BCO report features
Welcome input
The latest report from the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) Occupier Group, which tracks the evolution of customer experience best practice in the UK commercial office sector, has released its latest research, “Towards Experience Utopia: Customer experience best practice for the UK office sector,” which features contributions from our very own Monika Newton, Partner and Head of Welcome Offices at Workman.
From hotel management to “hotelification”
The British Council for Offices’ (BCO) mission is to research, develop and communicate best practice in all aspects of the office sector. It delivers this by providing a forum for the discussion and debate of relevant issues. Established in 1990, the BCO is Britain’s leading forum for the discussion and debate of issues affecting the office sector.
In her role as Head of Welcome Offices at Workman, where Monika leverages her background in hotel management to enhance service delivery in property management, Monika is bringing to life many of the recommendations of the BCO’s previous report: “Closing the Skills Gap”.
Monika advocates the importance of transferable skills, which she champions within her team.
We deliberately handpick our teams from all walks of life, knowing that their varied experience makes them competent and composed, regardless of the situation they are faced with.
She believes that a diverse team brings unique perspectives and skills that significantly improve occupier experiences. Monika highlights the journey of a team member who transitioned from hairdressing to a senior surveyor role, illustrating how skills such as multi‑tasking and customer service are invaluable in property management.
Building a rapport with people, multi-tasking, time-management, and health & safety … are all excellent transferrable skills for property management.
Understanding occupiers’ needs
Close collaboration and understanding occupiers’ needs is also an area of critical importance, as Monika describes:
For me, it’s the collaboration and almost ‘hotelification’ of offices, providing the occupiers with what they really need to attract their top talent, and for the occupiers and employees to actually thrive within the environment. It’s the close collaboration and building friendships which has a commercial end.
Monika also provides concrete examples of how collaboration leads to commercial success:
A recent example is one of our occupiers, Mott Macdonald, taking an additional floor following the landlord’s investment in upgrading the end-of-journey facilities [at 10 Fleet Place]. So, it really does work.
Finally, Monika stresses the importance of using technology to meet the expectations of younger generations:
We need to ensure we provide the technology that serves all generations, for example, making sure that Gen Z can get into the office using their phone instead of an access card.