Engaged employees strengthen business performance, and organizations see clear gains when the workplace supports productivity and retention. Yet only 47% of organizations prioritize workplace experience, and less than 1% treat it as a true business priority, according to insights shared by Bryan Berthold from Cushman & Wakefield on a recent episode of Eptura’s Workplace Innovator podcast.
A common theme in January was how organizations that do want to strengthen employee experience can start by evaluating the level of coordination across departments. Most organizations still operate through small, disconnected projects spread across human resources (HR), facility management (FM), corporate real estate (CRE), and information technology (IT), each supported by its own siloed data.
Key takeaways
- Most organizations treat workplace experience as a secondary concern, not a business priority. Only 47% of organizations focus on workplace experience, and less than 1% treat it as a true business priority, according to Cushman & Wakefield research
- Cross-functional collaboration requires shared metrics, not just good intentions. Organizations succeeding at workplace experience have moved beyond siloed metrics to frameworks that combine real estate data with employee experience outcomes
- Technology can either reinforce silos or break them down. The difference lies in whether tools share data and insights across functions.
The organizations excelling at workplace experience, though have moved beyond this fragmented structure. They break down departmental silos, unify workplace data, and align teams around a shared strategy for managing the built environment. It’s a coordinated approach that helps them replace isolated fixes with meaningful improvements so they can build an environment employees choose to return to because it supports their work.
How organizations arrived at a crossroads: A short history of the evolution of workplace thinking
Understanding why workplace silos persist begins by looking at how workplace management has evolved over the past four decades.
During the Facilities Management Era of the 1980s and 1990s, organizations focused almost entirely on operational efficiency. During this period, facility management became formally recognized as a discipline, driven in part by the rise of professional organizations such as the National Facility Management Association, founded in 1980. According to research published by Wiley, the turning point was when FMs began to gain visibility inside corporate strategic planning.
The Corporate Real Estate Strategy Era of the 2000s and 2010s elevated CRE into a strategic function, but mostly by emphasizing portfolio optimization and cost reduction. CRE leaders partnered closely with finance departments to consolidate locations, align real estate decisions with financial goals, and streamline operational footprints. FM teams, however, remained focused on daily operations rather than strategic planning, reinforcing organizational separation.
The pandemic abruptly pushed CRE, HR, IT, and FM into shared decision‑making. According to Harvard Business Review, though, analysis of communication patterns during 2020 revealed that while people communicated more within their own teams, cross‑team collaboration decreased, deepening existing silos rather than breaking them down.
So, what looked like quick alignment in a crisis never turned into long‑term integration.
Today’s environment demands what should be the Holistic Integration Era. Most organizations, however, still haven’t reached it. Misaligned goals, limited communication channels, and siloed departmental cultures continue to block FM, CRE, HR, and IT from working as a unified ecosystem. Even with improved communication, teams still make decisions independently rather than collaboratively.
The organizational barriers preventing cross-functional workplace collaboration
Even when organizations commit to improving workplace collaboration, deep‑rooted barriers keep teams operating in isolation.
One of the biggest reasons silos stay firmly in place is structural. When CRE reports to the CFO with a mandate to reduce costs, FM reports to operations with a mandate to increase efficiency, HR reports to the CEO to shape culture, and IT reports to the CTO to drive technology adoption, cross‑functional collaboration becomes structurally discouraged. Each team is measured and rewarded on different success metrics, which means even when they want to work together, the system pushes them back into their lanes.
In this environment, building a unified workplace strategy is less about desire and more about navigating competing incentives that rarely align.
Problems with data trust
The problems include more than people. In episode 167 of the Asset Champion podcast, “‘A Better Way’: Understanding Frderal Asset Management Challenges,”Jon Towers, Policy Director at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs leader, discussed the difficulties that come from dealing with unreliable data.
The VA’s challenge, according to Jon, is not just the size of its massive asset portfolio. Instead, it’s the organization’s ability to understand it, trust the data behind it, and make informed decisions about modernization and maintenance. When each department owns different data systems with varying levels of quality and integration, creating a unified view of workplace performance becomes extraordinarily difficult.
