When COVID hit hard in 2020, the majority of employers sent their office staff home. Today, employers are now looking for ways not only to get their employees back into the office, but also to get them to want to be in the office.
“The office market is still there. It’s just a little bit different now,” said Adam Cox, Kansas City office director of operations, JE Dunn Construction.
Cox was joined by panelists Anné Erickson, vice president, JLL; Matt Huderski, LEED AP, vice president, real estate and procurement, Shamrock Trading Corporation; and Eric Linebarger, practice leader, workplace design and architecture, Burns & McDonnell, for a discussion regarding current office market trends at MetroWire Media’s KC Office Summit hosted last week at Burns & McDonnell’s headquarters. Lynn Carlton, planning and urban design practice leader, Burns & McDonnell, moderated.
To attract employees back to the office, the question employers are asking is how can we create a workstation for somebody to work in the office that is better than their workstation at home, said Linebarger.
The panelists agreed that amenities are key to the office experience and to attracting and retaining office staff.
“I think really what’s transitioned is that those [office amenities] are in competition with a person’s home. And, how do you create a better experience in the office? Amenities have become much more experiential, much more purposeful and very specific. It’s not just that we’re going to build a café and hope people come together for lunches. We’re going to build a café with the very best food and the best coffee. It’s going to be free. It’s going to be this because that causes a sense of magnetism to bring people in,” said Linebarger.
A majority of companies are offering employees a hybrid work model, some days working from home and other days working in the office.
“Corporate America and here in Kansas City is definitely walking that delicate corporate balance of how many days in are we going to ask for and how many days out are we going to allow and how heavily are we going to enforce those policies. Hybrid is here to stay,” said Erickson.
Huderski said most of Shamrock’s employees are allowed to work from home two days a week. Shamrock hired more than 800 new employees in 2021 and Huderski anticipates that Shamrock will have that many new hires in 2022. Shamrock is expanding its Overland Park, Kan. campus and Huderski said amenities have played a big role in Shamrock’s planning and design efforts.
“We incorporated large fitness aerobics spaces. We have training groups — trainers that come in during the week and do a midday class. (Also) large break rooms on each floor (with) booth seating. We’re really trying to give employees options to work away from their office, be able to plug in, sit in a booth, eat lunch (and) bring their laptop,” he said.
“I can remember back in my first office there was a candy machine in the break room, and I thought that was a big deal,” said Huderski.
In addition, in order to make employees want to be in the office, Huderski said human resources and marketing groups hold events throughout the year, including pancake breakfasts and lunches.
“Those are big deals when you’re talking 2000 employees—big productions. We bring food trucks on campus weekly during the summers. That drives some excitement with our folks. And, just keeping up our property — there’s 60 acres, very highly manicured. There’s walking trails, lakes. People really get out and enjoy the property. That really helps to drive a kind of fun atmosphere,” he said.
Erickson said one of the ways companies are trying to attract staff back to the office is to be intentional in providing a great place to get up and go into each day.
“We’re seeing a massive push in more Class A trophy assets, amenity rich buildings . . . in walkable areas. These are the buildings that have been able to push rental rates during this time and have been able to be more successful,” said Erickson.
Linebarger said designing office space pre-pandemic was very metric heavy, starting with how many work stations can be fit in and then with the amenities scattered around.
“It’s really the opposite now. . . . It’s really starting with those amenities, those gathering touch points from the social side that drives the process and then you kind of back fill it with work space,” said Linebarger.
Another important consideration in the office workplace revolves around diversity, equity and inclusion.
“[W]e have known for many years that our real estate is one of our most powerful tools we have for employee attraction and retention for our companies. And so it’s looking a little bit deeper and looking then further how our real estate can be of great support and an overlay in diversity and inclusion,” said Erickson.
“When we’re looking at locations around town where to office, are we looking at maybe closer to where executives live or are we also taking into consideration where the diverse workforce that we say we are targeting, that we want to be working for us, where we know where they reside, we know where they like to spend time,” Erickson said.
Enhancing office amenities is expensive. Erickson said the most common way that companies are handling the costs is to downsize square footage. Another way is to find Class B buildings next to great amenities.
She said that although Class A base rates have risen through COVID, Class B base rents have fallen.
“We’ve seen a lot more remodel and tenant finish work so I think that Class B space is getting turned over and brought up to speed,” said Cox.
In closing remarks, Carlton summed up the state of the office market.
“I think in the end it’s really around are your employees happy? Do they feel valued? Are they engaged? Maybe free candy in the break room would be good as well,” she said.
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Feature photo: MWM's KC Office Summit panelists included (L to R): Matt Huderski, Shamrock Trading Corp; Adam Cox, JE Dunn Construction; Anne' Erickson, JLL; Lynn Carlton, Burns & McDonnell (moderator); and Eric Linebarger, Burns & McDonnell. Photo credit: Arch Photo KC.