REOPENING
The World’s Workplaces The implications of COVID-19 have been profound and the path to business recovery is evolving and fluid. We are sharing our expertise and advice based on a rapidly growing body of experience, detailed guidance documents, technical specifications, protocols and tools that we have developed for and with our clients, and for our own CBRE workplace. The process of reopening is already underway in some parts of the world. CBRE is actively supporting clients in developing and implementing plans and protocols, creating and consolidating leading practices, and forming recommendations about how to rethink, reopen and reoccupy workplaces when the time comes. This briefing is for occupiers of space and landlords who manage their buildings— wherever they are in the response-to-recovery process.
WHAT TRIGGERS RECOVERY? Given the current patchwork of governmental advisories and stay-at-home orders, we expect the reopening process to occur in a gradual, uneven manner. This will create unique challenges and complexities for occupiers and landlords—particularly for those with globally dispersed portfolios. As governmental restrictions permit the return to work and businesses are broadly allowed to reopen workplaces, occupiers should be prepared to determine their own thresholds and policies for welcoming employees, customers and visitors back to their offices and places of business. This may include factors such as: Availability of widespread testing and monitoring of people with COVID-19 symptoms 1
Reliable and sustainable availability of key supplies, such as hand sanitizers, personal protective equipment including masks and gloves, wipes, disinfectants and other cleaning supplies 1
The ability of the location and physical environment to support social distancing and frequent cleaning
Regulatory requirements and implementation of compliant practices
MOBILIZING A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY TEAM It is critical to establish a centralized, multidisciplinary task force as soon as possible to plan and oversee recovery efforts across the portfolio. Consider including leaders from the following disciplines: MULTIDISCIPLINARY RECOVERY MANAGEMENT TEAM – RECOMMENDED DISCIPLINES
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Executive Sponsor Program Lead Business Leadership HR/People Health Safety Environmental (HSE) Operations Real Estate & Facilities
Johns Hopkins University
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Finance Legal (Corporate, Regulatory & Employment) Technology Workplace Strategy Procurement Security & Crisis Management Communications
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A SAFE AND HEALTHY PLAN All work environments—whether owned or leased offices, warehouses, labs, retail stores or manufacturing facilities—will require careful consideration and tailored plans. It is a complex undertaking that requires planning, thought and collaboration with key stakeholders. Landlords whose properties have technically remained open should think differently about the resumption of activity in their properties. From the occupier perspective, we have organized our guidance into three key categories: Planning for the Return to the Workplace, Bringing Employess Back to Work, and Ongoing Management and Workplace Evolution.
Planning for the Return to the Workplace Our experience supporting clients in Asia suggests that reopening workplaces and commercial establishments is not straightforward. Important activities must be approached in fundamentally new ways. Some of these key areas include: • Safety, Health and Wellbeing: More than ever, the health, safety and well-being of employees are at the top of the occupier agenda. Businesses should prepare for a more discerning workforce that will expect continuous, credible assurances they are working in a safe environment. For occupiers, their landlords and facility managers, a sound recovery plan should include clear displays of updated safety, health and wellness information, and provide resources for employees, visitors and occupants at key locations throughout the building. Landlords, who represent the “front door” of many employer workplaces, have an important role to play in helping occupants feel safe coming back to work. • Stakeholder Engagement: Early in the planning process, occupiers and landlords should identify a comprehensive list of all stakeholders critical to a successful return to work. Relationships with key stakeholders should be reset as organizations mobilize to come back to the workplace. Consider this preliminary list of stakeholders with whom to communicate and coordinate prior to reopening a facility or workplace. OCCUPIER STAKEHOLDERS
PROPERTY OWNER STAKEHOLDERS
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Business Leaders Functional Partners (e.g., HSE, HR) Employees Contractors Supplier Partners Landlords Amenity Providers
Tenants/Occupiers Property Manager Supplier Partners Amenity Providers
