“A significant overhead, and in many cases the largest, for a company is the cost of its people. Increasingly companies want to maximise the return on human capital by providing workspaces that promote choice, collaboration and high levels of employee satisfaction, to attract the best staff and to support their brand. Likewise, employees want a voice – whether that’s the location of work, flexible working or a say in the office layout. This means there is ongoing recognition that the workplace must provide a high quality experience to entice and retain staff.

“It’s therefore not surprising that 74% of companies report having a wellness programme, two thirds see labour and skills as important factors in global location strategies, and a further 67% believe deploying a workplace strategy enables better collaboration with customers and colleagues.”

“In recent years we’ve seen some substantial shifts regarding corporate real estate (CRE) strategy drivers. Companies have lived through the recession and, at varying speeds, recovery. For a while cost management dominated, and then as conditions eased workforce issues and growth came to the fore.

“Today, we are seeing that both agendas are still important but the next challenge is more complex. Companies need to fine tune policies to optimise the performance of both people and space. In an environment where economic uncertainty is still a concern, and the CRE function is looking to become more aligned with strategic business objectives, the need for accurate and smart performance data analytics will grow.”