How Corp Real Estate Professionals Add Value
In a recent article featured in the Facilities Management Journal, it was reported that only 27% of Facility Management (FM) and CRE property teams are using the full advantage of smart technology in serving and maintaining their buildings. Read below to see the top three things important to CRE professionals as they seek to provide value to their organizations to help the employees return to a safe workplace environment.
Accelerate Technology - CRE Facilities Management is a relatively young profession, having begun in the 1970s. It was one of the first industries to implement IoT, but it still has not fully digitized the workplace with technology. AI can be the technology that combines automation and artificial intelligence (AI) together to create workplaces that respond in real-time to anticipate employees’ needs and respond to those needs on-demand to create a better employee experience and more efficient operation. The acceleration in the adoption of new technologies is being driven by the realization of cost improvements, efficiency improvements, improvements in building reliability and tenant retention.
Supplier Diversity - Another technology-driven trend that is seen by the CRE FM leaders is that technology offers the opportunity for organizations to develop a more diverse and inclusive supply chain, which may be managed centrally, but they’re delivered locally. So, understanding that diverse supplier base and how they’re delivering those services and operating within the ecosystem of FM services is possible in ways it wasn’t before. CRE FM can now have visibility into first-tier providers and second-tier providers and tools to manage the performance of those vendors. "We’re seeing that leveraging technology to bring together efficiencies is the most important tool in FM today," noted Tamara Alexander-Johnson, Principal CREAS.
The Hybrid Workplace - The technologies that enable the hybrid workplace are many, and at this point, a comprehensive platform for managing the hybrid workplace is lacking. On the CRE FM side, the challenge is to manage the demand and supply related to reduced or limited office space and meeting space to enhance the employee experience for a flexible workforce. New hybrid models have emerged, starting with the rebalancing of the leased vs owned ratio of the portfolio. In some instances, landlords are providing flexible overflow space for tenants that can be accessed on an ad hoc basis for coworking. There are also on-demand models that involve office space, hotel rooms, meeting rooms and a variety of employee services. What this means is that real estate organizations don’t have to provide for every eventuality. They can find innovative partners that solve their unique hybrid workplace challenges.
Reach out to Corporate RE Advisory Services to learn what YOU can do today to plan for the future, and how to utilize a strategic CRE Service Delivery Model for your commercial real estate portfolio.