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• Business Requirements and Work Arrangements: Early lessons from Asia indicate bringing teams back “full throttle” is unwise and inconsistent with most public health guidance, which recommends that social distancing measures be reduced in a gradual and thoughtful manner. Employers should establish a plan that enables increasing numbers of people to return to the workplace whether employees have been working from home or providing services on-site. Individual teams and employees will have varied requirements relative to their own return to work, necessitating pre-return planning with key stakeholders to anticipate and adjust re-occupancy strategies. In our own offices, CBRE employed a splitshift strategy combined with a work-from-home option to introduce social distancing in the early days of the pandemic and is using the same strategy as part of our recovery playbook. BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS AND WORK ARRANGEMENTS – PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS
+ Determine which functions need to return to work and at what frequency to manage projected utilization + Validate adjacencies and team dynamics to ensure productive operations in and out of office + Stagger access to the office based on business demands; expand workday / workweek options + Evaluate mechanisms that track ongoing utilization to ensure planning capacity is not exceeded (e.g., security, IWMS, IT network)
+ Provision for extended work from home—establish clear guidelines, promote healthy work routines, provide access or allowances for furniture and supplies as appropriate + Implement flexible work policies for employees who are “at risk” and expanded leave policies + Prepare contingency plans in anticipation of secondary COVID outbreaks or changing governmental regulations
• Procurement and Financial Considerations: Occupiers and landlords should give serious consideration to new levels of service, materials and activities necessary to facilitate a return to the workplace. Examples of areas that may require advanced sourcing activities and increased funding include enhanced cleaning; introduction of new access protocols (e.g., temperature screening); increased quantities of supplies such as hand sanitizers, wipes, gloves, masks; reconfiguration of work environments and associated technology and equipment; utilization tracking technologies; touchless technologies, and more. • Portfolio and Workplace Strategy: Occupiers should conduct a holistic review of business requirements and portfolio implications to assess and optimize their medium- to long-term positions and options considering anticipated changes to workplace strategy in a post-COVID-19 world. We anticipate most occupiers will settle on a balanced approach that builds in greater resiliency by introducing a spectrum of physical and virtual solutions based on business needs. We are actively partnering with many forward-looking clients to perform scenario modeling that helps them evaluate a range of potential alternatives and solutions as a first step to rethinking their medium- to long-term portfolio and workplace strategies.
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Bringing Employees Back to Work Preparing to reopen requires the development of detailed plans for each location, reconfiguration of the physical environment to support social distancing practices, and continuous communications. • Facility Readiness: The facility readiness process is extensive, and no detail is too small to consider. It entails conducting a comprehensive assessment of the physical building and preparing for reentry where controllable. In leased locations, occupiers and landlords should openly communicate a plan to support the back-to-work process. The list below highlights some preliminary recommendations. FACILITY READINESS – PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS
+ Conduct facility functional assessment (if owned location); engage landlord if leased location + Inspect HVAC and key building systems; where possible, increase natural ventilation and air filtration + Determine access management strategies to monitor ongoing utilization and ensure operations do not exceed planned capacity (e.g., badge in/bade out reports, network access, IWMS reporting) + Close, limit access or adapt use in public areas such as coffee stations, pantries, copier areas, gyms, mail rooms + Develop targeted cleaning protocols for various types and use of surfaces and material finishes + Conduct comprehensive deep cleaning and assessment of all adjacent environments + Inventory and confirm sustainable supply of items such as hand sanitizers, gloves, face coverings and related items; expect longer than usual lead times
+ Make do-it-yourself cleaning options available for employees to provide an added level of control over their immediate work environment + Assess “touch-free” protocols and potential technologies for building entry procedures—arrival, security, elevators and high-traffic tenant areas— reception, break rooms, restrooms + Provide designated disposal receptacles for used gloves and masks + Provide employee communications (e.g., emails, websites, posters, apps) focused on safety messages, cleaning information and other important behaviors + Conduct an end-to-end walk-through to ensure that every component of the facility has been addressed for ongoing operational purposes + Contact all key suppliers to preview requirements and any revised scope and service levels + Recommission facility
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• Reconfiguration: Public health guidance strongly suggests social distancing measures should be stepped down very gradually. Occupiers and landlords can convey their safety efforts to occupants by taking tangible steps to change the physical environment that support physical distancing and other safety practices such as the following preliminary recommendations: RECONFIGURATION – PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS
