The workplace analytics revolution promises to transform how organizations make decisions about their built environments. Yet when workplace leaders gathered at our Flex/26 London event early in the month, a clear majority of attendees in a live poll identified “lack of trusted data to prove what’s working” as their top challenge, even though occupancy sensors, badge swipes, booking systems, employee surveys, and building automation metrics generate more information than ever.
The gap we’re seeing isn’t about data collection, then. It’s about the challenge of translating information into action.
Key takeaways
- The data paradox is real: Organizations have more workplace data than ever, from occupancy sensors to booking systems, yet leaders report declining confidence in decision-making, with Flex/26 London attendees identifying “lack of trusted data to prove what’s working” as their primary challenge
- Integration before intelligence: Building the “digital thread” that connects building systems, HR platforms, and operational data must happen before AI deployment can deliver meaningful results, as fragmented systems simply amplify existing chaos rather than creating clarity
- The felt environment matters as much as the built environment: Emotional intelligence and human experience data, including delight, psychological safety, and collaboration quality, are now measurable metrics that belong in workplace analytics alongside traditional facilities KPIs
Welcome back to our monthly look into the trends shaping the workplace and facility management industries.
The evolution from data collection to data paralysis
The facility management industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. Just ten years ago, most organizations tracked basic occupancy through manual headcounts and managed maintenance through paper work orders. Today’s typical enterprise workplace runs on dozens of systems, with badge access tracking movement patterns, environmental sensors monitoring air quality and temperature, booking platforms capturing space preferences, and building management systems logging every mechanical adjustment.
The leap forward should make decision-making easier. Instead, it can create “data paralysis” when many organizations have moved from data scarcity to data abundance but haven’t made the corresponding shift in how they turn information into strategy.
When building management systems don’t talk to HR platforms, and space booking data exists separately from utilization sensors, leaders have pieces of the puzzle scattered across different tables with no way to see the complete image.
Why integration is the prerequisite for intelligent workplaces
Sarah Sims, Americas Regional Head of Workplace Experience at FTI Consulting, described just how much data is out there in the Workplace Innovator podcast episode “Grow Your Strengths’ – How FM Leaders Can Embrace Self-Care and Lead with Awareness.”
“The built environment collects raw data all day — from energy usage to access to food and beverage — and there are numerous data sets available to help FM teams learn how humans interact within spaces,” she says.
Developing a real sense of how people interact with spaces starts with investing in ways for your data to interact.
The concept of the “digital thread,” a term we often heard this month, represents a fundamental shift in how organizations should think about workplace technology. Rather than viewing individual systems as standalone tools, leading organizations are building unified ecosystems where every platform connects and communicates.
Melissa Marsh, Founder & Executive Director at PLASTARC, explained the need for a unified system in the Workplace Innovator podcast episode “’You Need Intelligence First” – Smart Buildings, AI, and the Future of Workplace Technology.”
“You’ve got to have your building systems digitized. You’ve got to have your design systems digitized, and you have to bring those into intersection with your human resources and your data and technology platforms.”
Achieving integration requires more than just technical capability, though. It demands a strategic framework.
Organizations that prioritize interoperability between real estate data, HR platforms, and digital building systems position themselves to unlock meaningful insights and deliver better occupant experiences.
The alternative, which is adding AI and advanced analytics on top of fragmented systems, simply amplifies existing issues rather than creating clarity.
These insights create opportunities to help business leaders shape the employee experience they want with less money and less time spent brainstorming.
The goal, Sarah explains, is making decisions that are a direct response to how people are using the built environment. Technology should give FM teams time back to focus on strategic impact, not create additional administrative burden.
The emergence of emotional intelligence as measurable workplace data
Another important trend we saw this month is the recognition that emotional intelligence — long considered a “soft skill” — is measurable data that belongs in workplace analytics alongside traditional facility metrics.
For decades, facility management focused on quantifiable operational metrics like square footage utilization, energy consumption, work order completion rates, and asset conditions. The assumption was that you could optimize the physical environment by focusing on physical measurements. Human experience remained mostly qualitative, assessed through occasional surveys rather than continuous monitoring.
That’s all changing.
In the Workplace Innovator podcast episode “‘Shaping the Felt Environment’ – The Science and Practice of Emotional Wisdom,” Joshua Freedman, CEO and cofounder of Six Seconds EQ Network, explains how “Emotional intelligence is measurable at an individual level, it’s also measurable at scale… We’re trying to put this data on the dashboard and figure out how that leadership capability is shaping the felt environment, and not just the built environment.”
Emotions function as real-time data that shape attention, decision-making, and interpersonal dynamics. Leaders who ignore emotional signals miss essential insights that affect productivity, trust, and collaboration.
“The worst advice that I ever got was, oh, just leave emotions out of it and make better decisions. And I have come to see that is not how people actually work,” Joshua explains. “What I’ve learned is that box was already open. Those emotions are in the room. You can pretend they’re not, but that doesn’t actually solve anything.”
What was once considered a qualitative concept is increasingly becoming quantifiable through people analytics, sensors, and digital feedback loops.
Or, as Melissa summed up the industry shift: “We can finally measure delight.”
The human-centered approach extends beyond measurement into organizational culture. Kari Myers, CFM, Manager of Service & Process at Caltech, illustrated this in the Asset Champion podcast episode “’It’s About the People’ – Building a Culture of Care in Campus Facilities Management.”
Caltech invested 600 hours training 226 team members through the Dale Carnegie Institute to create what Kari calls a “domain of care” — where everyone who steps foot on campus feels safe, productive, and comfortable.
“At the heart of it, and I’ve heard this on your podcast from maybe 100% of your guests, that it’s about the people,” Kari explains. “Our strategy is to improve the customer experience, and we’re going to do that through training, developing people’s skills, and technology tools.”
Stay on top of the trends in intelligent worktech and facility management
Workplace and facility management are constantly evolving with new technologies, regulations, and best practices. Industry professionals always have something new to learn.
For more videos, podcasts, and webinars to keep you updated on the latest trends, visit Eptura’s resource page.
By Mike Petrusky
As Director of Podcasts at Eptura, Mike Petrusky hosts both the Workplace Innovator Podcast and the Asset Champion Podcast, sharing thought leadership with CRE, FM, and IT leaders in the digital and hybrid workplace. Mike has produced more than 500 podcast episodes listened to in over 111 countries. As an in-demand public speaker, Mike engages audiences at numerous industry events each year, including International Facility Management Association and CoreNet conferences, focusing on the human element of workplace and facility management.
