Colliers International set out to connect the physical workspace, workplace culture and management team, creating a winning combination for employee retention in the competitive Silicon Valley market.
In a recent Globe St. article, Winfield Roney shares the process behind designing a new workplace for Colliers that would focus on collaboration, help retain employees, and entice young workers to come work for the commercial real estate firm. Colliers turned to HGA to create the space at a time when the firm itself was undergoing change. Below is an excerpt of the article.
During the design process, the HGA team gathered information through staff surveys and research studies to better understand Colliers’ work culture and business model.
“The first decision we supported Colliers in making was their commitment to stay in downtown San Jose,” Roney told GlobeSt.com. “When you’re competing for talent in the same industry and market, location can be just as important as the space itself. Beyond the address, our design team partnered with the Colliers management team and their internal workplace strategists to create a space that would both meet the needs of the brokers who were already well-established in their careers and appeal to the next generation of CRE professionals. It took quite a bit of back-and-forth, but we ended up deciding to dedicate a significant amount of the space to amenities, including an upgraded kitchen, a break area with expansive views and a very large meeting room for bigger gatherings that can be opened up for all-hands meetings and other events.
“In addition, we added several small- and medium-sized meeting spaces, both formal and informal, throughout the office to encourage as much collaboration as possible. Rather than take the same approach as other CRE firms, which is to have 100 percent of their staff in a hoteling arrangement, Colliers decided to make sure everyone had their own dedicated workspace through a mixture of open workstations and small private offices.”
Colliers’ new 25,000-square-foot office was ultimately master-planned as a full floor, but the firm is currently occupying three-quarters of that. In the end, the space was configured so Colliers can grow easily with minimum disruption.
“I’ve been back to the space a number of times since we completed the project, and the vibe in the office is so much different now,” Roney tells GlobeSt.com. “There is more energy and communication happening. It’s truly an active and vibrant workplace.”
Read More . . .
To read the full article, visit “Colliers Designs Its Brokerage Office For Collaboration and Young Talent” at GlobeSt.com.