BUSINESS INSIGHTS - REAL ESTATE

By Max Shepherd, Director, Global Real Estate Practice

PREPARING FOR THE RESTART

In the second in our series of virtual roundtable discussions with HR and Business Leaders from European and Global Real Estate Fund Managers, the conversation is moving on from responses to the current crisis and moving towards preparing for the restart.

During the conversation the following topics and themes were discussed:

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Re-opening offices Self-Attestation Changes to office space requirements Changes to future working practicesSite visits - managing the riskRecruitment and onboardingHoliday accrual

RE-OPENING OFFICES

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Businesses are continuing to carry out risk assessments and employee surveys to assess the current appetite of employees to get back to the office. Employee surveys conducted by our attendees had largely shown that there is some nervousness around being back in the office. They also noted that a large proportion of employees are concerned about their journeys to work, with many cautious about using public transport.

The challenge ahead is trying to balance government guidelines with those groups of employees who are wanting to get back into the office or out to visit sites. Most HR leaders are concerned about the effect on the mental health of its employees the longer offices remain closed.

With that being said, some offices are starting to open across Europe and employees can use them on a voluntary basis. Firms are giving priority to functions that are carrying out time-critical and essential work, such as asset management. One firm opened two offices in Germany last week, while other organizations have even managed to keep some offices open throughout this period.

BUSINESS INSIGHTSMAY 2020

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Paris and Luxembourg look most likely to be the next offices to re-open, with London offices set to be the last to re-open in Europe.

Looking more internationally, one US based global fund manager has announced that they will not consider anyone coming back into the office before August 15 and they expect the majority won’t be back until 2021. The majority of HR Leaders are in agreement that their priorities for reopening offices has been more focused on socialization rather than for investment requirements.

SELF-ATTESTATIONSelf attestation has been discussed at length among organizations but with no real firm decisions having been made. Some organizations are considering home and onsite temperature and anti-body testing, while others have decided not to do testing, instead asking employees to submit a request a few days in advance if they want to go to the office. They need to confirm that they fulfil a list of seven key criteria, for example that they have had no travel in the last 14 days and have no flu-like symptoms.

Another firm confirmed they had put in place similar measures, where employees provided a self-attestation via docusign before going into the office.

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However, the policy varies between countries; Italy must self-attest, in France self-attestation is not allowed and Germany is still considering this as an option.

One of the organizations in attendance had opened their Paris office this week and were asking employees to give one week’s notice of their intention to come into the office. They are managing the office at a maximum capacity of 25% at all times and trialing it being open Monday to Thursday, with Fridays being closed. This is to allow a 72-hour window for surfaces to be safe.

BUSINESS INSIGHTSMAY 2020

With the move to remote working for many during the pandemic, organisations have found that their employees can operate just as well remotely as they can in the office. This has led many organizations to question what the future of their workspace looks like. Many are using this experience as an opportunity to implement changes to the workplace configuration to try and create something that is not just fit for purpose for temporary social distancing requirements, but something that will be beneficial long term.

The changes to offices need to ensure they service the benefits of working in an office rather than from home, for example, providing more collaborative workspaces to generate ideas. However, with social distancing in mind, this can be challenging. One attendee said their business is currently working on ideas for three pilot schemes that will be implemented by end of the year.

The majority of attendees expected that more people will work from home in the future. HR leaders are now looking at new policies and procedures to help individuals manage themselves and structure their teams for the future in a more remote set up. However, more thought needs to go into how businesses train and support people remotely to make sure productivity is maximized and learning and development is maintained.

Businesses are also reassessing the requirements around staff travel, client entertainment and offsites.

CHANGES TO OFFICE SPACE REQUIREMENTS

CHANGES TO FUTURE WORKING PRACTICES

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BUSINESS INSIGHTSMAY 2020

SITE VISITS - MANAGING THE RISKSIt is critical for business purposes to get investment professionals back in the market – however, that typically involves getting on a plane to go and see assets and no one feels comfortable doing this right now.