+ Reconfigure space to achieve social distancing, including reduction of seats and closure and/or repurposing of conference rooms and cafeterias 2 + Assess configuration of and access to frequently shared areas + Maintain clean desk policy on all assigned or shared desks to facilitate cleaning and flexibility + Declutter spaces and furniture configuration to facilitate effective cleaning + Encourage use of distributed virtual meetings, even in the office, to discourage use of conference rooms
+ Establish “safe distance zones” around reception desks and other common gathering points + Increase availability of sanitation options and provide self-serve desk and conference room kits + Assess the opportunity for touchless technology throughout the facility and parking areas + Consider antimicrobial surface shields and selfcleaning adhesive surfaces (e.g., Nanoseptic) on high-touch surfaces + Develop and communicate policies and practices regarding the safe use of all areas and equipment in the facility
Ongoing Management and Workplace Evolution Reoccupying work environments for the long term should be approached as a “reset” of ongoing soft services to support the workplace environment. It also entails continuous and frequently updated communications to employees and occupants that provide education and awareness of safety, health and wellness initiatives underway. • Operations: Conduct a comprehensive review of all operational activities and services that occur in the work environment. A partial list of recommendations is provided below. OPERATIONS – SOME RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
+ Implement access protocols and practices; this may entail limiting entry points depending on protocols introduced + Assess thermal screening or other detection technologies; note that landlord may not allow at building entrance + Implement enhanced cleaning and disinfection service levels and protocols adapted to unique requirements, surfaces and uses of workspaces; consider increased day cleaning—both inside and outside the work environment + Implement enhanced cleaning protocols of public areas such as coffee stations, pantries, copier areas, gyms, mail rooms—if these are not closed
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CDC Recommended Guidance
+ Follow CDC guidelines for mail and package handling; consider touch-fee Digital Mail service offering + Implement enhanced cleaning protocols and ventilation for restrooms. Equip with sufficient hand sanitizer and DIY cleaning products + Adapt booking systems for meeting rooms (and desks in shared environments) for one use or occupancy per booking before cleaned + Eliminate “family style” food service and introduce independent box lunch options + Implement cleaning protocols for shuttle services and disinfection practices; equip with hand sanitizer; increase backup buses that enable greater social distancing opportunities
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• Continuous Response and Readiness: Once the space has been reoccupied and work resumes, occupiers and landlords should remain vigilant and quick to respond to unexpected or unwelcome events. Both parties should remain aware and keep protocols in place if exposure concerns return. Everyone should be prepared to return to “response” mode in the event of a suspected or confirmed exposure concern. • Communications: Communicating with all constituents is more critical now than ever before. Leading organizations are putting a heightened focus on this, recognizing that this must be an ongoing, deliberate, thoughtful effort that touches and engages all key stakeholder across both physical and virtual work environments. Ongoing employee and stakeholder feedback will be critical; continually review and adopt best practices and new ideas to demonstrate an active and ongoing commitment to a safe and healthy workplace environment. 7
• Financial Considerations: Finally, you’ll need to plan for increased expense to reopen your environments. On the operating side, you’ll see added costs for things like enhanced cleaning, hand sanitizer, Personal Protective Equipment, screening services, and increased communications. Capital will be needed for space reconfiguration, and changes to furniture, fixtures, and technology components to support your post-COVID workplace.
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SUMMARY
With so much uncertainty still ahead of us, it’s hard to plan with confidence. Occupiers can benefit from detailed, location-by-location reopening readiness efforts. Working together, occupiers and landlords can both benefit from open, proactive and practical dialogue about what the total workplace environment—from the front door of the workplace and common areas to the occupier’s offices—needs to look like for a safe and healthy return to work.
All COVID-19 related materials have been developed with information from the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and strategic suppliers providing services in affected regions. They may not be suitable for application to all facilities or situations. Ultimately, occupiers and landlords must make their own strategic decisions for their individual stakeholders and workplaces. CBRE’s guidance is intended to initiate those discussions and expedite the process. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of this material. CBRE disclaims all liability arising from use of these materials by others.
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