Author: sundancecompany

It’s déjà vu all over again. Everywhere we look, firms are competing for the best talent and can no longer rely on tried-and-true strategies. Now is the time to raise the bar on your efforts to find and win the best talent. Here, Marjanne Pearson, the founder of Talentstar and an industry pioneer in talent, leadership, and business strategies for architecture and design practice, explores a few of today’s best strategies.

1. Attract: Align your brand promise with their values and concerns.

Which generations are you trying to attract?

Gen X believes in work-life balance. These 34- to 48-year-olds grew up with the concept and value it for themselves and their families. Although generally content and optimistic, they are specifically concerned about providing for their families and taking care of their own health and well being. They are looking at their own futures and how they can create theirs with you.

Millennials are digital natives and peer-oriented. They want to work with people they can trust, and they trust the opinions of people they know. They are inclusive and welcome diversity, they have been active in community services, and they seek others who support social responsibility. And they are green — as children, they learned to be mindful of the environment, and they expect others to be, too. Eventually, they want to work for themselves, so they are seeking like-minded entrepreneurs with whom they can learn and grow.

2. Captivate: Put your firm at the center of their conversation.

Before a potential employee considers your firm, they want to find out whether it’s the right place for them — your core values, culture, and work environment.

Have a people-rich marketing strategy. Actively highlight the members of your firm within and beyond the workplace, featuring engaging shots of real people – candids of teams working and having fun together — as well as stories that reinforce the images. Have fun with video. YouTube is the second largest search engine and reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network.

Seek opportunities to reinforce motivational themes — opportunity, accomplishment, recognition, purpose, social responsibility, sustainable design. What matters most to you will matter to them, too.

3. Connect: Reach the right audience.

Where do people go for information, for work, and for fun? Firms post jobs on their websites, but only rarely are they captivating. If you want a cross-section of professional candidates, post a job on LinkedIn. If want to create a pipeline of recent graduates, publish a career guide and share it with the architecture and design schools. If you are looking for specific types of expertise, go to the publications (in print and online) that your audience will read. For example:

• Archinect.com is the go-to platform for jobs in architecture, drawing repeat visitors because of its content — articles and commentary about architecture and design today.
• TheMuse.com was developed by millennials for millennials and offers career advice as well as opportunities. They currently represent hot new tech companies like Uber and Airbnb, but design firms may not be far behind.
• WorkDesign.com “explores the ideas that shape the places we work” — new territory with a new approach. As a result, WDM is attracting their target audience and yours, too — 25- to 35-year-olds in the workplace industry.

4. Engage: Build relationships over time.

In the old days, recruiting was a transaction. We posted an ad, people applied, and we hired someone. Today, it’s not enough to collect applications that are scanned using complex algorithms. Smart firms are looking for next-gen leaders and giving them opportunities to grow and develop with them.

Begin your conversation with a great tagline and ad copy. Make your talent message prominent — on the back of business cards, email signature lines, social media accounts, white papers, YouTube, and more. Find the right places to publicize opportunities, drive people to your social platforms, and then create links to job descriptions that skip the blah-blah-blah and focus on them. What are they seeking? What are you really offering? And of course, what’s in it for them, and for you?

5. Build: Create the future of your firm.

We are all in the business of talent spotting. Don’t collect applications in a database. Open the door to relationship building. When you find someone in whom you are interested, create opportunities to get to know them better — include them in company events, introduce them to your colleagues, and find opportunities to collaborate on community or civic projects or professional activities. Learn more about them and how they engage with others.

Draw them into the center of the conversation with you, and instead of employees, you’ll have key collaborators with whom you can build a successful future together.

The story originally appeared on the Work Design website.

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

 

 

 

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

In the war for talent, savvy companies understand that office space is both a key component of their recruiting strategy and a platform they can use to amplify their culture. One way to design a space that will become a competitive advantage is to understand exactly what it is that your employees need to be happy.

And for help on that front, you might think about Abraham Maslow’s 1950s theory about human motivation and his hierarchy of needs.

