Navigating the ‘New Normal’: A Post-Lockdown Workplace

As many of us enter week 5-6 of working remotely, the hours have quickly turned into days, the days into weeks and sweatpants into a permanent fixture of our ‘Zoom-ready’ home office attire.

But when self-isolation is finally over and we can press play again on our normal lives – what will become the ‘new normal’ of office culture?

While the majority of real estate businesses grapple with crippling restrictions, piling rent relief requests and a chokehold on sales and property management revenue, it’s hard to think forward to a time when the dust will settle.

Some businesses have embraced technology, with virtual inspections and online auctions achieving moderate success over the past month. But are these sustainable solutions? Will the industry best-practices hit reset along with the market, or will these ‘temporary fixes’ become the way forward?

In a pre-Covid-19 market, a talent drought on the supply-demand see-saw forced Property Management base salaries through the roof. Candidates with 2-3 years’ experience had a price tag upwards of $75-$80k and entry-level roles were offering up to $60k plus commission-based incentives. One positive that will come from this crisis is a much-needed realigning of the market.

With redundancies and pay cuts rife across the board, inflated base salaries will no longer be the driving force behind Property Managers making a move. Candidates will be hankering for upfront job security, more flexibility and better support when sizing up potential new workplaces. But what exactly will a post-Covid-19 real estate office look like?

Rise of the ‘Six Feet Office’:

The fundamental structure of the traditional real estate office will look very different on the other side of this pandemic. Say goodbye to the ‘open-office’ mentality, communal lunches and crowded meeting rooms at your weekly team debrief (a blessing for many!). With a limitation on attendees at open homes and a push for more private inspections, businesses will be forced to redefine what it means to stay ‘connected’ with their customers and colleagues.

Commercial Real Estate giant Cushman & Wakefield are leading by example with a new project they’ve coined ‘The Six Feet Office’. Incentivising their employees to return to the workplace, they have implemented six key social distancing and hygiene guidelines to give their staff a bigger, safer space to work in.  

The ‘socially distanced desk’ is an inevitability for most real estate offices across Australia. So how can you replicate human interaction in an industry that’s built on relationships? Get creative – and get online.    

Going Digital – A New Frontier:

Working remotely has pushed many real estate businesses to take the leap into tech. As ‘e-office’ culture reinvents routine with video calls, group chats, cloud-based file management and virtual walkthroughs, Principals may be surprised to find that their staff are now more efficient, on task and in touch than ever before.

And this progress shouldn’t be road-blocked by a return to ‘business as usual’. Business owners should take this time to digitally systemise and streamline their in-house processes, such as migrating to a paperless office and opting for virtual rather than face to face meetings for appraisals, listing presentations and new business. This means less time spent getting from A to B and more time to get those much-needed results.  

Real estate offices as we know them may also shrink or evolve as businesses try to cut costs and bounce back (eg. shared WeWork spaces). The biggest upside of becoming tech-savvy however? Working from home. And working well.  

Putting ‘Life’ Back into Work-Life Balance:

If there’s one major change we’ve all had to acclimatize to in self-isolation – it’s the reality of working from home. For a vast majority of first-timers, the initial transition to working remotely spawned a myriad of challenges – from disruptive children/partners and technical difficulties, to an eye-opening spotlight on our mental and social health. But does this new norm have to be pro-tem?

A cultural shift to full-time remote work is predicted to jump to 10% after lockdown ends, with part time work pinned to surge up to 30%.

With office culture set to trump many ‘bells and whistles’ for real estate candidates facing multiple job offers in a post-lockdown market, flexibility and support should remain at the forefront of every Hiring Manager and business owner’s minds.

Start small by accommodating flexible start and finish times, travel during off-peak public transport hours or the option to work from home 1-2 days a week for those with lengthy commutes. Ingrain mental health support into your core business values and open up a conversation with your team to shed light on their concerns and ideas.

Isolation has also forced employees and business owners to over-communicate – something that is too-often overlooked in the daily grind. Keep these lines of communication open with daily check ins, weekly catch ups and team brainstorming sessions to keep your employees motivated and on-track – even when you’re sitting 6 feet away from them.

The Takeaway

The road to recovery will be a steep curve for the real estate industry to climb. When restrictions ease and the market regenerates, many will feel compelled to pick up where they left off. But why not try something different?

A great office isn’t defined by its four walls or its even results, it’s defined by its people. And when all this is over – it will never be more important to put them first.

Image Credit: Cushman & Wakefield