- CRE owners need to create a seamless workplace experience if they want to get workers out of their home offices and back into their buildings.
- Engagement is key—but bringing your workplace into the 21st century requires a deeper understanding of the needs of the modern professional.
- Lane’s ‘Beyond Tenant Engagement’ guide shares how CRE leaders can leverage technology to transform their buildings into a space where professionals can connect, commune, and collaborate seamlessly.
This article was written by Clinton Robinson, CEO & Cofounder of Lane.
The landscape of work is changing rapidly. Remote work has become increasingly popular with professionals during the pandemic and, as a result, office buildings are no longer competing with each other for leases—they’re competing with the home office.
So how does CRE compete with people’s homes—environments that are cultivated to suit every individual’s specific lifestyle? It may sound like a difficult—or even impossible—task. That’s why Lane created a guide to help CRE leadership implement strategies that go beyond tenant engagement, to create a more seamless, intuitive, and enjoyable workplace experience.
Our digital-first guide, ‘Beyond Tenant Engagement’ is aimed at giving CRE leadership the right tools and technologies to enhance tenant experience and drive long-term retention. All it requires is a deeper understanding of what modern professionals want (and have come to expect) from their workplace experience.
Below, we’ll break down some key features of the guide, and explain how you can leverage technology to transform your building into a space where professionals can connect, commune, and collaborate seamlessly.
What Does a Modern Workplace Experience Look Like?
Modern office workers are no longer satisfied with traditional building engagement tactics like events, promotions, and content. They’re looking for a holistic workplace experience. From opening doors to booking rooms, a workplace experience platform has the power to transform every touchpoint in the office.
In our guide, we explain that tenant engagement is limited because it is used as a supplement or bonus on top of an existing experience.
What do we mean by this?
With tenant engagement, CRE leadership are attempting to appease professionals with frills and perks, rather than address the challenges and pain points that make day-to-day office life more difficult.
Now more than ever, professionals are seeking to transform their day-to-day experiences, and mould them to suit their specific lifestyles. Not only has the remote work revolution created a demand for spaces that allow for more flexibility and autonomy, the workforce is growing increasingly millennial.
A younger, more tech-driven workforce means higher expectations when it comes to automating and digitizing certain sticky touchpoints that make up the workday.
A workplace experience platform allows you to live up to these expectations by automating, integrating, and advancing existing processes so that the modern professional can focus on meaningful tasks and relationships at work, without channelling energy into the minutiae of everyday work-life.
How Can Workplace Technology Help?
We know that in contrast to ‘tenant engagement’, workplace experience describes the sum total of touchpoints, interactions, and experiences a professional has throughout their workday. It also refers to how an individual professional engages with their community at work—how they collaborate, communicate, and share space.
How can technology serve as a catalyst in creating a more seamless and organic workplace experience? One that not only eases pain points and friction throughout the workday, but also helps professionals thrive within their workplace community?
First off, there are many simple tools that a workplace experience platform can implement, which have the power to address all of those difficult touchpoints that fail to live up to the expectations of the modern professional.
Consider building access.
In a traditional framework, a professional uses a physical fob or keycard to enter the building. If they lose their entry pass, a paper-laden process must be initiated to replace it. When they want to have guests visit the building, they have to inform security ahead of time and have their guests register using a paper form upon entry.
Seems like a lot of steps, doesn’t it?
A modern workplace experience simplifies this process. With touchless entry, professionals can access the building using their phone, an item that they’re less prone to lose and that’s nearly always accessible to them.
They can invite guests to meetings via email, and when visitors arrive, they can automatically enter the building using a link in the invitation—without having to download the app. Access is just one example of how technology can transform a series of frustrating, finicky touchpoints into a seamless and efficient experience.
Beyond creating clear efficiencies and providing professionals with the modern workplace experience that they crave, workplace experience platforms can also help ease the transition towards a more flexible and comfortable workday that can actively compete with the work-from-home experience.
Automated booking systems allow professionals to browse and book meeting rooms or hot desks from their phones, so that they can tailor each workday to their current needs.
An in-app payment system allows employees to purchase retail products and book monetized amenities with the click of a button, making it easy to enjoy all the perks and amenities that come with the building.
Finally, workplace technology makes it possible to communicate to multiple different levels of your building via email, SMS, or push notifications, allowing you to promote engaging events and enhance human connection in the office—something professionals are desperate for after a year of working remotely.
How Does Workplace Technology Affect CRE Leaders, Managers, and Tenants?
Implementing a modern workplace experience means working from the ground up to transform and enhance the day-to-day experience of the professionals in your building.
So what does this mean for stakeholders in the CRE space?
For CRE leaders, it is now easier than ever to integrate workplace experience technology into existing infrastructure. Doing so can not only improve the workplace experience, but it can also help landlords monetize spaces and amenities, as well as slash operating costs.
By automating several cumbersome processes that tend to slow building management down, your building operations will run smoother, and your staff will have more time to focus on work that matters.
Finally, workplace technology gives you the freedom to create convenience and ease for professionals from the moment they step into the office to the moment they leave. By using a workplace experience platform, you’ll establish a comfortable and enjoyable setting for employees, and drive tenant satisfaction in the long-term.
About Lane
Lane is the world’s leading workplace experience platform. Founded in 2014 to transform and connect the workplace, our no-code enterprise software streamlines all aspects of day-to-day office life—from room bookings and access management, to communications and commerce, to events, data, and beyond. Our award-winning mobile and web technology is built to scale, allowing workplace providers to deploy globally and configure locally. Powering 300+ properties across 22 major cities in 8 countries, Lane clients include Brookfield Properties, Oxford, Colliers, Dream, Nuveen, Studio by Tishman Speyer, and more. Putting all of the pieces together, Lane turns any workplace into a place that works.
