Business Forum • 18 July, 2024 at 10:40 AM
Personal development and nutrition workshops, massage sessions and multisensory experiences such as cheese or ice cream tastings organized by office building landlords are highly appreciated by employees. These initiatives aim to create a work environment which encourages a gradual return to offices. The budget allocated for these actions can reach up to €10,000 per year per building, an amount which has a minor impact on the owners' rental income.
Last year, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox launched a new business line, Community Services, as part of its Asset Services department. This initiative targets office building owners with the goal of creating and implementing programs and events, as well as identifying tools to support tenants in their efforts and strategies to attract and retain talents in their premises.
Since the launch of this business line, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has successfully implemented these services in office buildings across Bucharest, covering approximately 150,000 sqm and accommodating up to 15,000 employees.
According to a survey conducted among the employees working in the buildings in question, such actions are desired at least once a month. Thematic and seasonal events, product samplings, personal development and education workshops or competitions offering prizes are the most appreciated ones by employees, while there is less interest in sporting activities.
The same survey revealed that employees would like amenities such as cafes, restaurants, fitness centers and pharmacies in the buildings where they work.
Mihaela Petruescu, Partner Asset Services at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: "The majority of employees in office buildings have the freedom to choose where they work from. It is evident that the most immediate benefit for them is working from home in order to save time and money on commuting. As a consequence, office building owners and tenants understand that the workspace must be as attractive as possible and it must offer experiences which are not possible when working from home or from a café. Our goal is to support landlords in maintaining a high level of tenant satisfaction, to provide additional arguments in lease renewal negotiations or to attract new tenants. Moreover, we would also like to contribute to the companies' strategies of encouraging the work from office."
We are noticing a trend geared towards creating unique events for employees, directly by companies and also by building owners: for example, the "Make Food No Waste" workshop teaches how to reduce food waste and the Book Club encourages reading and discovering new perspectives together. Other unique events will be launched this year along with our partners and we are excited to bring both expertise and creativity to every action we are implementing.
These initiatives complement the range of measures the owners adopt to attract and retain tenants, such as various facilities and incentives, and also the enouragement received by employees from their companies to work more from the office, such redesigning spaces to include socialization and teamwork areas, offering a healthy environment centered on the employee's well-being.
In this context, we believe that organizing events will become a norm, not only for office building owners, but also for those who own industrial & logistics parks, which also accommodate a significant number of employees. This trend is already present in countries within the CEE region, while the owners' interest in implementing digital or classic marketing and PR strategies is increasingly prevalent. The new approaches we are seeing in the region, such as acting as a service integrator, give owners confidence that the events and actions which are implemented will be successful. All these new strategies are inspired by the retail sector, where marketing is a defining element in the life of a shopping center.
Cushman & Wakefield Echinox's proposed services are based on three components: creating and organizing events and actions for tenants, digital marketing services and implementing prop-tech technologies, including mobile applications, to facilitate interaction between owners, tenant companies, tenant employees and the community where they operate.
Diana Vasile, Community Manager at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: „An analysis of the number of participants shows that the most appreciated events are by far those focused on financial education, product tastings and massage sessions. However, there is also a growing interest towards nutrition workshops, yoga and fitness sessions. The cost of these events is borne exclusively by the building owners as a facility they provide to tenants in order to retain them in the project and to support them in their efforts to bring their employees back to the office."
Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has extensive experience in this area, being involved in the PR and marketing strategies of multiple office buildings from its portfolio since 2019. More than 200 events have been organized for tenants and their employees in the managed buildings over the past two years and around 2,000 employees have actively participated in these events, as the post-event satisfaction rate exceeded 95%.
The Cushman & Wakefield Echinox Asset Services department currently manages a portfolio of real estate projects covering almost 515,000 sqm across all market segments. In regards to offices, the company manages several emblematic buildings in Bucharest, including Expo Business Park, Floreasca Park or Tiriac Tower.