Divide between the technical and real people
Carl Fennell, General Manager at Serco in Abu Dhabi, UAE, spoke about the importance of seeing the connections between people and the spaces they use.
In episode 168 of the Asset Champion podcast, “’Deep Dive into Technology’: Delivering World Class Facility Management Services in the Middle East,” he explains that “… for me being an FM and asset manager leader today, it means combining technical accuracy with people-centered leadership. I think it’s about understanding asset life cycles, risk, data, compliance, all that good stuff, but also recognizing that assets only perform well when the people maintaining them are supported, trained and trusted.”
It’s a principle that extends beyond maintaining equipment. It recognizes that buildings, technology systems, and workplace policies all exist to serve people. It’s both the facility teams managing them and the employees using them.
Gaps between AI readiness and ambition
Vik Bangia, CEO of Verum Consulting, touched on the idea of how the desire to embrace AI needs to be tempered by the need for preparation.
In episode 385 of the Workplace Innovator podcast, “’Get Ahead’: Unlocking the Ability to Think More Strategically in the Workplace using AI,” Vik says, “Before they get to the enablement part, they have to understand their AI awareness and their AI readiness.”
Many organizations deploy AI tools in individual departments. There’s FM for predictive maintenance, CRE for space optimization, and HR for engagement analysis, but it’s done without the cross-functional awareness and readiness required to maximize AI’s potential.
The opportunity to “unlock your ability to think more strategically,” as Vik describes it, requires shared understanding across functions, not isolated implementations.
Four strategies for building cross-functional workplace collaboration
Across different contexts, from federal government facilities to high-rise buildings in rapidly developing markets to corporate offices navigating hybrid work, there are several approaches for breaking through these barriers.
Creating shared language through unified metrics
In the podcast episode, Bryan explains Cushman & Wakefield’s “Experience per Square Foot” model, a framework that combines traditional CRE metrics with employee experience data to create a common language across functions. “CRE and FM leaders have an opportunity to move the needle in this area,” Berthold noted. However, it requires linking real estate and facilities investment to measurable employee experience outcomes that resonate with HR, IT, and business leadership.
The key is identifying metrics where improvement requires cross-functional collaboration. Space utilization rates mean nothing if people are not coming to the office. Only by combining data sources can organizations understand workplace performance holistically.
Designing for integration from day one
Bringing FM, IT, HR, and end-users into the design process from the start changes outcomes. Bryan shared the HP workplace transformation as an example: by combining sit-stand desks and improved air quality with dual monitors and redesigned collaboration zones, HP created environments employees chose to work in.
“Make them healthier, improve their well-being, and create environments. Not that you force them into that. That’s their first choice,” Bryan says.
Integrating technology as connective tissue
Technology can either reinforce silos or break them down. The difference lies in whether tools share data and insights across functions.
Carl described this in the UAE’s facilities market: “IoT sensors on buildings, using technology to do predictive maintenance, condition-based maintenance, that kind of stuff means that we potentially can run a building to a very high standard with less people.”
When IoT sensor data connects with badge data and collaboration tool usage, facilities teams can coordinate maintenance with actual building usage patterns.
The same principle applies to AI.
Vik emphasized in his podcast episode: “Take a long look at artificial intelligence and what AI can do for you specifically in your workplace to unlock your ability to think more strategically.”
Building cross-functional governance
Technology and metrics enable collaboration, but governance structures sustain it. Successful organizations have formalized cross-functional workplace management through councils, shared KPIs, and project teams.
Carl captured the long-term thinking required when he says, “Strong asset leadership today is about long-term thinking. It’s about aligning strategy, systems, and culture so that assets are safe and sustainable throughout their life, not just for the operation of today.”
Moving from departmental silos to integrated team
Breaking down silos does not mean eliminating functional expertise. The difference is that the 1% use their functional expertise in service of shared outcomes rather than departmental metrics.
“We all have a role to play in reimagining workplaces,” Bryan explains. Organizations can choose whether to continue playing those roles in separate corners or come together to create truly integrated workplace experiences.
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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.