How can something like office design aid in fulfilling those needs? Answering that question is key to helping companies design spaces their employees love. After all, the same principles that apply to people should also be considered when designing for people. Here are four to consider:

1. Think: “full stomach, full heart.”

Though you’d be hard pressed nowadays to find an office that doesn’t meet humans’ most basic requirements for air, water and shelter, companies often miss the mark when it comes to providing food for their staffs. Some executives will argue that the cost of daily lunch outweighs the benefits. But beyond keeping your employees’ minds off their hunger pangs, feeding them shows that you are invested in their well-being. And that in turn will build powerful goodwill and create brand ambassadors.

Like families at dinner time, employees will gather in the office kitchen to connect, so the space should reflect that of a welcoming host. Minor additions like long picnic tables and comfortable couches will further enhance the theme and encourage employees to spend their break time in the space rather than outside. Firms with limited resources don’t have to go to extremes to provide for their employees (a la Google’s Chicago office’s full floor-cafeteria and free food all day).

Even startups can take steps to keep their employees full, with moves like stocking their kitchen with fresh fruit or granola bars. A full employee is a happy employee — and a happy employee is an investment worth making.

2. Succumb to peer pressure.

Though most organizations have figured out that perks and benefits are a key component of their competitive advantage, workspace design has been, until now, a rather overlooked part of this equation. But employee needs shouldn’t be — and the two often go hand in hand.

I recently spoke with Zappos’ head of HR, who made an interesting analogy: If you walk by a packed bar with people laughing and having fun, you are more likely to wait in line and pay more for drinks there than at a quiet but nearly empty bar a few doors down — even if the second bar has cheaper drinks.

Building a successful workspace entails a similar principle. By creating a sense of community, you’ll find your employees more likely to feel that inherent sense of belonging that gives organizations a competitive advantage. It’s no wonder that people in successful companies speak of their sense of “family.” In fact, a genuine social network at the office is a real safeguard against turnover.

So, how can firms integrate this intangible concept of community into their workspace design? Open communal areas, family-style kitchens and café-esque spaces where people can come together to build relationships are worth the investment. In this light, a client of ours, Coyote Logistics, often recognized for its tight-knit company culture and emphasis on teamwork, boasts a company store within its headquarters. The branded t-shirts, pullovers and other apparel the store offers employees is a simple way to encourage that sense of belonging, even for larger firms with multiple locations.

And employees do buy in; more than half of Coyote’s employees typically sport the team logo.

3. Build ’em up, Buttercup.

Though employees may not admit it, confidence and esteem are two of the most basic human needs, and employment is a key driver — for better or worse. Confidence comes from autonomy within an environment, and autonomy comes from a culture that doesn’t punish mistakes made in the name of progress. Esteem comes from recognition, both by management and peers.

Organizations should embrace technologies and processes that facilitate positive feedback. An example is the mini-survey platform TinyPulse, which allows employers to keep track of how their teams are feeling. When companies integrate actual measures of confidence and esteem, employees know that their opinions (and emotions) are valued, which in turn boosts both confidence and productivity.

At our client, Centro, each meeting is kicked off with a “check-in,” with the leader asking how each team member is feeling. This seemingly innocuous step not only shows employees that their leaders care about them, but helps to shed light on any unique personal circumstances that may impact participation. Spaces that minimize hierarchy can help here. A related tip is: Reduce the number of long and narrow conference room tables, to create a more collaborative environment and encourage inclusive conversation.

4. Focus on the pursuit of happiness.

At the top of Maslow’s pyramid is self-actualization, characterized by creativity, spontaneity and problem solving. The key here is to nurture the ideas that start out as fragile fragments of thought. Chicago agency Tris3ct has this art down to a science, ensuring that nearly all surfaces in its office facilitate work, whether those surfaces be magnetic, writeable walls; chalkboards; or even corkboard light fixtures and floors! This ensures that employees with “light bulb” moments are never more than a few feet away from a surface on which to give their fledgling ideas life.

Over the course of our lifetimes, we’ll spend more time in the workplace than we will in our own homes. Understanding this time commitment is critical to creating an environment in which employees can thrive and connect

By using an existing resource — office space — and designing it through the prism of basic human needs, companies will retain high-quality talent by providing a stage for employees to do their best work.

The story originally appeared on the Entrepreneur website.

