ORANGE COUNTY, CA—Too often, office users engage the market based on what type of space is available rather than conveying a specific description of their requirements and forcing the market to adhere to those requirements, Savills Studley's Kelly Givens tells GlobeSt.com. As we recently reported, the firm has promoted Givens in the Orange County office to vice chairman. We spoke with him about his goals, creating transactional strategies centered on workplace and facility requirements and creating better relationships with tenants in order to help them serve their customers.

GlobeSt.com: What are you seeking to accomplish in your new role with Savills Studley?

Givens: The new title reinforces our strong regional and national leadership, but my role as a transactional manager with a focus of workplace strategies will not change. What has changed is the various ways to solve our clients' desire to create flexible and efficient workspaces. Our clients continue to ask us how to reimagine their workplace today and future-proof a real estate solution for tomorrow—and that is a challenge we take seriously.

GlobeSt.com: What is essential to creating transactional strategies centered on workplace and facility requirements in today's changing office environment?

Givens: Certainly, flexibility is at the forefront of any solution. The rate of change in today's corporate environment is very high, and facilities need to be able to adapt accordingly. Our clients are seeking diverse types of workspaces for a multi-generational workforce and want us to design environments that can accommodate a modification in workforce capacity, up or down, without adding to the real estate footprint. Alternative workplace solutions have become a tool to attract and retain talent. These alternative workplace solutions are a blend of work, support and amenity spaces, with an emphasis on support and amenities.

GlobeSt.com: How can brokerages create better relationships with tenants in order to help them serve their customers better?

Givens: At Savills-Studley, we only represent the tenant or occupiers of space, so our perspective is singularly focused on the occupant. That perspective allows us to concentrate on what is driving our clients' business and how those issues translate into headcount and space requirements. We also look to create a better alignment in the way a workforce operates and the types of workspaces offered within an environment. Too many times we see clients engage the market based on what type of space is available rather than identifying and conveying a specific description of the performance criteria required to satisfy their diverse workforce and forcing the market to adhere to those requirements.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about tenant needs?

Givens: Today's workforce is very mobile and can operate almost anywhere if the technology is in place to support them. As workforce mobility increases, many companies are reassessing and reinventing where and how employees function. A variety of workspace types is a key component of an overall workplace solution.

GlobeSt.com: What are you seeking to accomplish in your new role with Savills Studley?

GlobeSt.com: What is essential to creating transactional strategies centered on workplace and facility requirements in today's changing office environment?

GlobeSt.com: How can brokerages create better relationships with tenants in order to help them serve their customers better?

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about tenant needs?

Instant Insights /

A Necessary Paradigm Shift for the Office Market

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