At the crossroads
July 17, 2013 / By
In a post-GFC environment, many Corporate Real Estate (CRE) professionals find themselves at the crossroads. Having delivered up significant cost savings when demanded during the GFC, this new regime of cost efficiency is now accepted as business as usual. I don’t think anyone is under the illusion that cost savings are going to leave the boardrooms of corporate Australia. It is the new world order.
However, at the same time, the C-suite are asking CRE professionals to shift the focus onto value creation and asking them to deliver real estate strategies that drive the performance of the business. It seems that Australian CEOs are more demanding than their counterparts in other parts of the world.
Productivity is at the top of the list according to our Australian CRE Trends survey, with CRE executives asked to drive productivity at the asset, workplace, people and business levels. Facilitating remote and mobile working, transforming workplace quality and bringing more flexibility to the leased portfolio rounded out the top four.
The Changing Demands of Senior Leadership
Source : Jones Lang LaSalle’s Australian Corporate Real Estate Trends 2013
Interestingly only 30% of CRE executives in Australia felt well-equipped to meet all the demands of the C-suite. Metrics were a big part of being able to demonstrate the value-add. Only 22% of CRE professionals said they could extract metrics on demand at the facility level and only 20% at the portfolio level.
So how to deliver these strategic imperatives whilst at the same time remaining vigilant on cost savings? Our Australian survey identified four key strategies to do so – getting better aligned with the C-suite and other business enablement functions, driving a productivity agenda, breaking through the barriers to success and tackling big data.
Read more on how CRE professionals can deliver on both sides of the cost vs value equation in our Australian CRE Trends report.
