Coming back to work following the pandemic, employers across Canada are continuously evaluating whether they need their office and, if so, just how much space they’ll need in the future.
Making real estate decisions such as whether to renew office leases or downsize is proving to be challenging. Without access to a framework for modelling future behaviour, far too many leaders remain unclear on what grounds they should base making these decisions.
Most are simply guessing.
“Many people are struggling, especially as they come up to a lease renewal, to really understand what to do,” CEO of Canadian design-build firm Aura Dan Boram, says.
“They’re stuck, but Pivvot unlocks the log jam to help people see what they need to see to make decisions that will work now and into the future.”
Aura is Canada’s leading workplace strategy and interior design firm that offers a complete turnkey solution to accommodate an organization’s unique needs.
Recognizing that every leader needs a strategy and guidance for how their space will support new ways of working, Aura has partnered with workplace strategy platform, Pivvot. This joint effort aims to arm organizations with the factual data necessary to make informed decisions around office space and their remote working policies.
“Pivvot allows organizations to be scientific about their decisions,” Boram says.
“This way, they’re making informed decisions about space instead of just winging it or thinking they can go without office space.”
Built for use by clients across industries, the Pivvot platform helps its users calculate and visualize exactly how much space and what type of space they’ll need to support how their teams will work in the future.
Using the platform involves going through a proven process that evaluates the organization’s goals, aligns key stakeholders on the organization’s direction for the future, and gathers direct input on staff workstyle needs.
What distinguishes the tool from other real estate solutions is its ability to classify each staff member into one of a few workstyle personas.
By using AI, the platform categorizes the entire workforce into these personas, enabling business leaders to uncover the different needs of each persona both now and in the future and form strategies for meeting them.
“The assessment helps us to understand how people work, what they need to be productive, and what kind of person they are,” Boram explains.
“As opposed to asking someone what they want, we draw out what they actually need from two angles: What the person needs and what the business needs so both the organization and the individual can perform well.”
One of Pivvot’s most valuable offerings is the platform's scenario-planning tool, built for multi-use. The feature uses the data acquired through the staff assessment to determine potential scenarios regarding space, workforce growth, and working arrangements and their potential impacts on the business.
It also offers an environmental dashboard so organizations can track the environmental impact in terms of space and emissions.
Major global and national brands including Clark Wilson, Westland Insurance, Canfor and LGM have already made use of the analytics tool and its proven process to introduce new working arrangements and visualize how to allocate their office space accordingly.
Some of these companies have used their Pivvot insights to introduce new approaches to managing occupancy loads through the use of modern technology, such as desk booking apps that have risen in popularity over the past year.
“Pivvot brought clarity to how our team workstyle personas would look in a post-COVID world in relation to the office space needed,” Canfor’s Heather Lefebvre says.
Pivvot’s platform can help organizations make bold real estate decisions and strategize their future office needs by taking a scientific approach to understanding how their teams work.
Speak to a Pivvot specialist today to start building the people friendly workspace of the future. To learn more, visit www.pivvotstrategy.com.
