Canadian HR Reporter

CanaDian hr reporter october 20, 2014 10 NEws "Ultimately, we won't have the space that would accommodate every single person on the same day because the chances of it hap- pening are virtually zero... what re- ally for us matters is the right type of space is available — and that's going to be an evolution," he said. It's about improving connec- tions and collaboration, in a fun and productive way, said Winkler. And while there may be cost sav- ings, it's more about cost avoid- ance, he said. "When you have multiple offic- es today that are fairly inflexible, the actual new space in total, on a per-employee basis — the cost isn't actually that different. So while cost matters to us, obvious- ly, it's actually not the main driver." Real estate firm CBRE adopted the free desking concept in its Canadian offices last year, which means people grab their laptop out of a locker and find a seat — usually in a designated "neighbour- hood" with people they work with, according to Ross Moore, director of research at CBRE in Toronto. "Chances are you're going to sit with your other team members be- cause, in large part, this is about en- abling or enhancing collaboration so it wouldn't make sense if you were sitting away from the rest of your team," he said. "e absolute critical ingredient is private rooms that you can have meetings in, you can make phone calls in." There are challenges, said Moore, such as noise and where to store paperwork. "Keep in mind, at the end of the day when you go home, the desk has to be completely clear, so ev- erything goes back in your locker," he said. "But, eventually, you're going to have to scan those (docu- ments) or whatever and save them on a server — otherwise, your locker will very quickly fill up and it's not meant to be a filing cabinet." Overall, office space can be re- duced by, say, 30 per cent while employee count can go up 10 per cent because so many people are out of the office at any one time, said Moore. "e numbers are quite dra- matic. And there's a tremendous amount of discussion in the indus- try because we're only in the first or second inning of this, so I think there's still a lot of learning and trial and error — everybody's try- ing to figure out exactly how this really is going to work. I think it will really vary by industry — what works for one industry might not work for another. So I do wonder whether the pendulum has swung a bit too far and too fast and, in three or four years, we'll see the pendulum swing back a little bit." Newer technologies So what's driving the transforma- tion? Newer, cheaper technolo- gies are a big factor. TD, for ex- ample, went wireless when it de- cided to offer more open-concept offices and unassigned seating. is meant employees could walk around the floor with their laptops to do their work. People really appreciate the open floor plan, along with greater access to natural light and comfy seating in collaboration areas, said Tania Litsos, vice-president of enterprise real estate at TD in Toronto. "ey feel more productive than they did before, they really value the flexibility and the choices they have, they value the collaboration with their teammates," she said. "The other benefit we hear about is speed in decision-making, because people interact a lot more in an open environment than they do in the traditional offices." Groups at TD can self-select if they want to participate and, so far, almost 4,000 employees in Canada and 350 in the United States have taken part, said Litsos. "It's a great way, if you have growth within your team, to be able to accommodate a greater number of people," she said. "We're really pleased with the take-up that we've had." TD's office space is custom- ized to the needs of each business group. IT, for example, needs more meeting rooms to go over project work while HR needs fewer meeting rooms, she said. "It's really important for us to understand what the business group needs are in order to design the space and the desk-sharing ratios." And while there are definitely cost savings, that's just a byprod- uct, said Litsos. "Not only that, you're using space more efficiently and ef- fectively so, as a result, you need to acquire less space for growth, which has... a financial impact but also (helps) the environment." Telus is also seeing environ- mental benefits, with 60 per cent of its workers working from home or on a mobile basis, according to Andrea Goertz, chief commu- nications and sustainability of- ficer at Telus in Calgary. Before changing its workspace, Telus performed space audits to under- stand its capacity. "From a real estate perspective, it was a tremendous savings that we were looking at — over $200 million — and, right now, we're at about one million square feet of reductions, we've got another 300, 400,000 to go, so it makes such a compelling business case by just looking at the vacant space." Making the transition But is everyone onboard with the new concept? Typically, millenni- als seem to be more open to this work environment, said Moore. "It's the baby boomers that are maybe struggling a little bit, but the millennials do seem to be more open to this," he said. "e pushback is actually on the older employees that got used to that private office." e older generations have a harder time adjusting, said Litsos. "Definitely the change man- agement piece has to focus on the unique needs based on the employee population. So it's very important to provide etiquette training as to how to use the new environment." To ease the transition, it's important to provide plenty of communication around the move. Deloitte began sharing information early on, talking about the whys and the hows of the process, putting things into a broader context, and setting up display booths to show what the new space looked like. e company also shared video clips of employees who are using the new offices, said Winkler. "Really, to make it come to life, I think you can talk about it in theory but nothing is more pow- erful than hearing if from your colleagues." It was also important to have leaders involved, he said. "The leaders, by far, are our most important cohort because if our leaders are understanding and supportive of it, that will have a big impact." frEE dEskINg < pg. 1 'Everybody's trying to figure out how it will work' Poor work cultures take a high toll on employees, managers and the bottom line. Poor cultures can lead to excessive absenteeism, stress and decreasing morale — and this can lead to higher benefi t costs and a spike in disability claims. Plus there are also liability issues, with many jurisdictions warming up to claims for damages for psychological harassment. Todd Humber, Canadian HR Reporter's managing editor and acting publisher, moderated a special roundtable discussion on healthy workplace cultures. The conversation covered a wide range of issues, including what a healthy culture looks like, how to get buy-in from senior leadership and the role third-party providers can play in reducing disability claims and ensuring employees are engaged. Look for a special report in the Nov. 17 issue of Canadian HR Reporter. Canadian HR Reporter presents an exclusive roundtable on SPONSORED BY PANELISTS: • Howard Levitt, Senior Partner, Levitt & Grosman LLP • Carmen Klein, Senior Director, Organizational Development and Culture, Cadillac Fairview • Sandy Fallon, Vice-President, People, Softchoice • Susan Wright, HR manager, Sabic Innovative Plastics • Sharone Bar-David, President, Bar-David Consulting Healthy workplace cultures

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