HqO Blog • Happy Office

The Numbers Behind Tenant Churn

 Eryn Lalonde

 May 4, 2026

  3 min. read

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What CRE Research Tells Us About Why Tenants Leave

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The most expensive event in a CRE portfolio isn't a lease expiry. It's a lease expiry you didn't see coming.
The research on why tenants leave is consistent across markets, asset classes, and geographies. The signals appear early. The decision forms long before the renewal conversation. And in the vast majority of cases, the landlord finds out at the worst possible moment: when the tenant is already looking elsewhere.

The Decision Happens Before the Conversation

Tenant churn research points to a consistent pattern: non-renewal decisions are not made at lease expiry. They're made 12 to 18 months before, often earlier, and they form incrementally rather than as a single event. A service request that went unresolved. A quarter where the property team didn't reach out. An event the tenant didn't hear about in time to attend. Each instance is small on its own. Accumulated over months, they become a decision.

This matters because it means churn is largely preventable. The data exists in the building. The signals are there. The problem is that most landlords aren't reading them until the tenant is already in conversations with a competitor.

What Research Tells Us About Non-Renewal Drivers

Across the available research on lease non-renewal, a few drivers emerge consistently:

Perceived indifference from the landlord. Tenants who feel unknown to their property team, who receive generic broadcast communications, and who have never had a proactive outreach from building management cite indifference as a primary factor in their decision to leave. The relationship dynamic matters more than most landlords expect. Tenants don't just renew with buildings. They renew with teams that make them feel valued.

Service failures without follow-through. Unresolved maintenance issues, slow response times on service requests, and facilities problems that recur without resolution are consistently cited as renewal risk factors. The failure itself is rarely the breaking point. The absence of follow-through is. Tenants who see a problem handled promptly and communicated clearly rate their overall building experience significantly higher than tenants who never had an issue at all.

Misalignment between space and how teams actually work. The shift toward collaborative, event-heavy office use has accelerated since 2020. Tenants whose space configuration, amenity access, or building programming doesn't match how their teams now work are systematically less satisfied, regardless of physical quality. This is a leading indicator that is invisible without utilisation data.

Low engagement with the building ecosystem. Tenants who don't attend events, don't use amenities, and don't interact with the property team beyond transactional requests are significantly more likely to leave at renewal. Low engagement is not a symptom of a happy, independent tenant. It's a symptom of a disengaged one.

The Engagement-Retention Relationship

The relationship between engagement frequency and retention rates is the most actionable finding in the research. Tenants who interact with their building regularly, through events, amenity usage, app engagement, or direct contact with the property team, renew at materially higher rates than tenants who don't.

This is not a correlation that requires much interpretation. A tenant who has built professional relationships through building events, who uses the fitness centre three times a week, and whose team relies on the conference suite for client meetings is not going to walk away from that without a compelling reason. The building is no longer just where they work. It's infrastructure for how they work. And infrastructure has switching costs.

The inverse is equally clear. A tenant who has never attended an event, never submitted a service request, and receives the same broadcast email as every other company in the building has no switching cost whatsoever. Their decision at renewal is a pure financial calculation.

The Measurement Problem

The reason churn continues to surprise landlords is not that the signals don't exist. It's that most portfolios aren't set up to read them. Engagement data, service request patterns, amenity utilisation, event attendance: these live in separate systems, if they're tracked at all. The property team managing relationships across a 20-floor building is working from incomplete information, and the asset manager reviewing quarterly reports is seeing the financial picture without the relationship picture underneath it.

Tenant Health changes that equation. Not as a metric but as a practice: the discipline of tracking Usage, Engagement, and Sentiment for every tenant in a portfolio, continuously, so that a drop in activity that precedes a non-renewal decision is visible months before it becomes a lease event.

The research on tenant churn is not a post-mortem. It's a map. The landlords reading it are already acting on it.

Download the tenant health guide to see how leading portfolios are measuring and acting on tenant health data.

