Dima Najib-Costa, who heads the newly created workforce advisory service at JLL, talks about the importance of design and why soft facilities management services should focus on making workplaces more comfortable for employees.

1. Can you tell us about the new workforce advisory service at JLL? 

Our advisory services help clients thrive as they transition to the new future of work. Our suite of workforce propositions are designed to enrich employee offerings, rethink talent, re-imagine work, optimise wellbeing, embrace belonging and visualise change. 

We adopt a data-driven approach to quantify workforce experience in six key propositions: talent strategy, strategic workforce planning, organisation design, health and wellbeing, diversity, inclusion and belonging (including neurodiversity) and change management. We first begin with an employee value proposition (EVP) assessment. Our rapid diagnostic tool provides a comprehensive assessment of employee value propositions in organisations. This helps us to understand their offering and how it compares to competitors, to identify opportunities and to optimise the return on investment. We essentially create a starting point, to incorporate propositions and make the changes needed. 

2. Is it aimed at property managers or facility managers? Who else is it aimed at and how will it help them?

It is aimed at anyone tasked with the responsibility of a workforce — can be C-suite, heads of HR and heads of real estate. To have leadership buy-in is critical to embed the change. It’s desirable for leaders to walk the talk for success. Getting the right individual for the job is tougher than ever in today’s highly competitive business world, and salary alone is no longer the primary driver for top talent. As experts in understanding today’s workplaces and workforces, we can help bring out the best in people. The key to success is in the synergy between HR, IT and real estate to create a people-centric strategy with a competitive advantage, today and tomorrow.

3. How important is design for the workplace, and are facility managers aware of its importance?

Design is critical. Many organisations are reopening their doors, but this is not without challenges. Employees - across all roles - are experiencing the pandemic differently, and it’s important for organisations to be agile as they welcome their people back to the workplace. The physical workplace will maintain its importance for facilitating innovation and collaboration and, ultimately, employee health, well-being and productivity.

4. Is there a need to educate facility managers about this aspect?

Absolutely, but rather than ‘educate’ let us look at it as ‘upskill’ and ‘growth’, to help get the most out of the chief currency in any organisation — its people. To understand how to embrace the new work-life priorities and expectations of a liquid workforce. We will work hand in hand, to decode the long-term impact of remote work on working and living patterns, to seize the opportunity to sustain and reinvigorate employee engagement and build a worker-centric workplace - specific to brand and desired culture of organisations.

5. What according to you are the current challenges with office spaces, particularly for property managers or FM managers?

It is time to rethink space allocation in-depth and to promote a new model of ‘space as a service’. In order to meet new workforce expectations, employers will have to accelerate the switch from providing spaces to support individual work to offering a variety of on-demand spaces dedicated to collective needs. Employees are conscious that a ‘new deal’ needs to be sealed with their employers: more freedom and choice, and more remote work and diversity in the office in exchange for their individual desk.