ED KATZ PREDICTS THE FUTURE OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Another Leading Expert on Office Moving Sees Boom Market Ahead
By Gary Frank Petty
Author Gary Frank Petty is the former President and CEO of the National Moving and Storage Association (NMSA) and national certification institute for moving and relocation consultants. This is an advance copy of an article to be released for national distribution in 2021. Copyright ©Office Moving Systems, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Ignore everything you’re reading now about the end of company offices. Oh, yes, a brave new world of “home alone” work seems now and forever upon us. A $16 trillion commercial real estate market valuation is supposedly shrinking and will never come back?
Suddenly, we’re told, the company office is dead. The past sell-date of “cubbies” is over. Corner office tyranny is ended. Boisterous gadflies lingering around your action office furniture—a thing of yesteryear. Employee-of-the-week parking spaces—now cracked asphalt and weeds. Long commutes to work and back—never again. The future is everyone quietly working in their den alone with barking house dogs and loud buzzing leaf blowers swarming outside like giant wasps?
Due to COVID and out of necessity for public health and safety, companies have sent millions home to “zoom” through their workday. The work is generally getting done, but a lot is missing. The virtual workplace lacks the in-person dynamics of personal chemistry, body language, collaboration and innovation which are essential to trust and optimal productivity. Companies may be spending less and earning more, but at what cost?
As the pandemic drags on, the novelty is wearing off. People miss the office culture, dressing for success, looking sharp to see and be seen, putting their best foot forward before others, showing off, getting ahead. The company office is where politics gets played and careers are made or broken.
Employees long for social connection with fellow workers. The company office is their other half of life. It’s where they earn their keep, impress bosses, make friends, sometimes find love, meet disappointment, get recognized, and then return home to relax and enjoy their other life.
“The company office will be a premier employee benefit of the 21st century,” says Ed Katz, internationally recognized authority on office moving and corporate relocation trends, award-winning speaker and author, inventor, successful moving company entrepreneur, and industry visionary. “The well-designed, healthy, and attractive office will be a competitive advantage in recruiting and keeping talent.”
Katz acknowledges that much work can technically be done at home, for sure, and many workers function externally just fine without showing up each day at a company office. Full-time employees represent only 58% of the US workforce with the other 42% coming from external resources such as “gig” workers, independent contractors, freelancers, seasonal labor, and outside staffing firms (source: SAP Fieldglass, “The Future is External).
With this mixture, the future workplace will be a blend of company office, residential office, external third-party work sites, or ad hoc workstations on-the-road. “Finding the right mix is key,” says Katz. “Talent from whatever source is corporate America’s top asset. It needs to be organized, managed directly, and inspired.”
Katz says once the pandemic subsides, “Corporations will reopen their properties and incentivize workers to come back to a new and more innovative office experience. The focus will be on aesthetically appealing work environments and the use of advanced technologies for health and safety well-being.
“I see the commercial business office roaring back to life,” says Katz. “For the majority of corporate employees, there is a company office in their future.”
To learn more about the International Office Moving Institute (IOMI®) and its online office moving training, please visit https://www.officemoves.com/training/index.html or contact Ed Katz, 404.358.2172, edkatz@officemoves.com.
The International Office Moving Institute (IOMI®) is not an alliance, a trade association, or a moving company, but an independent, unbiased office moving resource and training organization beholden to no one. We accept no advertising. The links from within our pages to other web sites are reciprocal.
For more than a decade, many in the moving industry and companies planning a move have come to rely on officemoves.com as a steadfast source of best practices. We advocate, and through the International Office Moving Institute (IOMI®), teach:
• Minimizing the risk of damage to walls, floors, doors and elevators during your move. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn the best practice methods for installing extensive building protection.
• Minimizing the risk of damage to furniture and computers during your move. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn the best-practice methods for wrapping every monitor, printer, CPU, server, and copier with two layers of anti-static bubble wrap (with the bubbles facing the bubbles) instead of pad-wrapping computers with filthy furniture pads.
• Timing is of the essence on your office move. If your mover doesn’t finish the job on time, it can cost your company thousands of dollars of nonproductive downtime. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn an estimating formula that’s based upon man-hours instead of the unreliable method typically used on household moves that’s based on weight.
The IOMI® proprietary estimating formula is uncannily accurate because it factors in not only volume but the unique logistics of both the building you’re moving from and to.
Why hire an IOMI®
Certified Office Mover®?
1. On time for the price quoted
One of the biggest complaints about movers is that they often badly underestimate the cost of a move and then don’t finish on time. An International Office Moving Institute (IOMI®)-trained mover learns a formula for accurately estimating cost. By calculating the number of trucks and movers for how long, IOMI® Certified Office Movers® can base estimates on man-hours, volume, and logistics, and not weight, which household movers typically use when quoting an office move. As a result, the chances of a move completing on time for the price quoted is greatly improved.
2. Minimize risk of damage
IOMI® Certified Office Movers® learn the latest techniques to minimize risk of damage to furniture and computers, and are trained in extensive building protection to minimize risk of damage to carpet, walls, doors, and door jambs.
3. Minimize downtime
There is a better way! IOMI® Certified Office Movers® understand that their customers can’t afford to shut down operations during a move, and are trained in techniques to keep client employees working. Many IOMI® graduates offer the “boxless” move — moving the contents in the furniture instead of the contents and the furniture.
Learn More About Becoming An
IOMI® Certified Office Mover®
Call 404-358-2172