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HqO Blog • Happy Office

What a World-Class Building Lobby Actually Does for Tenant Retention

 Eryn Lalonde

 Apr 20, 2026

  3 min. read

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The lobby is the most visited square footage in your building. Every tenant, every guest, every delivery passes through it. And most landlords treat it like a waiting room.

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That's the gap. Not in design. In strategy.

A world-class lobby isn't defined by its ceiling height or its marble finishes. It's defined by what it does for the tenant relationship every single day. And when you measure it against retention data, the difference between a lobby that performs and one that merely exists is significant.

The First Impression Is a Daily Event

First impressions don't happen once. They happen every morning. The tenant who has worked in your building for three years is still forming an impression of it every time they walk through the door.

Research from Leesman consistently shows that arrival experience is one of the highest-weighted factors in overall workplace satisfaction. It sets the emotional tone for the rest of the day. A lobby that feels welcoming, efficient, and alive signals to tenants that the building is invested in their experience. A lobby that feels empty, outdated, or transactional sends the opposite message, and that signal compounds over the life of a lease.

The buildings that understand this treat lobby design as an ongoing operational decision, not a one-time capital expense.

What High-Performing Lobbies Actually Deliver

The lobbies that correlate with higher tenant satisfaction and renewal rates share a set of common characteristics. None of them are accidental.

Frictionless access. Tenants who spend less time navigating entry have measurably better arrival experiences. Mobile credentials, integrated visitor management, and streamlined security checkpoints aren't just conveniences. They're signals that the building respects the tenant's time from the first second of the day.

Human presence, not just human proximity. A front-of-house team that knows tenant names, anticipates needs, and handles issues before they escalate is a retention asset. The lobby is where the property team's hospitality mindset is most visible. Buildings that invest in training and empowering their front desk teams see it reflected in tenant satisfaction scores.

Activation, not vacancy. Empty lobbies communicate that nothing is happening. Buildings that use their lobby for community programming, curated F&B, local art installations, and brand-aligned aesthetics create a daily reason for tenants to notice the building working for them. That noticeability is what makes an asset feel alive rather than just functional.

Real-time visibility for property teams. The most sophisticated landlords aren't just designing great lobbies. They're instrumenting them. Who's arriving, when, and how often. Which tenants are engaging with lobby amenities and which ones are coming in, going straight to the elevator, and leaving. That data is the early warning system for disengagement, and it starts in the lobby.

The Lobby As Experience Infrastructure

There is a version of the lobby that is infrastructure and a version that is experience. The former provides access. The latter builds the relationship that makes tenants want to stay.

The Experience Gap shows up most acutely at arrival. Tenants who feel the building is invested in their day from the moment they walk in are more likely to use amenities, attend events, submit service requests rather than suffer in silence, and ultimately renew. Those behaviours compound over the life of a lease into measurable retention outcomes.

HqO's REX Platform gives property teams the tools to connect lobby operations to the full tenant experience stack. Access, visitor management, communications, and engagement data sit in a single system. That means the insight generated at the front door doesn't disappear into a silo. It becomes part of the tenant health picture that informs every renewal conversation.

The lobby isn't just where tenants arrive. It's where the landlord-tenant relationship begins again every day.

Ready to see how the REX Platform connects lobby performance to portfolio-wide retention outcomes? Request a demo.

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HqO Blog • Happy Office

How Buildings Become Experience Hubs in 2026

 Eryn Lalonde

 Feb 24, 2026

  2 min. read

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Buildings Are No Longer the Product

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For most of commercial real estate's history, the building was the product. The asset. The thing you delivered, leased, and managed.

That equation is over.

In 2026, the building is the platform. What you deliver on top of it, the services, data, programming, and intelligence, is where the competitive advantage lives. The landlords who understand this are commanding premium economics. The ones who don't are discounting into a demand environment that rewards differentiation and punishes sameness.

The question isn't whether your building is a nice place to work. The question is whether it functions as an experience hub: a connected ecosystem that anticipates what tenants need, responds to how they behave, and compounds in value as the relationship deepens.

What An Experience Hub Actually Looks Like

An experience hub isn't an amenity floor. It's an operating model.

