Reimagining the post pandemic workplace, with Vestian’s Shrinivas Rao

Shrinivas Rao, a pioneer in organised real estate space, is the founding member and Chief Executive Officer of Vestian Global Workplace Services. Before the advent of organised real estate services in India, before client advocacy had taken wings, Shrini was convinced that there is a better way of doing business, and has since then, strived for bringing improvements and changes in the regular workings of the real estate environment. He became a key contributor and was involved in establishing professional commercial real estate services in India. He was involved in launching and establishing businesses of several global international property consultants such as Colliers International and Cushman & Wakefield. In fact, Vestian was born out of the philosophy, to create transparency and accountability for corporate end users. Shrini saw the tenant representative model as a means to build, scale, provide conflict free solution, and build trust amongst clients.

The future of our workspaces

Speaking on the effects of the pandemic and the next workspace, he says, “There is a pressing need for infrastructure that supports the primary business. While the disruptions seen were long overdue, it will still take them a few years to be crystallized. In the interim, what has emerged is a need for greater flexibility, agility; and Vestian is doing just that. We are helping corporates create strategies, find, build and manage spaces to achieve the best real estate outcomes.”

He believes it is crucial that businesses determine the areas of investment and retraction, and tailor make their strategy to cater to the changing requirements of the workforce. In the new normal, flexibility and development of sustainable buildings that fulfil the physical, mental and social needs of employees, will become dominant.

Hybrid offices, the new normal

In his opinion, as the world returns to normalcy, hybrid models will see wider adoption. Again it comes down to providing flexibility in work, workplace and work hours. Role of the workspace will undergo a sea change from a regular office setup to an environment of collaboration, employee engagement and productivity, and most importantly to innovation. It is a great time to rethink your physical workspace requirements, and redesign your workspace to better support your business goals.

Workplaces will need to find that elusive balance, and it is only obvious that we will witness multiple work formats in the coming years, especially as technology plays a larger role.

The innovation imperative

Sharing his thoughts on technological innovations impacting the future of the workplace, he says, “Right from Artificial Intelligence to Machine Learning, from increased digitisation to 5G connectivity, and workplace mobility, trends are revolutionising how we think and function as a business. While these trends make our processes more agile, it is important to ensure we reskill our employees in order to complement this new found agility. The future of work is an amalgamation of human and technology resources, and the better we are able to integrate the two, the more seamless the operations will be. While the workspace requirement will change and so will the nature of the workplace, what cannot be overlooked is that workplaces will act as the social glue of the future, providing the much needed connect with the organisations, enable face to face interactions and community building to an otherwise increasingly isolated employee. ”

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