The Edge - Volume One

espite housing a large part of Google’s real estate, the Bay Area represented the only region within Google’s portfolio that didn’t outsource the management of its facilities. With more than 115 different vendor contracts to manage, Google was looking for ways to leverage a single outsource partner to increase speed of execution and drive innovation across all service lines. After an extensive RFP process, Google chose Cushman & Wakefield as their real estate provider due to the firm’s strong account team, executive engagement model and deep focus on employee engagement. In January 2018, Cushman & Wakefield kicked off its first-generation Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) outsourcing contract with Google, which has since developed into a strategic partnership. The Edge sat down with Darrell Smith , Director of Facilities, Google, and Brandon Tanner , Account Leader, Cushman & Wakefield, to talk about how the partnership has positioned Google for growth and innovation. When it came to the transitioning from multiple vendors to Cushman & Wakefield’s IFM offering, what were your expectations? Darrell: At Google, the employee experience is everything. So, we wanted to make sure there was minimal disruption to our employees during the transition – it needed to be seamless. To that end, we created scorecards and incentives for both our team and Cushman & Wakefield’s team that were clearly aligned with our expectations. In addition, both teams maintained open and transparent communication – with Cushman & Wakefield’s platform team especially critical to the transition’s success. From day one, we took a partnership approach, asking “How can we work together to create a better workplace for Google?" This mentality has made a huge difference in the success of this transition and set the tone of our partnership. In my more than 20 years in the facilities management business, I’ve managed multiple large-scale IFM outsourcing projects with the transition typically being the hardest part. This was by far the most seamless and successful transition I’ve experienced to date. What elements of Google’s culture did you focus on as you built your team? Brandon: I was interested in finding the best and brightest talent. Because speed in execution is a core component of Google’s culture, I also wanted to ensure I had a team that was able to work quickly, think creatively and be flexible to changing needs.

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