It starts with knowing your tenant. Not in the abstract ("tech companies in the 5,000–15,000 SF range") but specifically: what their teams need to be productive, what friction points are driving attrition, where the gap exists between what they're paying for and what they're actually experiencing.

It continues with connected systems. Access, operations, and engagement data flowing into a single platform that gives property teams real-time visibility into tenant health. When a work order sits open for 72 hours, the system surfaces it before the tenant escalates. When engagement scores drop in Q3, you have the data to act before renewal conversations begin.

And it culminates in measurable outcomes. Not activity metrics, not survey scores filed and forgotten. Tenant Lifetime Value. Renewal rate. Expansion revenue. The financial case for experience-led management, quantified.

The 2026 Opportunity

The market has handed experience-focused operators an unusual advantage. Flight to quality has separated the CRE universe into assets that attract premium tenants and assets that compete on price. The gap between them is widening.

But here's what most portfolios are still missing: the difference between a trophy asset and an average one isn't primarily architectural. It's operational. It's the systematic delivery of experience at every touchpoint across the tenant journey, from first tour to lease renewal.

That's what becoming an experience hub in 2026 actually requires. Not a renovation. Not a new amenity program. A fundamental shift in how you think about what you're delivering and how you measure whether it's working.

The buildings that win this decade won't just be beautiful. They'll be intelligent. They'll know their tenants better than their tenants know themselves and they'll use that intelligence to close the Experience Gap before anyone has to ask.

Where Does Your Building Stand?

Request HqO's Experience Assessment to benchmark your portfolio against the experience leaders in your market.

Take the Experience Assessment

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HqO Blog • Happy Office

How Experience Data Turns Generic Events Into Tenant Magnets

 Eryn Lalonde

 Feb 18, 2026

  4 min. read

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Your building hosts monthly networking events. Attendance is flat. Tenant satisfaction hasn't moved.

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Welcome to the blind spot costing portfolios millions in wasted programming spend.

Without experience data, every decision is a guess: which events to repeat, which tenants to target, which timing drives engagement. You're operating a community strategy with zero intelligence infrastructure.

Properties with exceptional tenant experiences reduce their time-to-lease by an average of 45 days compared to average properties, according to CBRE's Global Workplace Occupancy Survey. The difference? They stopped hosting events and started running experiments.

The Generic Event Trap

Most property teams follow the same playbook: quarterly networking mixers, seasonal celebrations, wellness workshops. The logic seems sound: activate amenity spaces, foster community.

Then reality arrives. You counted heads. You saw name tags. You have anecdotes.

This is activity without intelligence.

Here's the problem: 63% of CRE professionals don't use tenant survey and polling data to guide business decisions, according to industry research. You're spending budget without knowing which programming resonates, which tenants engage, or whether events correlate with retention.

Without segmentation, you can't target. Without tracking, you can't optimize. Without feedback loops, you can't iterate.

What Experience Data Actually Measures

Experience platforms transform events from programming line items into measurable engagement channels.

Registration Intelligence: Who signs up reveals which tenant personas respond to which event types. One landlord discovered their wellness events attracted operations teams, while networking events drew executives. They split programming by persona and doubled participation.

Attendance Patterns: High registration, low attendance signals timing or topic disconnect. Low registration, high repeat attendance means you've found a niche. Adjust accordingly.

Engagement Depth: Modern platforms track app interactions, amenity usage pre/post-event, and survey responses. One portfolio discovered their rooftop events drove 40% higher amenity usage the following week. The events weren't just programming. They were discovery mechanisms.

Tenant Health Correlation: Experience platforms connect programming data to retention. Research shows that satisfied tenants are 40% more likely to expand their space within the same building, according to Cushman & Wakefield's Experience per Square Foot platform. Event participation becomes a leading indicator of lease expansion and renewal likelihood.

The Segmentation Advantage

Generic events fail because tenants aren't generic.

Different tenant types want different experiences. Tech startups want peer networking. Professional services want executive forums. Creative agencies want collaborative showcases.

