By Heather McRoberts, Placemaking Coordinator – CBRE

When employees feel part of a community, they are a happier, healthier and more engaged workforce.  Never has it been more critical to build community and a sense of belonging in the workplace as everyone adjusts to flexible and new ways of working.

At Exchange Quay nurturing that sense of community on our office campus, which welcomes more than 4,000 workers on site throughout the working week, is paramount and that’s why we’ve developed a whole range of events to engage our occupiers.

Human beings are social creatures and we rely on connection and belonging for our health and wellbeing.  More and more we see the great resignation or quiet quitting trend and we know just how important workplace culture and community is to retaining staff and also attracting the right talent.  People will leave their jobs if the office culture doesn’t match their needs and values for meaning and connection.

Creating a whole raft of events at Exchange Quay from pizza pop ups, health MOTs with partner Urban Reform, crazy golf and creative workshops to meet the bees, Quay Kitchen giveaways and more has helped occupiers really engage with each other.  In our recent occupier survey the results revealed that more than half of those questioned attended between 1-6 events last year with health and wellbeing being particularly important to them.   

Not only are our events great fun to take part in, they can help to foster our community feel on campus, promote a sense of belonging, help people to feel secure, have purpose, support their mental and physical health and wellbeing, combat loneliness, help with motivation, increase morale, reduce stress, build stronger teams and collaboration, increase productivity and much more in an authentic and supportive way.

That’s why at Exchange Quay we continue to invest in the office experience and environment, making it a great place to work and socialise with colleagues. 

Our events are so popular in fostering a feeling of togetherness, learning and social space, our occupiers have asked for more this year, including CPR and defib training, mental health workshops, more fitness classes, an EQ Business Club for professional networking, more creative workshops, health MOTs and even PT sessions, so we know they are proving popular and working for us.

Written by:
Heather McRoberts

08/13/2024