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

 

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samsung recently released a new report that explores how our offices might look in the year 2025. The death of the office has been predicted over and over again, however the Samsung Smarter Futures Report goes against the grain and predicts that the office could actually become more important than ever. Driven by the adoption of smart technology the report claims that offices will become hubs for productivity and collaboration and what Samsung calls ‘Creative Villages’. Smart technology will create devices and systems that take notes, automate admin tasks, organize meetings and deliver information, as you need it. This will mean employees have more time for face-to-face communication and collaborative work. As a consequence, current trends such as flexible working and agile workspace could actually become less of an issue than they are currently.

JP Luchetti, consultancy director at smart solutions consultant Mubaloo, comments in the report. “Future smart technology will be about maximizing face-time, not turning us all into remote workers.” Distractions could also become a thing of the past. Interruptions at work are often quoted as the biggest hindrance to productivity. Even when we find spaces of solitude, digital disruptions still occur from email, phone and other communication tools.

Smart technology could be able to identify which messages are essential to your current task. Any unrelated communication would be delivered at a more convenient time. Luchetti concludes, “It will know what messages are mission critical for the task you’re working on right now, and which ones are from a friend asking you out for a drink and can safely be delivered later.”

Teamwork will also become a main component for the workplace as technology will harness big data, bringing together the perfect work teams where each member’s skills complement one another; this could create a super team of workers ideal for specific projects.

Smart systems would identify when team members are free and schedule meeting and time for collaboration. Data can be analyzed to show which environments the team is most productive in, the office can then be adapted to create the optimum working area specific to the team and project. Future workplace furniture would need to be more adaptable to allow reconfigurations for different teams, while many different work cultures would develop within a single organization.

Using this approach to creating teams will undoubtedly be more efficient than most current systems where managers create teams and dictate how they work, often based on hunches to produce the best outcomes.

Smart technology means fewer decisions

Smart technology will mean less decision making from managers. This could be the main reason we don’t see smart technology in our workplaces sooner. The report claims that the main barrier to the adoption of smart technology will be cultural. This is understandable as almost every business has always used a hierarchical system, with those at the top making the decisions. Therefore it will be those organizations that are most adaptable and non-resistant to change that will reap the benefits from new technology.

Commenting in the report, Ben Waber of MIT agrees. “Many will find it very challenging to suddenly think about using smart technology to empower collaboration, rather than as a means of control and oversight. But those who fail to make the change may not survive the next decade.”

Earlier in the year a study by PwC showed that 77 percent of employees in the US believed that smart technology in the office would make them more productive, while 46 percent believed that their company should invest in such technology. This suggests that the majority of workers would be keen to utilize workplace technology that Samsung claims we’ll have in 2025.

It is inevitable that new technologies will enter the workplace aimed at making our working lives easier. While technology that improves communication is extremely useful, most would agree that face to face is the best form of communication. Therefore we can expect the next wave of workplace technology to be aimed at automating tasks, freeing up time for us to communicate in the best way possible.

The story originally appeared on the Workplace Insight website.

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.

Anxiety about unopened or unanswered email, too much time devoted to social media, and uncontrollable urges to check smartphones and tablets for email, posts, and texts 24/7 are among the multiple distractions of a digital world.

Never have so many ways to communicate been available, and never has so much discipline been needed to appropriately manage them. Day in and day out, CCIMs and other commercial real estate professionals face this conundrum: What’s the best way to stay focused and free of digital distractions?

“Figure out what you need to spend your time on each day,” says Julie Morgenstern, productivity and time management expert and author of Never Check Email in the Morning. “What concentrated work do you need to accomplish today? Who do you need to talk to face to face? What are the non-email, non-text items in your day? Carve out time to allow those things to be done.”

Overcoming Distractions

Multitasking is a myth. You can’t look at a text on your smartphone and give your client your undivided attention at the same time. But as communication methods and the tasks associated with them multiply, CCIM practitioners have learned to recognize which approach works best for them.

“I get something done in a shorter time if I stay the course with it,” says Warren Klutz, CCIM, MAI, president of Warren Klutz and Co., in Bristol, Tenn.

Andrew Cheney, CCIM, has created five steps to manage digital interruptions. His steps include knowing that he cannot be everywhere at once, setting up a home office identical to his work office, and turning off the automatic alert on his email.

