News

Making Industrial Space Cool

Bert Hesselink, the chair of AmCham’s Real Estate Council, recently helped start his company’s project- The Art of Space- which aims to make industrial spaces more attractive for current and future staff. In the interview below, he talks about why CBRE decided to do it… 

The talk about cool work spaces has mostly focused on offices for professional people. It creates this impression that white collar is modern, and blue collar is an old-fashioned type of work. That is a big challenge for manufacturer’s trying to attract the best people…

“That is exactly right. We somehow have gotten stuck in our thinking that only offices in some green downtown area can be cool. Yet, the same sort of ideas about an attractive workplace can be used inside a logistics facility or manufacturing plant. And it can make a difference in how people think about your company, and whether you are the employer of choice.”

This is part of the reason why you started The Art of Space project here…

“Yes, we wanted to show that industrial spaces have just as great a possibility to increase productivity and attractiveness to employees as an office space. People want to be a part of something that contributes to a larger good. They want to work in a nice environment that shows how much their employer values their work. Making a facility visually attractive to people passing by makes those people working inside prouder of where they work, and entices more people to want to work there. Making it more pleasant and stimulating inside drives up productivity and retention.”

One of the big challenges for manufacturers and logistic centers now is the pull of Prague and Brno.

“People are going to move to the cities. That is a fact around the world. You won’t stop it, but you can react effectively. For example, you can compete for the people from the area where you currently operate by making your facilities more attractive. You can show the younger workforce that they do not need to commute or move to Prague to work in a modern workspace.”