The Workplace and CRE industry is a tight-knit community. We wanted to celebrate that camaraderie by bringing leaders together for a chance to exchange war stories, celebrate big wins, and … actually get to know one another.
Our inaugural event was held on February 10, 2022, in partnership with Purposeful Intent, and brought leaders from companies like Genentech, CBRE, Amazon, and LinkedIn together under the canvas of the desert sky to talk about the future of work, real estate, and anything top of mind.
This isn’t just thought leadership discussions. It’s also getting to know people after the discussion ends.
Jeff Weidenborner, Tenant Fusion
The conversations from that night aren’t “on the record.” But we did get permission to share a few of the insights these industry leaders discussed.
How do you bring people back to the office?
The simple answer? Food.
- Playstation saw a 140% increase in office attendance when they brought hot food back to the office.
- Cloudflare and Twitter employees enjoy imported international food and cash cards for visits to local food favorites — which also serves to benefit the local economy.
Pop-up spaces and tents are also popular ways to create unique experiences. One workplace leader said employees love getting to spend 2-3 hours outdoors.
- Humana is creating outdoor pop-up offices that let their employees connect outside the confines of the office.
- Other teams have added gaming spaces in open-air tents, fully equipped with video game consoles.
How do you create in-office experiences that matter?
One strategy is to let employees write what they liked/don’t like about a space on a post-it note, and leave that note on the whiteboard before they leave.
How do you preserve workplace culture in the hybrid era?
The consensus is that virtual happy hours aren’t enough. Many workplace leaders are beginning to create in-real-life social events for their people to come together.
Others are dedicating hubs within the workplace to socializing.
Still, not everyone can, or wants to, come to the office. This is particularly concerning for new hires. How do you get new employees embedded into the culture remotely?
One strategy is to have C-level employees hold live sessions with the team to talk about different aspects of the company.
Taking the guesswork out of the workplace
Workplace leaders have to design for all employees. That can make for a confusing in-office experience. Is it OK to be loud in this space? Where can I go for heads-down work?
The workplace team at Menlo Security publishes community norms within all their spaces so no one has to guess what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Here’s to community
Traditional conferences focus too much on telling the end-user what a sponsor wants to say, not asking them what they need to hear and discuss. I am truly grateful for Density for setting the bar so high with the incredible dinner in Phoenix.
Simon Davis, Founder of Purposeful Intent.
Our Phoenix event was just the first of our ongoing series where we’ll bring together leaders from across the industry in an un-conference setting. Stay updated on future events here.