One landlord analyzed attendance data and discovered their "general networking events" actually drew 80% from two tenant categories. They split programming by persona. Attendance jumped 60%.

Tenant needs also evolve across lease stages. New tenants need building orientation. Established tenants want community participation. Pre-renewal tenants benefit from executive briefings showcasing improvements.

Experience platforms flag which stage each tenant occupies and surface relevant programming.

Not all tenants engage equally. Champions attend regularly and advocate. Browsers participate occasionally. Dormant tenants register but never attend.

One portfolio reactivated 30% of dormant tenants by surveying non-participants about timing preferences. Evening events excluded parents. They added lunchtime programming and engagement doubled.

From Data to Competitive Advantage

Experience data transforms programming from cost center to strategic asset.

When you know which events drive satisfaction and retention, budget allocation stops being guesswork. One portfolio cut 40% of programming while increasing satisfaction 15%. They weren't doing less. They were doing what mattered.

Experience data becomes a leasing tool. Buildings with superior tenant satisfaction can typically charge 8% to 12% higher rents than comparable properties with average satisfaction levels. Show prospects average event attendance, satisfaction scores, and engagement rates demonstrating active community. You're not selling space anymore. You're selling activated community with proof.

Research from JLL and CBRE confirms that workplace experience is one of the top drivers of tenant renewal decisions, while properties with active engagement strategies demonstrate greater occupancy stability during market uncertainty.

The Intelligence Infrastructure Requirement

None of this works without systems.

Generic event management relies on spreadsheets and manual tracking. Experience platforms integrate registration tracking, tenant profile data, survey collection, amenity usage correlation, and satisfaction scores.

The platform doesn't just host data. It surfaces insights: which tenant segments are under-engaged, which event types drive satisfaction, which programming investments correlate with retention.

This is the difference between knowing what happened and understanding what to do next.

The Reset is Here

Buildings treating events as programming line items are losing to landlords treating them as engagement infrastructure.
The difference isn't budget. It's measurement. Experience data transforms generic events into precision tenant retention tools.

Your competitors are already doing this. The question is whether you'll catch up or fall behind.

Close Your Experience Gap

HqO's Intelligence Suite turns event programming from guesswork into science. See how leading landlords use experience data to optimize tenant engagement and drive measurable retention outcomes.

Benchmark where your portfolio stands on experience delivery and identify optimization opportunities. Take the Experience Assessment today.

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How Office Food & Beverage Amenities Are Elevating Workplace Experience

It’s 8:52 a.m. You’ve just survived the commute, dodged a rogue breakfast burrito, and made it to your desk with seconds to spare. What’s the first thing on your mind?

Coffee. Maybe a breakfast sandwich. Definitely not that sad desk salad waiting in your bag.

Welcome to the age of food-forward, flexible office spaces, where barista-brews and chef-curated lunches are doing more for employee experience than another Slack emoji reaction ever could.

The Rise of Office Food & Beverage Amenities

According to Leesman data, 65% of employees say a workplace canteen or restaurant is a must-have office amenity. But only half are satisfied with what they’re getting.

Translation? Corporate real estate professionals, there’s a major opportunity on the menu.

Whether it’s a full-blown cafeteria or grab-and-go kombucha fridges, office food and beverage amenities are fast becoming non-negotiables in modern workplaces. Forget ping pong tables, today’s employees are craving convenience, nourishment, and spaces that support real breaks.

Tea, Coffee & the ROI of Brew Culture

Hot drinks aren’t just nice to have — they’re the fuel of productivity.

A full 76% of employees rate tea, coffee, and refreshment facilities as important, yet only 62% are satisfied. In Leesman+ certified offices, which are considered outstanding workplaces, that number climbs to 73%, because they get it: a burnt pot of drip just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Premium coffee and tea options signal care. They create pause points. And yes, they keep caffeine-fueled brainstorms alive.

Elevate Experience, One Snack at a Time

Whether you’re designing a flexible office space in New York, Nairobi, or London, the playbook is clear:

Food and beverage amenities = workplace wellbeing + employee satisfaction.

