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Professor Richard Jolly, London Business School

Professor Richard Jolly, London Business School, joins WorkPlace Now to offer insight on how corporate real estate (CRE) can effectively impact the decision making process.

 

CRE executives share the same challenges as all executives in becoming influential. But, in addition, they often need to prove the value of the CRE function to top management, who regard CRE as a necessary evil.

 

So, what does it take to be influential? This question is currently a hot topic with social science researchers.

 

The following pieces of advice should be helpful:

  1. Frame what you do in the language of your audience and avoid using jargon. All people really care about is how you can help them to solve their problems. Avoid using jargon and acronyms and speak the language of top management, framing all your interactions with them in terms that demonstrate you understand what they are trying to achieve and can help them achieve it.
  2. Go out of your way to help other people. Reciprocity is the most powerful currency you have. If someone has gone out of their way to help a person, that person feels obligated to reciprocate. Studies have shown that this force is even more powerful than whether we like another person. Connect people to other people, information or resources who might be able to help them. This is particularly powerful if there is no short-term personal gain for yourself – ‘you reap what you sow’.
  3. Demonstrate your credibility. This is not about showing your technical certificates, although qualifications and a strong track record are important. Rather, this is about ensuring that you come across as worthy of trust. We trust people who are not just credible, but also reliable and able to build personal connections. Never promise something you can’t deliver. Additionally, for us to trust someone they have to be interested more in us than in themselves. Show how much do you really care about other people.
  4. Build social proof. You will be more influential if you can demonstrate that your proposals are consistent with best practice in the industry. Given the complexity and ambiguity of decision making at the top of organisations, benchmark data is particularly important. If you can provide evidence of best practice elsewhere, you become hard to ignore.
  5. If you want change, focus on what top management stands to lose if they don’t change, rather than what they might gain. Many studies have shown that if you want to get real change, focus on what the firm is currently losing, rather than on what it could gain. One study focused on conserving energy in the home. One communication stated: "If you implement the changes suggested you can save $1 per day". Another stated "If you fail to implement the changes suggested, you will continue to lose $1 per day". The same data, but the second one created a 350 percent higher response rate. We hate the feeling that we are losing and are more likely to accept risk in this mindset.

 

What CRE executives do is incredibly important for organizations, even if some top executives don’t understand that initially. It isn’t just about leasing space at the best rate or developing a building to suit a key market. What you do impacts almost every facet of a company’s management, how its employees interact and their productivity. Corporate real estate decisions matter greatly.

 

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