Top Priorities Building Managers Should be Thinking About

by Lilli Markle Head of Biz Dev, Toronto

It’s no surprise that technology plays a role in the way we interact with the places we live, work and play. Now, we can choose to be in one place to accomplish all three motivations! This brings us to our first priority property managers should be thinking about:

1. Employers are making employee experience a core part of their business strategy.
I recently met with a Biz Dev colleague who works for a tech company that offers smart office solutions, like automated lighting, enhanced A/V stations and multi-functional furniture. The building where he works, called Catalyst137 in Waterloo, is a hub for companies working in IoT (Internet of Things) and the most dense concentration of tech startups outside of Silicon Valley.
While sitting in his smart office, he was describing to me that several tech companies who also work in the building - a converted manufacturing warehouse which now houses a boutique coffee pop-up, a brewery and grocery market with E-tables (think touch screens that you can play games, eat and drink on) - have set up their offices in such a way that employees can bring their families into the common cafeteria to enjoy a meal together without interrupting the longer and later working hours.

Companies like Miovision and Shopify, who are focused on attracting and retaining the top tech talent, are changing the way building owners and managers are thinking about how to best serve their tenants. Devices, furniture and environments that interact digitally (and the data gathered from them) are at the forefront of efficient building operations which translate to happy and productive tenants. Read more about global workplace trends, including reading and responding to employees’ emotions through facial recognition technology, on the Colliers blog.

Chances are if you’re a property manager, this is not the first time you’ve heard the benefits of “wellness in the workplace” touted from nearly every media source in the industry. While there are plenty of studies and independent companies consulting on and offering said wellness programs, the challenge for building owners and managers is getting the right mix for their unique tenant landscape. A nice segue for our final priority building managers should be thinking about:

​2. Businesses must think about the costs associated with keeping employees healthy.

A study published on Health Affairs aptly characterizes which elements of a workplace wellness program are most commonly adopted in the United States. Based on the graphic below, you can see that the most frequent method of wellness intervention for large companies by participation, according to this study, were health risk assessments. My guess is that this method can most easily be made mandatory for employees. The most common focus of intervention was weight loss and fitness programs, which is something that cannot as easily be mandated, but participation can absolutely be measured (hOM’s tech platform was developed in order to support this need) and its benefits quantified. In the same study, researchers found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.