Embedding flexible working into long term strategy
BY ELLIOTT SPARSIS CONVENE.COM
We spoke to Elliott Sparsis (Head of UK) of Convene, to get his view on the future of flex. Convene is a premium work experience platform that includes a network of 25+ meeting, event, and office locations, digital meeting technology, and solutions to reimagine the use of commercial real estate.
Like everyone else, the flex sector is having to weather the deep shock that was triggered by COVID-19 with the accompanying re-negotiations with both tenants and landlords. For some players, this has caused difficulties with maintaining portfolios, balance sheets and staff levels.
At Convene we have used this time to recalibrate the business and we have evolved to offer a new suite of digital and physical products and solutions that span workplace, meetings and events, amenities, and remote work.
Changing management styles and hierarchies have been accelerated. Line-of-sight management isn’t currently possible, which has demonstrated that it is not an absolute necessity. This style of management has always been the biggest barrier to alternative workplace strategies and COVID-19 has forced its removal. We predict a new-found acceptance of outcome-based management styles and this will be the real catalyst for fundamental office changes, not employees preferring to work from home.
Our focus at Convene is very much on the future of work and we see that as hybrid working, with about a third of the workforce working from the office, a third working from home and a third working in a third space, at any given time.
COVID-19 is fuelling the consumerisation of real estate, where choice and flexibility and empowering the individual is prioritised. This has broad implications for the office sector when employees become the customers of companies that need to nurture brand loyalty and engagement in the workplace.
Companies know they need to meet new demands for flexibility from their workforce in order to remain competitive in the war for talent. In the short term, delivering a safe and healthy working environment is a priority, and delivering an amenity-rich offering in the long-term are key, both of which premium flex operators such as Convene excel at. London and the UK need to remain competitive on the global stage and while it’s a hugely challenging time for so many, it is also a time of opportunity. We see it less about returning to the office, as we’ve known it, and rather an exciting time for the real estate industry to evolve.
We believe there will be three places to work, the traditional central HQ, home and a third space, with all three operating seamlessly with technology being at the forefront of this transition, ensuring that firms can blend in-person and digital working.
We see workforces becoming more geographically distributed, opening new and lower cost talent acquisition opportunities, and giving more personal freedom to when and where work is completed. There will be a shift towards goal-related outcomes, as opposed to hours worked.
We know that demand for flex space is on the rise in core suburban markets, which are also incidentally home to a proliferation of freelancers, so there will undoubtedly be some level of shift outside of big city centres.
Landlords want a partner who can help redefine how their properties can best serve all building tenants and the surrounding business community, whilst bringing greater long-term value to the asset. Rather than being just a tenant, flex space operators can act as a preferred partner to property owners by achieving these objectives.
Every Convene Meetings and WorkPlace location is structured as a partnership, beyond just a traditional lease structure. Depending on the deal, owners can both benefit from Convene’s core products and share in the financial upsides. We’ve seen that Convene can be an amenity to all the building tenants and therefore is helpful in lease-up. In fact, in many of the properties we’re currently in, Convene was brought in as part of the building’s repositioning.
The key to understanding how companies might use flex space is in the name itself, meaning with complete flexibility. The beauty of flex is that companies can quickly change their footprint as and when needed to support their new agile workforce and this, of course, means a range of contractual arrangements with workspace providers.
Moving forward, companies will give employees additional flexibility to access third spaces and co-working spaces near their homes – likely through membership to a network of spaces, perhaps including more than one brand.