For those employees who want to visit a site within their portfolio or for new investment purposes, they will have to make a business case which must be approved at a senior level. These requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and approval granted on a one-off basis.

One firm has already implemented this system with 15 criteria needing to be fulfilled before the request will be considered.

3 RECRUITMENT & ONBOARDINGThe vast majority of businesses are still going ahead with critical hires. Some firms are slowing down some senior strategic hires to Q3 or Q4. These are primarily for entirely new strategies where the business has decided it is not the right time to build out a brand new team. Additionally, some investment hires have also been delayed.

Attendees said that their organizations have been comfortable running recruitment processes remotely. However, there have been a few examples of candidates being less comfortable in accepting an offer before any face-to-face meetings or visiting the office.

One participant said they had managed to smoothly onboard everyone they had intended. In some cases, the recruitment process had been expedited prior to the crisis.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTS MAY 2020

However, for some senior searches which started after lockdown, some hiring managers are seemingly uncomfortable making final offers without meeting the candidate in person.

For those who have managed to virtually onboard new joiners, the experience has been largely positive, with IT set up all running smoothly.

In addition to senior hiring, organizations are also continuing with junior hiring and internships. Due to the reduced activity for internal recruiting teams, they have been given learning and development projects to focus on during this period, for example how to move all training to virtual platforms. Other under-utilised functions are assisting on data cleanup initiatives or being re-deployed to other areas to make sure everyone is being fully utilised.

In the event that the crisis worsens or extends over a longer period of time, organisations will have to look at potentially restructuring parts of the business. One attendee noted that communication from the most senior levels all the way through the business is key because new talent is still being brought in, albeit to fulfil critical or strategic roles, while others are being let go.

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4 HOLIDAY ACCRUALThis is a topic that is still very much at the forefont of many HR leaders’ minds. A recent survey conducted by Sheffield Haworth concluded that the majority of businesses are most concerned about doing what is fair for employees and is in the best interest for their physical and mental well-being, with 68% of firms deciding to increase the number of days holidays that employees can carry over to 2021.

We also found that US businesses were the most generous in allowing employees to carry over

holiday days at the end of this year and not placing any restrictions on when they take their holiday days.

However, it is worth noting that they typically have less holiday days to start with than Europe and holiday days are also treated as part of their salary rather than an added benefit.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTSMAY 2020

Sheffield Haworth is a global talent consultancy focused on people led transformation and our purpose is to help organisations and people to realise their potential. Our clients span the Financial Services, Real Assets, Consulting, Technology & Services and broader Corporate sectors and our services cover Executive Search, Talent Development & Advisory and Consulting.

Established in London in 1993, Sheffield Haworth has undergone significant growth and expansion, now employing over 150 professionals in 12 global offices, with a client list that includes a substantial number of leading global organisations.

Our Real Estate Practice comprises dedicated consultants averaging over 10 years’ Real Estate experience spanning executive search and industry roles in development, asset management, capital-raising and investor relations Our key consultants are based across our global offices, to enable us to effectively serve our clients across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia – providing both local market knowledge and a global perspective on top talent.

About Sheffield Haworth

W. www.sheffieldhaworth.com

This continues to be a fluid situation with many unknowns and an extremely challenging time for leaders of businesses. However, there are clearly lessons that have been learnt and many are now looking forward and wanting to make sure they make this best of this situation to implement new initiatives that will benefit the productivity, health and well-being of their employees and efficiencies in their business.

CONCLUSION

Key ConsultantsMax Shepherd leads our Real Estate Practice across Europe. He is based in London.

Jennifer Novack is Global Co-Head of the Real Estate Practice. She is based in New York.

Emily Von Kohorn is Global Co-Head of the Real Estate Practice. She is based in New York.

Rob Dyson is a Senior Consultant in the Real Estate Practice. He is based in New York.

Abhishek Vats leads the Real Estate Practice across the Middle East. He is based in Dubai.

For more information please contact:m.shepherd@sheffieldhaworth.com