Chelsea Drinkard November 8, 2022 No Comments

Your Workplace is a Reflection of the Company Culture

According to Business news daily when searching for a new job, 77% of respondents said they would consider a company’s culture before applying. Corporate culture is a serious issue. According to Deloitte research, many business executives surveyed saw staff retention and corporate culture as an “urgent” issue. Given that business culture has a direct bearing on employee retention, particularly among the millennial age and younger, it stands to reason that it also has a direct bearing on the number of employees who stay with a firm.

Your workplace is a reflection of the company culture. Whether actively developed or just developed through time, every business and workplace has a culture. Cultures can be positive, feel positive, and act positively. Or they might be awful, feel bad, or behave badly. And there is a middle ground between the two. A great corporate culture is one that is shared by all employees, from the newest intern to the CEO. Culture involves putting your underlying principles into action. The business’s responsibility is to guarantee that each employee is aware of the requirements and aligns properly. A company’s culture should be one that naturally fosters inquiry, respect, cooperation, and employee wellness. In most circumstances, deciding whether something is “excellent” or “poor” is a matter of personal preference. If you want a relaxed atmosphere, a fast-paced, competitive culture will not suit you. Conversely, there is no doubt that each culture is unique, even if it makes sense for that particular industry. One of the main characteristics one company differs from another in the same sector is through culture.

The quality of an employee’s work life will be greatly influenced by the setting in which they spend that time. People are more willing to put in long hours and stick with a company for the long term if they work for one with a strong culture that matches their personal values and mission. People are considerably more inclined to quit, or even worse, underachieve while still working for the organization if the culture does not match their own personal feelings.

Chelsea Drinkard November 8, 2022 No Comments

3rd Quarter 2022 Market Report

Important Highlights:

Tampa Bay:

Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties’ unemployment rate of 2.7% is drastically lower than the nation’s rate of 3.5%.
The population of the city has grown by 1.1% year-over-year.
Tampa has been named one of the best places in the United States to live, according to a new ranking released by the finance brand Money.

Office Market:

Supply: The total vacancy rate in Tampa increased to 19.4% in the third quarter of 2022 due to 1 of Hillsborough Counties largest Tenants deciding to sublease their 556,000 SF office space. The sublease vacancy increased to 4.9%, a 40% increase from the second quarter of the year and the highest since 2002.
Demand: Increase in vacant space however, the demand has continued to rise with Approx. 10% up in leasing activity year-to-date.
Current Tenant Trend: There is a trend of “flight to quality” with companies being attracted to Class A and trophy buildings that are highly amenitized with cafes, Tenant lounges and collaboration areas, gyms, and focus on enhanced air quality.

Let’s Talk Rent Numbers:

Submarket	Overall Average Asking Rent-All Classes	Overall Asking Rent Class A
Westshore	$28.84 Sq. Ft.	$36.77 Sq. Ft.
Downtown Tampa	$28.00 Sq. Ft.	$38.04 Sq. Ft.
Northwest Tampa	$23.16 Sq. Ft.	$29.21 Sq. Ft.
South Tampa	$29.93 Sq. Ft.	N/A
I-75 Corridor	$25.82 Sq. Ft.	$28.53 Sq. Ft.
Downtown St. Petersburg	$27.19 Sq. Ft.	$38.04 Sq. Ft.

Building Highlights:

The most significant recent transaction may have been the sale of the recently delivered, two-building Heights Union property to Atlanta-based Cousins Properties. The two properties that TPA Group sold, totaling 294,000 SF, sold for $144.8 million, or a cap rate of 3.2%. The buildings were 93% occupied when they were ultimately constructed in late 2020, with businesses in the life sciences sector like Pfizer and Axogen occupying over 70% of the leased space.

2022 4th Quarter Forecast:

Companies will continue bringing employees back into the office with increased frequency. Those who are maintaining a flex schedule may find it beneficial to schedule to be based on employees who work in teams or departments to maintain synergy, comradery, and creative collisions.
If a company has delayed their office related to the last minute, they will find themself at a disadvantage with limited options and in a position of inferiority when negotiating
Office vacancy rates will slightly uptick but Tampa Bay will continue to experience companies in the tech industry and cyber security relocate to Tampa Bay and/or require a larger office footprint

What does this mean for Tenants?

Decide what is best for the long-term health of your team and company. What do mentorship, professional development, and opportunities for younger employees look like if work was 100% remote? Is it a remote, in the office, or a hybrid? Testing a hybrid [mix between working from home and in the office] can be a compromise.
Although Landlords are more willing to provide rent abatement and Tenant Improvement allowance, the vacancy rates are not similar to those in other big US areas, and not experiencing the same “pain”.
High construction costs mean a more expensive build-out. Landlords will require longer, 7-10 + year leases to recoup those costs.
Annual increases have typically been 3% on annual basis but some Landlords are beginning to increase to 4% and above.