In a hybrid world where office attendance isn’t guaranteed, creating spaces worth showing up for starts with what’s in the kitchen.

Because when it comes to employee experience, the fridge may be just as important as the floor plan.

Leesman Workplace Experience Assessment, N=1,380,814 (Q2 2015-Q2 2025)

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How Energy-Boosting Offices Give CRE a Competitive Edge

Tired tenants. Half-empty offices. Dwindling leases. CRE pros, we need a recharge, fast.

A global workplace revolution is underway. It’s not just about desks and square footage anymore. It’s about energy. Specifically, how office design can combat fatigue, boost employee well-being, and increase tenant retention.

Welcome to the era of energy-boosting offices, and no, we’re not just talking espresso machines.

Why Energy Matters in Office Real Estate

66% of employees say their workplace has a positive impact on their wellbeing. That’s not just a soft stat, it’s a leasing opportunity.

When office space helps people feel alert, motivated, and mentally recharged, companies notice. And they stay.

Here’s what’s topping the wish list, according to Leesman data:

• Natural light (69% of employees value it)
• Coffee and refreshment facilities (76% say they’re important)
• On-site fitness or wellness spaces (42% see them as a must)

For landlords and operators, this isn’t just a design trend; it’s a differentiator in a competitive CRE landscape.

Energy-Boosting Strategies That Actually Work

Let’s cut the buzzwords. Here’s what CRE pros should really focus on:

Maximize Natural Light

More windows, better layouts, smarter lighting systems — natural light improves mood, energy, and productivity. It’s the top-rated workplace factor for a reason.

Prioritize Refreshments

Upgraded coffee bars, hydration stations, even fresh snacks. It’s a low-cost, high-impact way to fuel teams (and conversations).

Add Movement-Friendly Features

Think on-site gyms, bike storage, or even proximity to fitness centers. Physical activity = better focus and fewer sick days.

Integrate Biophilic Design

Plants, green walls, and outdoor terraces aren’t just aesthetic. They reduce stress and help employees stay sharp.

Offer Flexible Work Zones

From quiet pods to collab lounges, variety keeps people energized throughout the day and supports hybrid workflows.

The CRE Payoff: Longer Leases, Happier Tenants

In a hybrid world, the office has to earn the commute. Energy-boosting spaces do just that, and the returns show up in:

• Higher tenant satisfaction
• Longer lease terms
• Increased space utilization
• Positive brand equity for properties

Bottom line: If your building helps employees feel better and work smarter, your tenants are more likely to stick around and expand.

Final Take: The Office Isn’t Dead — It Just Needs a Jolt

The most successful CRE professionals are rethinking office design through a human lens. They’re investing in light, wellness, and flexibility and getting tenant loyalty in return.

So ask yourself: Is your building energizing its occupants? Or draining them?

If it’s the latter, it might be time to flip the switch.

Leesman Workplace Experience Assessment, N=1,380,814 (Q2 2015-Q2 2025)

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Your tenants care more about sunlight than snacks. And the data backs it up.

Picture this: You’ve nailed your lobby redesign, added a solid tenant app, maybe even installed a kombucha tap. But if your tenants are still working in dim, artificially lit spaces, you’re leaving both satisfaction and ROI on the table.

According to Leesman’s global independent workplace data set, 69% of employees say natural light is important, yet only 61% feel it’s adequately supported. That’s an 8-point percentage gap you can’t afford to ignore.

Why We’re So Obsessed with Sunlight (And Should Be)

Natural light isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s directly linked to employee wellbeing and performance, two metrics that roll up into the things you care about: tenant retention, asset value, and operational efficiency.

Meet Your Bright Idea

Let’s get real: in the world of Commercial Real Estate, natural light isn’t just a perk, it’s a strategic advantage. Here’s why:

• Eco brownie points: More sunlight = less reliance on artificial lighting = smaller carbon footprint.
• Tenant magnetism: Bright, airy offices photograph better, feel better, lease better.
• Employee magnetism: Light-filled offices are like catnip for top talent. (And yes, cats would love them too.)

