Winning Secrets: Cushman & Wakefield Singapore's CapitaSpring workplace supports wellbeing, inclusivity, and tech integration

Verity Zoerner, HR Director Transactions, Asia Pacific, Cushman & Wakefield Singapore, shares how the post-pandemic "destination office" encourages collaboration and offers a tech-enabled environment.

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global commercial real estate services firm for property owners and occupiers with approximately 52,000 employees in approximately 400 offices and 60 countries. In 2022, the firm reported revenue of US$10.1bn across its core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, and valuation and other services.

At the third annual edition of Employee Experience Awards - Singapore in 2023, Cushman & Wakefield Singapore was nominated as a finalist in the brand-new category for 'Best Hybrid Work Model'. 

To celebrate this milestone, we catch up with Verity Zoerner, HR Director Transactions, Asia Pacific, Cushman & Wakefield Singapore, who tells us about the "destination office" which fosters teamwork and creativity, with over 60% dedicated to open collaboration.

Q How do you ensure your employee experience initiatives are aligned with your business objectives?

Our leaders envision the Singapore workplace to reflect a client-centric culture where employees are deeply committed to ideas and action and are empowered to deliver their best. Our people priorities that drive our employee experience initiatives facilitate an all-rounded alignment to our business goals. They are centered on:

• Curating a destination office where our diverse group of employees can exercise choice and flexibility in how they collaborate and perform to their fullest potential,
• Championing community and inclusivity for our employees through a holistic employee experience (EX) strategy that includes employee-led CSR and wellness initiatives, and employee resource groups (ERGs) that positively impact the communities in which we operate.

Q Can you provide examples of how the organisation has invested in the employee experience?

Our workplace at CapitaSpring exemplifies our commitment to employee experience and business goals. It prioritises wellbeing, inclusivity, and technology integration. The post-pandemic space encourages collaboration and offers a tech-enabled environment for seamless connectivity. With over 60% dedicated to open collaboration, it fosters teamwork and creativity. Through our new desk booking system that allows desk reservation within proximity to their teams, we foster an environment where colleagues can cross-collaborate. We also cater for diverse work styles, including quiet areas like the 'Library' for focused work and social spaces like the 'Saloon' for colleagues to mingle.

We also have various EX programmes such as 'CushWake Cares' that support employee health and wellbeing as well as ERGs that drive our commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI). For example, the 'Women's Integrated Network' (WIN) promotes gender parity and inclusivity while 'Leading with Education and Awareness of Disabilities' (LEAD)’s mission is to cultivate a work environment that supports disability inclusion.

Q What are some of the key challenges that you faced in implementing your EX initiatives, and how did you overcome them?

The pandemic disrupted the way we operated, necessitating quick decisions and changes from our leadership and people team.

While work from home didn't significantly affect productivity, it negatively impacted wellbeing due to blurred work-life boundaries.

Different business units had varying priorities, making it challenging to find a one-size-fits-all solution for a positive employee experience.

To address these shifts, a task force was formed with business leaders, Chief People Officers, and Chief Financial Officers from local and regional teams to oversee the EX-transformation strategy. Employee engagement was prioritised through various channels like newsletters, town halls, change champions, and Microsoft Teams, incorporating feedback from surveys and focus groups.

The Total Workplace team, along with the People and Leadership team, developed a data-driven hybrid framework focusing on three pillars:

• identifying locational strategy based on where employees live and play,
• understanding work transformation impact and change management, and
• optimising real estate to reduce costs, increase cultural engagement, and support environmental initiatives.

Q Do you have processes to measure the effectiveness of your EX initiatives, and what metrics do you use to evaluate success?

Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Employee Engagement Survey conducted in 2022 included a proprietary section called 'Experience per SF™' (XSF), which assesses the correlation between the workplace environment and employee engagement. The survey revealed positive results:

• 96% of employees expressed satisfaction with their Cushman & Wakefield office,
• 79% reported feeling extremely engaged with the company, and
• 78% responded favourably regarding the company's inclusivity as a workplace.

All six DEI indices scored at or above global benchmarks, covering aspects like respect, open sharing of opinions, fair treatment by managers, equal opportunities, freedom to challenge norms, and valuing diverse perspectives within teams. Teamwork emerged as a core strength, reflecting the effectiveness of the hybrid work strategy in promoting collaboration amongst teams and members. Wellbeing was identified as one of the top five key drivers for employee engagement, with keywords like ‘empowered’, ‘energised’ and ‘valued’ highlighting its importance.

Q Finally, what role do leaders and managers play in driving a beautiful employee experience, and how are they held accountable for the success of these initiatives?

Our business leaders play a crucial role in shaping a successful employee experience by aligning our growth strategy with talent priorities and envisioning the workplace of the future. We foster an open culture where leaders engage in discussions through various platforms, including meetings, town halls and online forums. Each leader is accountable for their team's employee experience, with measurement platforms tracking success and improvement areas. Data covering DEI objectives, performance reviews, and engagement surveys contribute to evaluating leaders' effectiveness. We will also continue to use pulse surveys to engage small groups of employees more frequently, focusing on wellness, work-life integration, and other engagement topics. These initiatives aim to further enhance the employee experience.

Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!

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