The Sundance Company

We’ve all heard rumors about Google’s office – scooters, Legos, and copious amounts of free food. Facebook embraces its startup culture with an internal bike shop. Twitter offers free laundry services. Thrillist offers paid time off on your birthday every year. The youngest generation to hit the workforce has set of a wave of new office habits, needs, and wants.

By 2020, millennials will make up 40-50% of the working population. Although not every millennial wants to work at a startup, their wants are very different than previous generations — and not every industry has adapted seamlessly to these changes and the advent of technology. When working with new tenants, regardless of their industry, keep in mind these key millennial impacts.

Globalization and Technology

There’s an app for that. Millennials (and Generation Z-ers) have never known professional life without the Internet. Can your building keep up with the demand of information, when peers and competitors are just a text, email, or tweet away? The workplace must adapt to working from anywhere, connecting with global offices, data security, and mobility within the office itself. The real estate industry is adapting, from flexible Steelcase furniture configurations to Internet connectivity ratings with WiredScore.

More Collaborative and Flexible

On a related note, internal physical flexibility and collaboration is just as important. Technology brought on the sharing economy, which in turn brought a wave of access to information, not ownership of it. Employees are collaborating and sharing knowledge, from brainstorming to execution. They’re working in pods, having impromptu meetings on the stairs, hanging out at team lunch, and brainstorming in huddle rooms. Cubicles have effectively disappeared from the millennial-focused workplace. All employees are able to contribute and feel essential. Your tenant space needs to allow for flexibility. Show you know your stuff with walkthroughs of successful collaborative environments, suggestions on hand for space use, and recommendations for interior designers and furniture manufacturers.

Branding and Culture

In a 2014 study, the White House identified millennials’ key priorities: family, community and creativity. In an office environment, this translates to a strong brand, space to be proud of, and room to grow. The trend is no longer kitschy for kitschy’s sake. Tenants want a space that reflects their brand, operations style, and business objectives. The advent of WeWork and other coworking spaces means young companies can have a big impact on a small dime – be prepared to compete with great amenities, easy branding and PR opportunities, and built-in community. In a recent survey of 80 owners, 80% believe that “Creative space utilization and marketing is becoming more important to my business.”

Offices Becoming More Like Home

Millennials never quit. The 9-5 became the 8-6 became the 24/7 as the workday adapted to globalization and technology. Early birds are in from 7am-6pm, night owls are in from 11am-10pm, and we don’t bat an eye at 3am emails. Your cell phone is an extension of your arm and now talks to your car, computer, 1Password, and dating life. Work-life balance is no longer about keeping it even, but a seamless integration between the two. In response to this 24/7 life, workspaces are beginning to look like living environments. Offices are outfitted with gyms, resource libraries, and game rooms. Pantries are complete with cabinets full of cereal and a beer fridge next to the regular refrigerator. Some offices have even gone so far as to install green walls, so you really never have to go outside. Outside the office, there’s a demand for urban, mixed-use environments that offer ease of socializing, dining, living and working. This ease of access is exciting for previous generations, but probably won’t lead to them staying at work until 11pm.

In Conclusion: Competition

There is a push for better and better office spaces. Better and better perks. The job market is rebounding and technology is evolving. More of the younger tech-savvy generation is joining the workforce. The news is telling us to go go go and try to stay ahead of the pack. Your tenants are feeling the pressure to meet these demands, and you can help them do it.

The story originally appeared on the Hightower 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.

October 27, 2015October 10, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

Five Strategies to Attract the Best Employees

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

October 20, 2015September 7, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

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October 13, 2015September 7, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

How To Design Your Office To Fulfill Employees’ Most Basic Needs

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

October 6, 2015September 7, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

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September 22, 2015September 7, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

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September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized

The Office is Becoming More Essential Than Ever

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.

September 1, 2015July 28, 2015 sundancecompany Uncategorized