Even in cities like Boston, home of long winters and short days, 62% of employees said natural light is a top workplace priority, per HqO data. So no, this isn’t just a West Coast wellness thing.

What You Can Actually Do

Not every building can be a glass cube, but there are steps you can take:

• Educate tenants about the benefits — it shows you’re thinking about their people, not just their lease
• Audit your lighting satisfaction scores (Leesman data can help with this)
• Reconfigure layouts to maximize light exposure — especially for shared and high-use spaces
• Use glazing, light shelves, and reflective surfaces to spread natural light deeper into floorplates

Bottom Line

Natural light is one of the most underrated value drivers in CRE. It supports happier, healthier, more productive workplaces—which means tenants stick around longer and speak more positively about your property.

So before you greenlight the next amenity upgrade, ask: Are we making the most of the light we already have?

Because when it comes to the tenant experience, the best glow-up might just be… actual sunlight.

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This data is of little surprise. In today’s world, the vast majority of employees are operating remotely or within hybrid work models. In fact, according to Kastle’s Back to Work Barometer, U.S. office occupancy levels were at 38% in March 2022 (far below a pre-pandemic peak of nearly 100%).

Low office occupancy levels pose a threat to employee productivity. For example, a recent paper in Nature Human Behavior discovered that Microsoft workers are 30% less productive during periods of remote work. Though the prevalence of remote work has grown with the pandemic, such research shows that in-office work simply makes employees more productive.

And that’s not all the office is good for. It also helps employees work more collaboratively and fosters a stronger sense of company culture. As the Harvard Business Review explains, “Being around a group of people who are working toward a common mission reinforces that goal in everyone in the workplace.”

An Engaging Return

With so much data in the market, how can corporate employers make sense of it all?

At this point in time, we can rely on two things: 1) that hybrid work models are likely to stay, and 2) that the significance of the physical office still exists in regards to running successful businesses.

Thus, the goal for employers is simple — they need to encourage the hybrid workforce to take advantage of physical office space. To do this, it all goes back to McGregor’s aforementioned quote: employees need to want to go into the office.

In today’s world, the office needs to be more attractive than at-home or remote work environments to encourage employees to return. This attraction encapsulates more than amenities or features that emphasize the physical space of the office — such as booking desks and rooms, or incorporating more collaboration space. Rather, it’s about features that bring about memorable workplace experiences.

Now, let’s talk about what that means.

More than a Building

It’s common to assume that the solution to making a space more attractive is to adorn it with all the bells and whistles you can think of. After all, we’ve all heard of the fancy Apple campuses with moving walls, incredible sustainability features, and state-of-the-art on-site facilities — who wouldn’t want to work there?

However, while those features are certainly noteworthy and admirable, they are not always realistic. Most companies have to work with much smaller budgets, or have to get the best use out of an existing office location with a predetermined infrastructure and floor plan.

Though adjusting the physical space of an office in the right ways can certainly be a bonus, it’s not the only thing companies should be paying attention to. In fact, investing in the right workplace technology can go above and beyond your physical space to elevate all aspects of your workplace — making it accessible and engaging for employees no matter where they work (which in turn encourages them to return to the office to benefit from more practical and meaningful resources and amenities).

Below are just some of the ways technology can help employers pique employees’ interest and keep them coming back to the office:

