Discover the immense ROI potential of workplace analytics, a game-changing tool for organizations aiming to boost productivity, optimize resources, and improve employee well-being. In this article, we explore the benefits and return on investment (ROI) of workplace analytics.
Workplace analytics empowers data-driven decision-making, streamlining operations, and creating efficient spaces that resonate with employee preferences. By analyzing workplace data, organizations can optimize real estate costs, design productive environments, and foster collaboration. Beyond space optimization, workplace analytics positively impacts employee well-being and engagement.
Choosing the right tools is crucial for success in workplace analytics. Locatee, renowned in the field, offers purpose-built products to leverage analytics effectively. The accompanying table highlights Locatee products and capabilities for achieving desired benefits. However, other tools and solutions in the market can be considered and combined with our solutions based on individual requirements, priorities, and budgets.
Global & organizational-level benefits
CRE Data Maturity
Description
Unlocking savings and additional value in CRE requires data. The data maturity journey leads from availability, to accuracy, accessibility, to being actionable and predictive. Any CRE tech solution has to improve one or several elements of this journey to be valuable.
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, finance, facility management (FM), HR, data scientists, building engineers, architects / interior designers, C-level, employees
Locatee solution
Locatee Analytics + (Locatee Advisory Services)
Effort
Ongoing exchange in business calls or specific advisory workshops
ROI Opportunity
Significant quality increase of any use case mentioned below / any strategic and operational CRE decision taken
Enable a data-driven organization
Description
Enabling the entire organization to make data-driven decisions often takes a team that turns data into insights and prepares easy-to-share documents to disseminate the information.
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, finance, facility management, HR, data scientists, building engineers, architects / interior designers, C-level, employees
Locatee solution
Locatee Standard and/or Tailored Reports
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
ROI Opportunity
Avoidance of costs related to building the company’s own team of data analyst
Global and regional building portfolio optimization
Description
Comprehensive overview over utilization across the whole building portfolio.
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, finance
Locatee solution
Locatee Portfolio Insights
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
ROI Opportunity
Portfolio rightsizing saving potential is 300’000€/year for a 100-desk site (estimate based on a Locatee customer’s benchmark)
Mobility Patterns /1
User-driven office space
Description
Understanding people mobility patterns and their utilization preferences (eg. commute time v. days at the office),, leads CRE, Workplace and Facilities leaders to create workspaces that foster productivity and collaboration by meeting the needs of a diverse workforce.
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, finance, HR/Talent acquisition
Locatee solution
Locatee Team Analytics
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
ROI Opportunity
By improving the home bases in their headquarters, a customer found potential to consolidate further buildings by adding 150 employees into their headquarters. A savings potential of 15–20% of the office space costs was achieved
Mobility Patterns / 2
Flexible scheduling
Description
As more businesses are adopting a Results-only Work Environment (ROWE) approach, understanding how to foster productivity - e.g. through a golden hours-based work prioritization - can disclose a significant ROI for the individual, the team and company.
Stakeholders
Regional and local CRE manager, FM, and HR/Talent acquisition teams
Locatee solution
Locatee Tailored Reports + data related to selected business units + machine learning (ML)-based occupancy forecasting
Effort
Identification and selection of relevant parameters (e.g., related to employee personas); ML modeling, training, testing, deployment and maintenance; Data analysis & Reporting
ROI Opportunity
For every Euro invested in ROWE work culture the company saves up to 1.40€ through improved work/balance, increased sense of ownership and staff retention.
Energy Savings
Description
Through reporting and the crossing of multiple data sources, potential energy saving opportunities (e.g. electricity, heating, cleaning) can be highlighted.
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, global and Regional FM managers, third-party providers, finance, ESG/Sustainability teams
Locatee solution
Locatee Custom Reports + data related to energy consumption
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee; Collection of disparate energy-related data; Data analysis & Reporting
ROI Opportunity
From Locatee customer’s benchmark: between 10 and 40% savings on energy consumption
Project Management
Description
The quality of the evaluation, implementation and maintenance over time of a tech solution is highly dependent on an effective, capable and thorough project management activity for all the key operational stakeholders involved at different stages in the process.
Stakeholders
IT compliance, in-house IT infrastructure management (at global, regional and onsite level) and/or external IT infrastructure services providers teams, inhouse BI and analytics teams, innovation and digital transformation champions. CRE managers, workplace experience, procurement, legal, workers council (if required)
Locatee solution
Comprehensive standardized project management, based on proven, multi-year expertise in global product testing and rollout of projects for multinational businesses
Effort
Project management setup prior to and at the start of testing and rollout phases, dedicated account management and technical project management team with all operational stakeholders engagement on both sides, ongoing, close meshed project management
ROI Opportunity
Efficient and in-depth solution evaluation, leading to the right investment decision, saving time and other resources in evaluation and rollout, preventing costly mistakes, increasing product experience and stakeholder satisfaction across the unit and the business
Regional, site or building-level benefits
Mobility Patterns / 3
Optimization of the office’s equipment and supplies
Description
Overbooking and no-shows are two major factors disrupting the employees’ experience when it comes to flexible working. Using booked vs actual occupancy analysis, it is possible to identify what factors, in relation to office equipment and supplies like e.g., projectors, whiteboards, fans or coffee machines, drive or deter space demand, allowing for a low-effort, micro optimization of office space.
Stakeholders
Regional and local CRE manager, FM and IT teams
Locatee solution
Locatee Custom Reports (Booking vs. Utilization match rate) + room booking data
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee, or integration with existing space booking systems (Ingress API) if needed.
