Workplace transformation is key to driving business success

-- Jones Lang LaSalle highlights how companies can create value by redefining workplace productivity

SINGAPORE, Sept. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As workplace experts convene at WORKTECH 13 Asia in Singapore this week, Jones Lang LaSalle shows that companies need to refocus their workplace initiatives in order to support the activities that create business value.

According to a review of workplace initiatives within multinational companies in Asia Pacific, employees spend most of their time with emails, phone calls and formal meetings; all of which are facilitated by the traditional workplace. Conversely, in order to create organizational value, businesses must focus on enabling creative collaboration, concentrated solo work, and informal interactions, all of which require changes to the traditional workplace.

Su Lim, Head of Workplace Strategy for Jones Lang LaSalle in Asia Pacific, said "Product development is becoming more complex, with a combination of individual work and collaborative activity required in order to get new products and services to market quickly. People are also moving back and forth between activities more frequently. In this environment, value is created when a business can balance different types of work in the right way - it's important not to drive collaboration at the expense of concentration."

Effective workplaces are a necessity as businesses face mounting pressure to increase productivity while still maintaining costs. Jones Lang LaSalle's Global Corporate Real Estate Trends 2013 reveals that 72 percent of companies globally hold high expectations for real estate to deliver workplace productivity outcomes.

Quantifying results is critical for the success of workplace transformation. However, productivity is often miscalculated in cost-per-square-foot, as it's easier to measure, instead of by contribution to business performance.

"Achieving greater density is not the same as improving productivity. Companies must start to look at ways to measure results based on business value, such as how the workplace can enable more efficient and effective workstyles; position employees and the business for growth; improve talent attraction and retention; enhance customer experience; or reinforce the company's culture and brand," said Ms Lim. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution, companies must align initiatives and metrics with what productivity means for the business and how the workplace can best enable that."

Notes to editors

• Download our infographic on measuring workplace productivity: http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/Pages/Workplace-strategy-infographic.aspx

About Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Solutions:

A leader in the real estate outsourcing field, Jones Lang LaSalle's Corporate Solutions business helps corporations improve productivity in the cost, efficiency and performance of their national, regional or global real estate portfolios by creating outsourcing partnerships to manage and execute a range of corporate real estate services. This service delivery capability helps corporations improve business performance, particularly as companies turn to the outsourcing of their real estate activity as a way to manage expenses and enhance profitability.

About Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. With annual revenue of $3.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle operates in 70 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services to a property portfolio of 2.6 billion square feet and completed $63 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2012. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $47.7 billion of real estate assets under management.

Jones Lang LaSalle has over 50 years of experience in Asia Pacific, with over 26, 100 employees operating in 79 offices in 14 countries across the region. The firm was named 'Best Property Consultancy' in three Asia Pacific countries at the International Property Awards Asia Pacific 2013, and won nine Asia Pacific awards in the Euromoney Real Estate Awards 2013. www.ap.joneslanglasalle.com 

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