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Driving Towards A More Engaging And Effective Way Of Working

How Edenred Singapore transformed into New Ways of Working with their Activity Based Working holistic solution

At the beginning of 2019, Edenred Singapore sought Veldhoen + Company’s (V+C) support in their consideration of a New Way of Working (NWOW) concept, aimed at creating a more engaging and effective way of working, supported with a redesign of their newly located Singapore office.

At the time, Edenred Singapore had 86 full-time employees working within a traditional, open-plan office. Employees were assigned to individual desks, with some teams allocated to segregated areas and managers to private individual offices, separated from the rest of the organisation. Meeting spaces were few and collaboration areas were too small and underutilised. Employee attraction, retention and turnover required attention from the organisation, as well as the drive to innovate and inspire new services for customers.

“We believe that the work environment strongly influences the way people work. We are proud to embrace new ways of working adopting an ABW strategy (Activity Based Working). No assigned workplace from top to bottom, everybody has access to ergonomic workplaces depending on their activity”

Laurent Pellet, CEO, Asia Pacific at Edenred SA

The Challenge

 

During the 8 months project, V+C collaborated with Edenred’s executive leadership and a select group of employees through a range of initiatives in co-creating a NWOW. Edenred explored deeper into how they operate, and which aspects would need to change in order for them to move forward.

Three key foundational aspirations were identified and would act as the project’s guiding principles for any decisions that needed to be made with the holistic environment. Given the industry’s nature, speed and agility are important for Edenred to be able to react to disruptions and stay ahead of the competition with innovative and inspiring1 products and services.

Employees were encouraged to adopt a mindset for change2; by striving to be more communicative and collaborative towards the office as a whole (vs. individual silos) and focus less on the time spent on individual work and more on collaborative activities. By feeling proud of the brand and the work they do3, employees would be able to understand the purpose they serve and in turn, customers would be more trusting in their interactions with Edenred.

Edenred recognized that by supporting their employees to be more agile and feel comfortable towards change, a holistic approach would need to be considered in how the physical office design, the virtual tools and technologies, could support the internal cultural change required of adopting the right behaviours and mindsets in order to truly achieve a new way of working.

The collaborative partnership between Edenred’s leadership and employees, the Veldhoen team and the DNDB design team, resulted in Edenred’s new office supporting and enabling a holistic workstyle change, while at the same time taking into account the functional requirements needed. A centralised shared Café/Social Hub provides employees the freedom to build and cultivate relationships, rejuvenate and recharge themselves, while at the same time serving as a welcome area for clients and visitors.

Throughout the workplace, various sized furnished spaces support formal or informal collaborations, graduating towards quieter activities, such as the silent high focus individual work area, where deep concentration is required. Separate quiet relax and recharge areas allow employees to recharge and rethink in comfortable, scenic view settings.

“Spaces are defined by activities so that they inspire individuals and teams to be more creative, inspired and open to change” Delphine Leon, DNDB Founder and Design Director

The Results

 

Data collected one-month post-move shows great satisfaction overall. Employees have indicated that they are able to focus better in these new work settings which support their work activities better. Collaboration has increased among cross-functional teams and within teams, and increased workplace flexibility has empowered employees to plan their work more efficiently, thus striving towards the initial objective of creating a “more engaging and effective way of working”

  • 72%  of employees feel positive or very positive about ABW
  • only 5% prefer to go back to the traditional way of working
  • 60% agree that it has built trust and improved productivity

*Good response rate on the survey, with the participation of 77% of Edenred Singapore employees

 

For more information, please visit the website of Veldhoen Company

 

 

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