Future Cities

Location Matters

By: Chris Volney, Managing Director, Location Strategy, Americas Consulting

February 7, 2024 3 Minute Read

Animation of layout of buildings

Where You Are Affects Where You’re Going

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I’ve always been passionate about places.

After meeting someone for the first time, I can almost always recall where they’re from, but, regrettably, there’s a good chance I won’t remember their name. In school, I studied economic geography (yes, that’s a real major) and then earned a master’s degree in city planning. Outside the classroom, I’ve had the great joy of living and working in five very different and dynamic U.S. cities.

Through these experiences, I’ve observed firsthand how each place’s physical location influences its people and economy and creates a unique local culture and vibe.

I’ve learned that geography is destiny.

Today, I’m lucky to be part of the location strategy consulting team at CBRE, where our job is to pair clients with the optimal geographies to support their business operations and organizational goals.

Prior to the pandemic, location’s role in business strategy was a given. But in the past few years, I’ve heard more companies questioning the importance of a place-based strategy in an increasingly digital world where remote work is commonplace.

I couldn’t disagree more.

Place is a powerful asset.

How a company considers its location strategies can propel business goals, create competitive advantage, foster culture and communicate brand.

As pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020, several companies felt empowered to untether themselves from geography and implement an “anywhere/everywhere” approach to talent acquisition.

For instance, after previously hiring in only one or two hub markets, one of our long-time clients hired a software engineer in Hawaii, a marketer in France and 20 other professionals in as many different markets.

Hiring remote talent has its appeal but comes with potential trade-offs.

This client returned within a year, asking us to help address some unexpected pitfalls. That Hawaii hire required a company-wide rewrite of HR regulations, while the employee in France triggered the need to establish a new business entity (no small task).

Clients in similar situations struggled with tax audit risks, and their recruiting teams encountered difficulties sourcing talent across the globe amid unfamiliar networks and cultures. And, no surprise, turnover became a challenge.

Today, many companies are reembracing geography as an integral part of their business strategy.

For example, several organizations that continue to hire remotely are asking us to identify markets where they can deploy a “targeted remote” strategy—enabling them to focus on a smaller number of highly qualified geographies that support regular, in-person collaboration among remote employees.

One of the more rewarding (and fun) consulting projects of my career was with a late-stage tech startup that, after a few rounds of venture funding, needed to rapidly scale its workforce. With existing offices in San Francisco and New York, they had success sourcing high-quality talent but weren’t able to attract and retain enough employees given these markets’ hyper-competitiveness.

Our challenge from the C-suite was to identify a third high-potential, off-the-radar location that would position them as an employer of choice in a city that aligned with their culture.

As they soon learned, the power of place can be a company’s secret weapon in advancing organizational goals.

We helped this client use geography as a needle-mover for talent, operations, ESG and culture. After optimizing across these diverse objectives, the winning location was a charmingly quirky, medium-sized college town nestled in the Rocky Mountains.

That market was a great fit not just for the potential of its talent and business environment but also on some unique metrics, such as the density of EV charging stations and boutique fitness establishments, which were important proxy measures of the company’s culture.

By finding a place that was uniquely aligned with its business objectives, this company was able to exceed its first-year hiring expectations by 300 percent. The new employees were sourced not just from the local market but from applicants with roots in the area, eager to return now that there were job opportunities with an exciting and innovative employer that shared their values.

The benefits of a custom place-based strategy can be enduring.

Moreover, a surprisingly high number of this client’s existing employees raised their hands for voluntary relocations—providing them fresh opportunities while helping to jumpstart the new office with the institutional knowledge and cultural values that only seasoned employees can bring.

That’s the power of place.

Personally, as I’ve lived and worked in New York (twice), Boston, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and, today, San Francisco, I may have been guilty of forgetting more than a few names, but I’ll never forget a place.

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