GN13.1: Assessing stakeholder requirements
Guidance Note purpose
The purpose of this Guidance Note is to provide asset managers, property managers and facilities managers with information relating to understanding the needs of a property’s stakeholders when scoping health and wellbeing requirements.
Context
Health and wellbeing is increasingly influential in creating buildings that people want to live, work and relax in.
Health and wellbeing is a broad term covering a diverse array of topics, for example internal air quality, nutrition, access to green space, cleaning, commuting provisions. As not all elements of health and wellbeing will be relevant to all assets, asset types or occupiers, so selection of the most relevant health and wellbeing features and workplace initiatives is necessary.
Scoping the health and wellbeing requirements for a property involves considering the short, medium and long-terms objectives of stakeholders, and defining where health and wellbeing can align to these priorities.
Importance
There are a wider range of benefits from understanding stakeholder needs and putting in place the right health and well-being strategy for a property. These include, for example:
- Keep occupants healthy, happy and engaged.
- Associated financial and reputation benefits from good occupier retention and attraction.
Although evidence is still relatively anecdotal, the business case for health and wellbeing is likely to further strengthen in a post-COVID world, where health and wellbeing will become less of a ‘nice to have’ and more of an essential demand from occupiers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for health and wellbeing. While always relevant, the global health crisis has put features like air quality, cleaning regimes and access to active commuter options at the forefront of many occupiers’ minds. Assessing the needs from relevant stakeholders for health and wellbeing provisions is therefore crucial for asset, property and facilities managers in making good decisions
Responsibilities & Interests
The table below summarises the key activities associated with assessing occupiers’ requirements, and highlights where asset managers, property managers and facilities managers are likely to have a responsibility or specific interest.
- AM - Asset Manager
- PM - Property Manager
- FM - Facilities Manager
Step 1: Identify and engage stakeholders
Stakeholder:
Step 2: Review stakeholder input
Stakeholder:
Step 3: Collate stakeholder feedback for continual improvement
Stakeholder:
How to
Intro
Asset managers have an interest in the on-going health and wellbeing performance of a property, including making decisions regarding investments in response to occupiers’ changing health and wellbeing needs. Property managers play a central role in co-ordinating the process of assessing stakeholders’ health and wellbeing requirements, with input and support from facilities managers.
Assessing stakeholders’ requirements involves consideration of the following general steps.
Step 1: Identify and engage stakeholders
It is important to identify the range of stakeholders with a potential interest in a property’s approach to health and wellbeing. This can be undertaken through a basic scoping study, involving mapping a property’s different stakeholder groups and rating their likely interest in health and wellbeing.
Stakeholders with a health and wellbeing interest will include the asset manager, property’s occupants and employees, visitors, contractors and members of the local community.
A number of different approaches can be adopted when assessing stakeholder requirements from a health and wellbeing perspective. This includes both informal and more structured assessment methods.
Informal assessment methods may include, for example:
- Occupier engagement meetings.
- A high-level review of the asset.
Structured assessment methods may include, for example:
- Dedicated health and wellbeing questionnaires.
- As part of more general occupier satisfaction surveys.
- Single issue questionnaires, for example, questions on commuter infrastructure.
Post Occupancy Evaluations provide a further source of information, relating to occupiers’ feedback on a property’s health and wellbeing features and initiatives.
Step 2: Review stakeholder input
Reviewing the outcomes from stakeholder engagement is a key part of developing a clear understanding of occupiers’ health and wellbeing requirements. This review should consider the current and predicted occupier mix, and should be undertaken in the context of the long-term goals for the asset.
A property manager should work closely with the asset manager to prioritise the implementation of health and wellbeing improvements identified through a review. This will be influenced by:
- Available budget.
- Number of onsite team members and their roles.
- Asset location.
- Asset design features.
- Occupier makeup.
Step 3: Stakeholder feedback and continuous improvement
Following the implementation and installation of health and wellbeing initiatives and infrastructure, occupier feedback should be collated. This can be undertaken through a combination of techniques, for example:
- Informal discussion in occupier engagement forums.
- Questionnaires and surveys.
- Uptake figures for specific health and wellbeing initiatives.
Occupier feedback should be accompanied by an assessment of the impact of any health and wellbeing initiatives, for example, improvements in ambient air quality or reductions in absence levels.
Feedback should be sought in an appropriate timeframe, which will depend on the nature of the health and wellbeing initiative.
This timeframe may range from:
- Short term, for example, requesting feedback on a healthy eating campaign as soon as the initiative has concluded.
- Longer term, for example, a year into an ongoing sustainable travel initiative.
The findings from stakeholder feedback should be incorporated into the next phase of the development of a property’s health and wellbeing strategy and can be and used to update and drive new and existing plans.
The assessment of stakeholder requirements is an ongoing process and should be undertaken on a regular, cyclical basis.
Related Guidance Notes
The following Guidance Notes contain related information:
- GN1.2: An environmental compliance register
- GN3.1: Ratings and certifications
- GN8.1: What is social value?
- GN9.7: Embedding sustainability within landscaping services
- GN11.2: Engaging occupiers
- GN11.3: Service charge considerations
- GN13.2: Why health and wellbeing is important
- GN13.3: Occupier satisfaction surveys
- GN13.4: Reviewing health and wellbeing
Additional Resources
Well Standard, pre-approved programmers: Occupier surveys
- Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Survey from the Center for Built Environment at UC Berkeley.
- Building Evaluation Survey Use Studies (BUS) Wellbeing Survey.
- Leesman Index.
- Occupant Comfort & Wellness Survey from the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University.
- Comfortmeter.
- Healthy Building Index (HBI), from bba indoor environment & DGMR.
- PeopleLOOK survey by Baker Stuart.