Finland Methods for evaluating office occupiers’ needs and preferences Jessica Niemi, Anna-Liisa Lindholm & Galith Nadbornik ERES Conference 2009 Stockholm 27 June

Contents KTI & Preferences project Measuring occupiers’ needs and preferences The interviews Evaluation and the usability of the methods Conclusions

KTI & Preferences Office occupiers’ needs and preferences in a changing business environment 2 year research project ( ) Joint effort between TKK Real Estate Research Group (REG) TKK Facility Services Research Group (FSRG) KTI Property Information Ltd.

Measuring occupiers’ needs and preferences How does the real estate sector get the knowledge about office occupiers’ needs and prefererences now and in the future? Methods for evaluating office occupiers’ needs and preferences Occupier needs and preferences Office space market

Objectives to identify methods and tools that are used to evaluate occupier needs and preferences in Finnish companies to analyze the methods usability and suitability for evaluating occupier needs and preferences to provide a framework for further development of the methods

The interviews Focus areas: Trends in occupiers’ needs Challenges in identifying the occupiers’ needs Methods and tools for identifying and analyzing the occupiers’ preferences Used methods and tools Pros and cons of the methods Challenges and needs for developing new methods Performed during January to May 2009 Interviews to selected 15 corporations in different fields of corporate property

Distribution of the interviewed parties

Evaluation and the usability of the methods Criteria set based on literature and interviewees’ response What are the elements of a good method? Occupier organisational level Physical, social, virtual and financial aspects of the building Future Valid and reliable Easy appliance Cost effective

The criteria and points Focus of the method: office occupier organization or/and the individual user level -max. 1 point Data collection perspective: observation, survey, secondary data analysis or qualitative research (only a descriptive criteria expressing that the method suits to some of the set perspectives) Range of the method: the whole market or/and one single organization perspective -max. 2 points Time frame of appliance of the method: in the beginning of the relationship or/and during the relationship - max. 2 points Coverage of the different aspects: physical, social, virtual and financial elements of the occupiers’ needs and preferences -max. 4 points Time perspective of the method: future or/and past orientation -max. 2 points Validity of the methods -max. 2 points Reliability of the method -max. 1 point Easiness of use and cost efficiency, which express the applicability and usability of the methods -max. 2 points

The methods Own experience based knowledge on the needs of different business sectors Participatory design in the design phases KTI Future office barometer Discussion with the clients Occasionally small surveys/questionnaire Tehomax-Market survey (interview based method for finding out the space demand) Willingness to pay –analyses KTI Rental barometer KTI Satisfaction survey & benchmarking

Ranking of the methods 1. KTI Future office barometer, 15 points 2. KTI Satisfaction survey & benchmarking, 12 points 3. Participatory design in the design phases, 11 points 4. KTI Rental barometer, 9 points 5. Discussion with the clients, 8 points 6. Occasionally small surveys/questionnaire, 8 points 7. Willingness to pay –analyses, 7 points 8. Tehomax-Market survey (interview based method for finding out the space demand), 6 points 9. Own experience based knowledge on the needs of different business sectors, 6 points

Conclusions There is a lack of applicable methods and tools for understanding occupiers’ needs and preferences Some methods are heavily reliant on a person’s market knowledge How can others apply the knowledge further? A method focuses on one special issue rather than understanding the total development of the field There is a potential for further development and combining elements from different methods in order to get a new applicable method There are similarities in needs and preferences between office occupiers’ One way to get the data to a more sophisticated level is to form occupier groups with similar needs and preferences (segmentation) Database wide Follow-up of the development within the groups Enables the real estate sector to evaluate and develop office supply to meet the needs and preferences of a group more accurately

M.Sc Jessica Niemi KTI Property Information Ltd. Eerikinkatu 28, Helsinki, Finland D.Sc Anna-Liisa Lindholm Real Estate Research Group Helsinki University of Technology P.O.Box 1200, TKK, Finland BA Galith Nadbornik Facility Service Research Group Helsinki University of Technology P.O.Box 3300, TKK, Finland Thank you! Questions? For more information