensuring that we are catering to the needs of a new generation of occupiers.
It partly explains why we have had success at Regents Place in leasing to companies such as Facebook, and why we are remodelling the Broadgate campus we own with GIC to appeal to tech companies migrating into the City from Shoreditch, and media companies from the West End, as well as our traditional financial customers.
At Paddington we are now introducing more daylight to the campus’s offices, plus yoga, pilates and a range of other activities for occupiers. Bike storage, click-and-collect facilities, on-site gyms and a healthy working environment are all being encouraged.
We know from our ongoing research that there is significant potential for buildings to lift the performance of the people working within them, and that in the current battle for talent this is more important than ever before.
Increasingly people look for benefits that mirror the way they live their lives. Developers and landlords need to support occupiers in the war for talent by creating a working environment that gives them the edge.
Tim Roberts is head of offices and residential, British Land