“In commercial real estate, you need both the quiet focus time and the energizing bullpen exposure,” says Cheney, a principal at Lee & Associates in Phoenix. “I make development calls from home first thing in the morning where I can focus without the distraction of the open, collaborative office.”

Building Relationships

Determining the best communication method for the task is another hallmark of staying focused. Howard Meier, CCIM, MRICS, believes commercial real estate is a relationship-based business and schedules regular meetings even with long-time clients.

“You need to get in front of the client or prospect as soon as you can to build the relationship and trust,” says Meier, a broker at Bexhill Real Estate Brokerage in Toronto. “Technology is a follow up to a face-to-face meeting. Email is not an opportunity to expand the relationship.”

Soozi Jones Walker, CCIM, president of Commercial Executives Real Estate Services in Las Vegas, concurs and adds, “Technology is a great way to disseminate information, but it’s not a great way to communicate. If you want to communicate, talk to the person. The tonality of your voice and your body language say much more than the words typed on a screen ever could. We have forgotten the power gestures, facial expressions, and vocal inflections have on people.”

On the other hand, Aaron Barnard, CCIM, SIOR, adjusts his approach to the different circumstances of his clients and prospects. “You have to be very flexible in commercial real estate and adapt to your clients’ preferences,” says Barnard, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield/Northmarq in Minneapolis. Since one of his best clients is always in flight, their conversations are conducted through email.

Cultivating the Best Habits

Effective habits build momentum in business. One of Jones Walker’s habits is to capture her emails and text messages in reports, so she has a paper trail in case of any questions.

“Technology can be your friend or your enemy when it comes to contractual conflicts,” says Jones Walker. “When I write an email or text, I imagine how I would feel if a judge or jury saw what I wrote. If I’m upset, I don’t hit send. I come back later and re-read it. Nine times out of 10, I never send it at all.”

Continuous learning is a mindset and a habit, according to 2015 CCIM President Mark Macek, CCIM. He seeks to leverage technology and integrate it into his business practice to create more value for his clients.

Maintaining Balance

Jones Walker has literally unplugged online books from her iPad and reads actual books at night. “When I read books online, I found that I was waking up in the middle of night and answering emails,” she says.

Cheney turns off his smartphone at night and on Saturdays when it’s time for his family and friends. “When I work out or hike, I don’t bring the phone,” he says. “At some point, whoever you’re with, you want to be present with that person, even if it’s yourself. I have developed the will power to put technology away.”

While discipline is essential to using technology appropriately, technology continues to rapidly change professional and personal lives.

Since Macek Cos. covers a wide geographic area, the firm moved to a cloud-based customer relationship management system, file storage system, and Office 365. Now Macek and his employees can easily gain access to all information they need wherever they are — at home, on the road, or at a conference halfway around the globe.

“We push people to be powerful and knowledgeable users of our main programs,” says Macek, president at Macek Cos. in Great Falls, Mont. “We work at selecting the best technologies and become power users.”

Video conferencing has changed how quickly commercial real estate professionals and their clients can view and evaluate properties together. “I load video tours on my iPad to show clients real-time information in meetings,” Cheney says.

Through various software programs and online research, Barnard can gather demographics, aerial photos, video tours, and analyses together quickly to create investment packages for his clients.

Like many CCIMs, time management expert Morgenstern observes that society is moving toward the tipping point of realizing technology cannot be the only way people communicate.

“I cannot live on a screen; it feels like a diet of cotton candy, and I need vegetables,” Morgenstern says. “Almost all of us are craving the nutrition of undivided attention, and I see people of all ages — from college students to older people — balancing the need for technology and the need for human contact.”

CCIMs already have the tools and the skills to make their businesses successful. They need to follow the right balance of human touch and technology without one or the other tipping the scale into unproductive distractions.

The story originally appeared on the CCIM website.

 

About The Sundance Company
Established in 1976, The Sundance Company has the experience to help you with your commercial real estate needs throughout the Boise Valley. If your requirements include property management, leasing, real estate development, project planning, construction or space planning then look to us. The Sundance Company has more than 1.5 million square feet of office and industrial space available in prime locations in the Boise metropolitan area. More information is available at www.sundanceco.com or 208.322.7300.