What does this mean for Landlords?

Construction costs remain high and will have to increase Tenant Improvement allowances to deliver basic building standard finishes and significantly for upgraded finishes to win deals.
Having turn-key spec office suites that are ready for Tenants who have quick deadlines due to holding off their office move, will have an advantage in winning new Tenants.
Inflation will continue to be a factor and will impact profit margins.

Chelsea Drinkard October 11, 2022 No Comments

Relationships Are Built In Person

I believe there will be long-term impacts on company culture both now and long term. The newer generations are now becoming the majority in the workplace. Ultimately people will lose out on promotion opportunities, and networking opportunities and businesses will see a loss of productivity returning back to the office.

Three Main Areas:

Lack of Motivation When There’s No Camaraderie

When you are surrounded by people who share the same vision and purpose it is the camaraderie that keeps each of us motivated and feeling supported when you are having an off day or dealing with a difficult project/situation. When one is placed in the wrong situation at the wrong moment, it may be simple to lose motivation rapidly. It increases the likelihood of not obtaining the anticipated business goals. External inspiration may come from many different places. Working in an office with coworkers who share a vision or purpose, or getting advice from a senior employee, are two excellent examples. The atmosphere is different when working from home. An employee’s life might become tough due to a lack of motivation, which can also have a negative impact on production. Although self-motivation might be effective in some situations, it is not always sufficient to keep going. According to Forbes “ job satisfaction and job motivation have also fallen—job satisfaction from 57 percent to 32 percent and job motivation from 56 percent to 36 percent.”

Frequent Interruptions and Unsupervised Performance

Self-regulation and focus can be difficult for most without having the accountability of your team around you like in an office. Having children, a roommate, or a partner at home could lead to more breaks than usual. Employees are expected to monitor their own performance at work as part of their duty. Self-control, focus, and diligence are skills not everyone has to self-manage and effectively time manage. If the breaks and work are not tracked, employees could become distracted which lead to longer breaks and less work time. Studies from The New York Times show “that the average worker is interrupted somewhere between 4 to 12 times every hour. That’s one interruption every 15 minutes, in the best-case scenario.”

Lack of Relationship with Colleagues

Collaboration, creative problem-solving, mentorship, and team morale are more challenging when each requires a Microsoft Teams or Zoom invite to do so.

When asked why people continue to work for their company, respondents frequently say their colleagues. According to the Pew Research center “60% of people say they feel less connected to their co-workers now”. People we collaborate with play a significant role in our network. We gain so much from our colleagues’ knowledge and insight, as well as our boss’s seasoning and sense of humor. While it is possible to maintain relationships online, they are often not as deep or genuine. Your network is most certainly diminishing as well. There are individuals you haven’t seen in a long time because you didn’t know them well enough to send them a text. While you may meet someone digitally, it’s not the same as interacting with them in person. You’re passing up an opportunity to meet for coffee and make a genuine connection.

Of course, working in an office isn’t perfect. However, neither is working from home. Choosing your workspace and working style with the best interests of your team and your business in mind is always the goal.

Chelsea Drinkard October 11, 2022 No Comments

Innovation Comes Through In-Person Collaboration

Innovation is crucial to a company’s survival in today’s fiercely competitive and ever-evolving market. It gives you an advantage in a world where marketplaces and growing startups result in making profit much more challenging. Collaboration, creativity, execution, and value generation are all required for innovation, not just in any form. Research from The Great Business Schools states “on average, an in-person meeting will generate about 13.36 ideas, whereas a virtual meeting will only generate around 10.43?” These four skills are exemplified during in-person breakout sessions, where team members are actively engaged in the creation and demonstration of each component. Ideas are discussed and strategies could be replicated to deliver powerful outcomes.

Collaboration involves more than just teamwork and opening up the floor to the entire group. Collaboration is strategically facilitated and denotes the capacity for collaborative thought and action on challenging tasks. The procedures needed to alter our economy cannot be modeled on the traditional approach to strategic planning. Instead, strategic “doing” provides a structure for getting things done. Open innovation means thinking in groups. According to the Washington Post “Research shows face-to-face requests are 34 times more effective than those sent by email, and that a physical handshake promotes cooperation and influences negotiation outcomes for the better.”

Four Ideas, we ask ourselves:

What can we accomplish as a team? Listen and find out.
Learn and adapt—How will we do it in tandem?
What should we do as a group to focus and align?
What will we do together using link and leverage?

Research published today in Nature found that “video calls, as opposed to in-person meetings, reduce creative collaboration and the generation of novel ideas. The results indicate that while the mental cogs keep running more or less smoothly when working remotely, group innovation might be hindered”. In order to create and solve a shared problem or chase a shared opportunity, individuals must come together and contribute their different expertise, skills, experience, and resources.

Chelsea Drinkard September 13, 2022 No Comments

2nd Quarter 2022 Tampa Bay Office Market Report and 3Q Forecast