• Communication & Connection: Since hybrid employees are often separated from their peers (at least for certain periods of time), it’s more important than ever to maintain direct communication with them. With a workplace experience app, employees download the technology directly to their smartphones. This allows employers to open up seamless communication loops with their employees, thus eliminating many of the communication challenges associated with hybrid work. Workplace experience technology also offers ongoing updated content, allowing employers to deliver attention-grabbing mobile alerts that can attract employees back to the office, as well as unique events and programming that can involve the larger community.
• Coordination: To save employees time and foster better collaboration and productivity at work, technology can give employers the ability to coordinate their business strategies with a uniform cadence that reaches all workers, regardless of where they might be. Utility features of a workplace experience platform — like room scheduling and card-less mobile access — also help eliminate stress from employees’ schedules by making it easier to coordinate with colleagues in the office (which also showcases all of the resources available in the office for employees).
• Creativity: Disjointed workflows hinder employee creativity, thus it’s important to remove friction throughout the work day. Because workplace experience technology encompasses all major aspects of the office and home office environment, it gives workers the freedom to be more creative. Technology also improves the accessibility of important resources in and out of the office, which allows employees to choose where and how they work best to be truly innovative.
• Culture: With today’s employees in and out of the office on a number of different days, it can be harder for companies to create a uniform corporate culture. Mobile notifications and custom polling help employers tailor their engagement strategies to keep their employees satisfied and engaged. In-app polling is also a critical tool that can be used to boost engagement; by sending out surveys through a workplace experience app, employers can better understand employee sentiment and use that information to keep their employees engaged and productive beyond the brick-and-mortar workplace.

Experiences of the Future

All of these technology capabilities are more than capabilities: they’re experiences that enhance the value of both the physical and digital workplace environments.

To help employers meet these objectives, HqO offers a best-in-class workplace experience technology solution that powers hybrid success worldwide. With ongoing customer support, unique product capabilities, and unparalleled programming options, HqO can help your hybrid employees succeed during and after the initial transition to hybrid work.

Interested in learning more? Schedule a demo today to see our workplace experience solutions in action.

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It’s a fair question, one that many corporate employers have been asking themselves since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The more the industry collectively mulls it over, the more companies realize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to a better workplace.

Though this may be true, it doesn’t mean there aren’t proven steps companies can take to place them on a path to success. With 86% of employers already having implemented a hybrid work model, many companies are acknowledging technology’s role in making these work models work. In fact, 72% of employers agree that workplace experience and engagement technologies are a critical element of successful offices in the future.

The proof is in the pudding. Having the ability to connect dispersed employees through a purpose-built app or platform — alongside the additional engagement opportunities this type of technology can offer — allows employers to take a more personalized approach to their workplace and scale initiatives as needed. This blending of utility and fun is the most impactful strategy to retain and engage hybrid workers; not only will employees get extra productivity out of coming to the office, but they will also be able to partake in memorable, one-of-a-kind experiences that differentiate their workplace from other companies.

It’s a win-win.

Making Work Fun

Many companies have tried to bring employees back to the office with perks alone, but for the most part, these strategies have proven to be insufficient.

This is because employers can’t just offer perks — at this moment in time, nearly every company is doing that. Instead, they need to expand their programming in a way that helps individuals build more meaningful workplace connections. Not surprisingly, this can be achieved through workplace experience technology. Some examples include:

• Personalized in-app content
• Programming (such as classes or novelty events)
• Connections to local events (such as concerts or shows)
• Custom company and building-specific programming
• Discounts on local events and goods
• Food ordering

These examples of programming achieve multiple things for employers: they strengthen a company’s workplace culture by making it accessible to employees everywhere, and they place the physical office at the center of all cultural activities. In turn, this encourages employees to return to the office to experience social benefits they can’t have anywhere else. It also aligns them closer to their company’s mission, thereby increasing employee productivity and overall satisfaction.

Making Work Painless

The physical workplace can’t be all fun, however. There is immense value in equipping office spaces with tools and resources that foster more seamless and productive experiences throughout the work day. These capabilities also need to reach employees everywhere — whether they’re working from their office desk or their living room.

Fortunately, workplace experience technology can help employers reach this goal. Some examples include:

• Flexible room and desk booking
• Local transit information
• Enhanced communication
• Capacity management
• Parking
• Mobile access
• Service requests

Offering a variety of technology capabilities through a single app or platform addresses the wide range of unique needs a given workforce might have. It also saves employees time on tasks that might have otherwise been time-consuming, since the right platform offers the full range of features in a single, easy-to-use place (like an app).