Data analysis & Reporting
ROI Opportunity
Office equipment represents a powerful productivity enabler and a competitive advantage of the corporate office over WFH and achieving the right blend of onsite and remote working through micro-optimization can increase employees’ satisfaction by 5%
Optimization of space allocation within a site
Description
With the rise of flexible working, many organizations are introducing flexible workspace concepts where employees do not have their own (assigned) desk anymore. Instead companies provide unassigned space with a specific sharing ratio (e.g. 1.2 employee per desk). This use case helps to define how much workspace a "team" needs so it's both efficient & enjoyable, using a sharing ratio.
Stakeholders
Regional CRE managers, site managers, finance
Locatee solution
Locatee Workplace Operations
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
Mapping of floors
ROI Opportunity
Insights on utilization and team mobility patterns enable Locatee’s customers to improve space efficiency by up to 30%, leading to significant cost savings on avoiding additional space.
Eg. on a 100-desk site, potential savings reaches up to 514K€
Rebalancing space types within a site
Description
Locatee supports customers in evaluating their need for additional non-bookable meeting rooms and phone booths.
Stakeholders
Regional CRE managers, site managers, finance
Locatee solution
Locatee Workplace Operations combined with sensors
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
Mapping of floors
Purchase, setup and maintenance of sensors
ROI Opportunity
Customer example:
In a 7 floors building, it was discovered that the plan to equip each floor with one additional phone booth was not necessary and could be substituted with the optimization of existing space.
Considering the cost of installing additional phone booths, adding one booth per floor would have led to a minimum additional investment of 73,500€
FM Savings
Description
The use of data to adjust and customize Facility Management services can lead to substantial savings.
Stakeholders
Regional FM managers, third-party providers, finance teams
Locatee solution
Locatee Workplace Operations
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
Mapping of floors
Data analysis & Reporting
ROI Opportunity
Through a ROI simulation realized for one of our customers, it’s been estimated that for a volume of 4000 SQMs optimized, 50k€ FM cost savings could be realized
Smart Cleaning
Description
Cleaning tours can be planned more efficiently using low-medium-high service levels based on actual occupancy and utilization, which minimize waste and disruptions.
Stakeholders
Regional FM managers, third-party providers, finance, ESG/Sustainability teams
Locatee solution
Locatee Workplace Operations + integration with cleaning provider
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
Mapping of floors
Data analysis & Reporting or direct integration with third-party (through API)
ROI Opportunity
Customers reported up to 20% cost savings on cleaning services since using Locatee data for smart cleaning
Navigation (Signage)
Description
Increasingly flexible work setups necessitate up-to-date workplace information to navigate around the office and improve the employee experience. Employees want to find the right space easily.
Stakeholders
Employees
Locatee solution
Locatee Smart Signage
Effort
Connection of existing data sources into Locatee
Mapping of floors
ROI Opportunity
Over 30% of people working in a flexible office say they lose time trying to find a desk. Knowledge workers spend as much as 60 minutes per week looking for a suitable place to work. On an office population of 100 employees, that would translate in four full days of work regained
Technological investment benefits
Investment decisions into additional solutions
Description
Utilization data can be collected by adopting numerous, different solutions. The key is to understand which solutions serve which use cases and how to best connect them to avoid data silos, complexity and to maximize value.
Stakeholders
CRE managers, investment board, finance, IT
Locatee solution
Locatee acts as an independent advisor, who can suggest where an additional data source can lead to additional and valuable insights, and where not. To achieve that, Locatee relies on the knowledge coming from established partnerships with other solution providers (no financial incentives apply nor Locatee covers the supply of any other solution)
Effort
Ongoing exchange in business and tech calls or specific advisory workshops
ROI Opportunity
Preventing unnecessary investment. Significantly reducing average integration time, thanks to established integrations (or standardized discovery processes for a range of additional solutions)
Off the shelf integration & API
Description
To break data silos and obtain the insights required to pilot a CRE strategy, systems have to be interconnected (both ingress and egress).
Stakeholders
Global and regional CRE managers, HR, third-party providers
Locatee solution
Locatee Ingress and Analytics APIs
Locatee Integrations and Professional Services (optional)
Effort
Connection to other systems, integration of Locatee data into other systems, low effort for existing integrations to medium effort for new integrations through the API
ROI Opportunity
Leveraging office building data with custom applications leads to a specific ROI, based on the application
Use-driven granularity
Description
Highly granular information is expected for specific, mainly enclosed spaces, like meeting rooms or phone booths, while it often becomes unnecessary for collaboration/ hoteling areas. Furthermore, granularity comes at a price, as covering a high number of desks with sensors is usually impractical and costly.
Stakeholders
Global, regional CRE management, third-party providers and partners
Locatee solution
Locatee Ingress API
Locatee Standard and Custom Reports, when applicable
Effort
Connection to other systems. Low effort on API integrations for existing, tried and tested integrations. Medium effort for new integrations with the occupancy monitoring sensors’ providers cloud.
Data Analysis & Reporting
ROI Opportunity
Using our extensive integration partner network as well as a robust custom API, Locatee was able to leverage sensor providers’ data and achieve full coverage of space utilization insights for a global Pharma customer, while allowing for a lower than expected investment by the client.
The Locatee Analytics dashboard provides a single pane of glass, eliminating any friction, inaccuracy and waste of time related to switching between platforms.
About the author
Stève Cattin
VP Operations & MarketingStève is the VP of Operations & Marketing at Locatee. He spent most of his career in tech start- and scale-ups. When not talking about the workplace, leadership or data with the team, you can find him on the ski slopes, biking or searching the web for the perfect gif.
