TEN Takeaways from Sheila Botting, Principal and President, Americas Professional Services at Avison Young
HILO’s David Abrams hosted Sheila Botting, Principal and President, Americas Professional Services at Avison Young on the art of the possible in Commercial Real Estate. Here are a few of our takeaways:
Personal board of directors
Sheila thinks of the key mentors and colleagues in her life as her own personal board of directors. She explains, “I think for anybody in their career, you almost have like a mini board of directors, you know, people that you bounce ideas from, and you say, “Is this a reasonable thing to do? Is this the right thing to do, and am I completely out to lunch thinking about A, B, C?” And so I think having that backdrop is really important, and of course, those people will change throughout your own journey as well.”
Quest for the next step
When David asks Sheila what she attributes her success to, she tells him that she never truly feels successful. “What is success? We’re always on a journey, always in a thirst or a passion for the next step, the next direction. How can we do all these things together? And so I think that’s kind of one of the guiding lights, you know, that you’re always in this thirst or this quest for things.”
Mixing personalities in teams
Sheila explains that she is constantly learning and being empowered by her team at Avison Young. She believes that one of their greatest strengths is the wide range of skill sets and differences among each member. Here, “it doesn’t become about one voice or the other. It’s about the collective answer and the right solution, and so that’s a very different way that teams would come together, so similarly, when I build teams today, it’s about the differences of the personalities and what they can offer.”
Creating a better work environment
When discussing the return to work, Sheila tells David that a survey by Leesman discovered that when you enhanced the physical and virtual work environment, employees returned to work more regularly. When planning for the future of the workplace, Sheila says that we have to think about “what happens in these physical environments? Are we going to return to the cube farms, where we’re processing paper? I don’t think so. Now, of course, it depends on the industry and the business that you’re in and what’s required of the workers and the various work styles of those workers, so all of those things have to be factored in.”
The physical workplace is changing
Looking into the future of the workplace, Sheila believes that buildings and tenants have a responsibility to create “collaboration spaces, teaming spaces, social spaces, so that when you and I go to the workplace, we may go pick a huddle room or an open teaming area. She projects that “you’ll see the physical work experience totally changing, and at the end of the day, catering to the employees and reward for talent because we have the ability to work anywhere that we want.” At HILO we believe in the importance of collaboration between building owners and operators, tenants and the people that work and live in those buildings to create a space where people are excited to return.
Contemplate the employee journey
To elevate the employee experience, Sheila tells David that you have to think about the employee journey. She continues to explain that when “you think about you and I, we may have very different ways that we want to work, so what the opportunity is for the owners of the buildings and the tenants of the building to contemplate many different journeys so that they can offer that full spectrum to people when they do return to the office.” When making a plan for your people, “what do you do to entice them to come back in and to make use of the physical asset that you’ve created and the culture that you’re trying to achieve within your business and your enterprise?”
Include community in return to office plans
Return to office plans impact not only employees but also small businesses within the community. When planning for a return, Sheila raises the question of “how do we use the downtown business improvement areas, the, you know, the municipalities right through to the building owners, through the tenants, and reimagine the future? What could that look like, and how do we recreate something that becomes completely magnetic? So return to isn’t, you know, January 2022, everybody going to, you know, bang, snap, and off you go. That’s not going to happen, and it will probably take a measured return back to the office.”
It’s all about the human experience
Sheila tells David that a critical piece of designing buildings is creating them around the human experience. She continues to explain that “when you think about that human experience, you think about the various types of people, the various user journeys.” This is applied not only to the office but to real estate as a whole. Sheila emphasizes that thinking about the entire engagement experience for all employees at “work really matters, so that same theme is permeating virtually every asset class that we have in the real estate world.”
Navigating the new normal
Sheila believes that the most significant challenge for businesses around the globe is navigating the new normal. When making a plan, she says that it’s “from the most senior traditional leaders right through the young folks coming out of university. How do you knit together a strategy for that organization that makes so much sense to future-proof their office, their investment, their enterprise, really? ‘Cause this is about an enterprise value, and so what do you do to recreate that for that business?”
It’s all about people
When David asks Sheila what would bring her back to the workplace, she replies that it’s “the people that I work with. It’s all about the people. It’s all about the leaders and the inspiration and the fun that we can have at work together. I don’t need to go to work to do a PowerPoint slide deck or process something, but to engage in some great ideas, to work through problems together? Any day of the week.”