Smarter Partnerships

The best way to combine fun and utility in the workplace is through partnering with leading technology providers. As workplace experience experts, we at HqO understand our clients’ needs to attract and retain talent and increase building occupancy through technology capabilities that allow employees to work how and where they want.

The secret behind these capabilities is connection: with digital tools, employers can easily bring people closer to each other and to their physical work environments. These kinds of connected experiences help engineer a better workplace, and transform the office into a true destination that people want to be a part of.

Want to learn more about how HqO can help bring fun and utility to your workplace experience? Schedule a demo today.

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For the past few years, we’ve heard many different terminologies to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — and specifically, its impact on the workplace and commercial real estate (CRE) industry. No phrase, however, is as prevalent as the “new normal,”with employers and property owners alike scrambling to figure out how to bring employees back to the office and get the most out of their investments.

Though the future of work is still up for debate (and constantly changing, mind you), there are a few things that we do know for certain. First and foremost: building occupancy has changed. HqO data reveals that 34% of employers have downsized their real estate portfolios, and an additional 42% plan to downsize in the next two years. Following suit with this trend, the workplace has become predominantly hybrid. 86% of employers have already implemented a flexible and/or hybrid working model since the beginning of the pandemic, and 14% plan to implement one in the next two years.

Then, of course, there is what employers are doing with their physical work environments. 68% of employers have redesigned their workspaces to support employee needs, while 28% plan to implement redesigned spaces in the next two years.

So, what do these more flexible, redesigned workplaces look like in real life? In a recent FastCompany article, authors Mark Sullivan and Grace Buono asked several business leaders about their hybrid work strategies and thoughts on workplace success. Below are a few of their responses.

Miro

“[…] We’ve seen that the biggest benefit employees want from an employer is flexibility in when, where, and how they work. Employers who want to retain talent need to enable that flexibility by investing in ways of working that support it. The new normal is constant change, which means being agile is more important than ever, and adaptability is a key differentiator between success and failure.”
— SANGEETA CHAKRABORTY, CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER

Audible

“It’s up to employers to determine what activities truly require employees to go into the office and make the office an exciting and collaborative place to work. The phenomenon known as the Great Resignation that is fueling a massive wave of career changes is actually a significant opportunity for businesses to offer employees a compelling reason to stay. If businesses expect to retain employees, they need to practice active listening.”
— ANNE ERNI, CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER

Qualcomm

“I’m a firm believer in the importance of in-person collaboration. Yes, we have the ability to work remotely, but we also want to preserve our culture. The reality is, if you don’t create as a community, it’s very difficult to maintain a strong culture. It’s all about striking the right balance between flexibility and providing people with an environment to work together effectively. We had a phased approach in bringing our employees back to the office, and we’re now embracing a hybrid schedule. We allow flexibility but are leaning into opportunities for people to spend time together and continue to build our incredible culture.”
— CRISTIANO AMON, CEO

Intel Corporation

“While it’s a major shift from pre-pandemic life, we’re trying to keep our new approach simple and avoid overcomplicating our policies. Our employees have been delivering amazing results over the past two years, so let’s embrace flexibility. By doing that, we can attract and retain the best and brightest talent. While hybrid and flexible working models can cast a wider recruitment net and provide the flexibility many candidates seek, we know we still face the challenge of ensuring that the future model is inclusive and supports everyone long term.”
— CHRISTY PAMBIANCHI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER

Meta Reality Labs

“The move to hybrid work is an even bigger shift that brings new challenges for how we all communicate. Adapting our physical spaces to provide virtual connection creates new requirements for office technology. It means investing in versatile, immersive tools. The metaverse will be one of the “tools” that will change businesses for the better with technology that helps us work smarter and offers synchronous collaboration in both physical and virtual spaces.”
— RYAN CAIRNS, VICE PRESIDENT OF HOME AND WORK

Workplaces of the Future

Though the ways people work will vary from company to company, it is clear that a modern toolset will help employers and employees alike achieve a greater level of personalization, agility, productivity, and engagement with the workplace. To learn more about how HqO’s Workplace Experience Platform can help your business meet these goals and more, schedule a demo today.

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