\"A whole generation of Germans has grown up with CSR issues\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After more than ten years in Paris, Friederike Hoberg moved to Berlin in 2022 to head up Covivio's German office business. Here, she observes the professional and cultural differences that mark the world of commercial property in Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Covivio operates mainly in France, Germany and Italy: do you have the same strategic approach for these three countries?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We deploy the same Covivio standards wherever we operate, with a presence around transport hubs and in city centres, with flexible, multi-use office buildings. Today, services, the on-site experience and the integration of CSR issues are crucial, as is taking environmental aspects into account during the construction phase. In Germany, centralisation is much less marked: there is not just one office market, but a dozen or so. Cities are also more fragmented and spread out. The relationship with space and distance, as well as the notion of the city centre, are very different from what we have in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have a different approach to planning in different countries?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The example of our Wellio spaces is an interesting one. We have our own 'signature' with strong markers, but the architectural inspiration is different each time. In Milan, in a city-centre building, the spirit of the Wellio Duomo space echoes the historic heritage of the district, and in Paris, for our site in the 5th arrondissement, we worked with the Gobelins school to integrate ourselves into the local area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Germany, what is it like to go back to the office?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With the Covid-19 restrictions, many regular commuters have found it convenient not to have to spend an hour in the car to get to the office. But young people are very keen to go to the office to meet up and socialise. To encourage them to return to the office, employers often provide a wider range of services, more informal or even fun places to work, innovative meeting rooms, etc. These are all places that are systematically shown to candidates during interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about requests for services?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of services, the German market has not reached the same level of maturity as London or Paris. Demand is accelerating for shared spaces, such as larger cafeterias, multi-purpose rooms or outdoor areas, but there are still very few buildings that offer the full range of services, such as several catering options, a concierge service, a sports hall, a cr\u00e8che, and so on. Connectivity is only just beginning to be put in place. The focus is more on efficiency: there is less need for a large hall representative of the company or \"exceptional\" spaces, as is the case in Milan or Paris. Start-ups, on the other hand, are adopting new codes and are more oriented towards sharing offices and services, requiring specific facilities such as a yoga room or a bar with a barista.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You used to work in France. How does French culture differ from German business culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A whole generation of Germans has grown up with CSR issues: waste sorting, energy saving... When I started working in Paris 15 years ago, these subjects were not very present in the workplace or in the minds of employees. Today, the two cultures are very much converging on this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there a \"German recipe\" or are there specific characteristics and expectations that you can meet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In France, negotiations are less frank, there are lunches and a lot of discussion, but decisions are more hierarchical. In companies, the Germans are constantly looking for a consensus, as broad as possible. This involves organised dialogue and the inclusion of as many people as possible. Employee representatives carry a lot of weight and are involved in company decision-making.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":591,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"categorie-article-etude":[9],"class_list":["post-605","article-etude","type-article-etude","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-article-etude-interview"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-etude\/605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-etude"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article-etude"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categorie-article-etude","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfl.mentalworks.me\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie-article-etude?post=605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}