DOI: 10.69554/fjtk3261 ISSN: 2043-9156

From space to signal: How identity-driven workplaces are reshaping corporate real estate strategy

Yasmeen J. Coning, Elizabeth Hart
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This paper examines the evolving role of corporate real estate (CRE) strategy in an era of hybrid work, distributed teams and accelerating artificial intelligence (AI), where the workplace is no longer simply a container for work but a system through which organisations express identity, shape behaviour and influence performance. As AI automates routine work, the human contributions that remain, including judgment, collaboration, trust and identity, become more central, making the workplace’s role in shaping those contributions increasingly consequential. The paper introduces the concept of the identity-driven workplace, defined as one intentionally designed to reinforce an organisation’s shared understanding of purpose, values and ways of working, translating abstract identity into observable behaviour and lived experience. Drawing on the construct of Collective Organizational Identification (COI), a formative firm-level measure developed and validated in Coning,3 the paper argues that workplace strategy now sits at the intersection of identity, behaviour and execution. It outlines how CRE strategy can either reinforce or undermine organisational identity through environmental signals, leadership rituals and behavioural design, and proposes a shift from utilisation-based metrics toward behavioural and outcome-linked measurement. Across several industry scenarios, the paper illustrates how identity-driven workplace design supports cohesion, accountability and performance. The implications are practical and strategic: in an era where work is increasingly augmented by AI, identity is the reason people show up, and the workplace is one of the few enterprise-wide systems through which organisations can shape that identity at scale. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.

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