Role of corporate RE manager could be outsourced: CoreNet

The role of the corporate real estate manager is being reshaped by new ways of working and the growing trend towards outsourcing of property services.

'An outsourcing relationship can be so much more, and this is a trend that could potentially lead to doing away altogether with in-house corporate real estate managers in their current form,' said Jos Teunissen of Sybase Europe and a board member of the Benelux chapter of CoreNet Global.

'Talking to people in the industry, I can already see much more outsourcing and integration of third parties into an organisation. That is reality today and I can imagine that that will increase even further.'

During the Provada real estate fair in Amsterdam in June, Teunissen chaired a discussion which sought to answer the provocative question of whether corporate real estate managers will still be around in five years. This discussion was part of the end-user debates organized by CoreNet and AT Osborne.

'We stated the topic in black-and-white in order to get people thinking and engage them,' Teunissen said. The key point, he says, is that the role of corporate real estate manager is undergoing fundamental changes.

'The function has been changing for the past 15 years from a more technical role coming from the ranks of architects or builders into now much more business-orientated role. Many more tasks have been added,' Teunissen said.

At the same time the trend is towards outsourcing many of the operational parts of real estate management: portfolio management, projects and negotiations with landlords to property advisors such as DTZ, JLL and CBRE.

Teunissen is a member of a four-person team that manages Sybase's global portfolio of 100 offices in 30 countries. 'We are already engaging a lot of our partners who are working with us on the operational management of our real estate. The four of us are driving the strategic direction based on instructions from the CFO organisation, and the managers of the various business units.'

'The question is do we need four employees- one for the Americas, one for Asia-Pacific, one for EMEA and a person managing those three. Or could we outsource even further and suffice with one Sybase employee managing, taking all the strategic directions and have the roles like my own outsourced? There are a lot of good quality people among our partners who could probably do that as well,' Teunissen said.

Another trend is the change in the way work space - which can be the second-largest cost for a corporate - is being used. Research, including Bernard Drion’s book Working in Wonderland, has highlighted how offices have become much more like a hotel where people meet and collaborate, communicate and then go their separate ways. Technology is an important enabler of working anytime, anywhere.

Working from home or at the office of a client or partner is also increasing and this leads to a reduction in the need for large office space, according to Teunissen. 'If you have a normal office that has a desk for every employee, on a typical working day 40% of that office is empty. It is not being used and that has been going on for years now. There are considerable savings to be made by aligning the office space with the actual usage and business needs.'