Creating an AWESOME Workplace FMJ

7/28/2019 Creating an AWESOME Workplace FMJ

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September/October2011

S CAN Health Plan is the fourthlargest not-for-prot MedicareAdvantage health plan in the UnitStates that serves the needs of morethan 128,000 members in California andArizona. Headquartered in Long Beach,Calif., USA, SCAN was founded in 197

SCANs corporate mission is to findinnovative ways to enhance senior citizability to manage their health and to conwhere and how they live as long as possWhy shouldnt SCAN employees have tsame control over where and how they woTats exactly what the workplace solutioteam did by creating an Alternate WorkspEngaging Staff & Office ManagementEffi ciencies or AWESOME project.

Given rapidly changing, highly competithealth care demands and the need to attr

and retain hard-to-nd top employees, itwas imperative that SCANs offi ce facilireect changing needs quickly, nimbly anwithout incurring extra cost. As a result,AWESOME team developed an innovatispace concept that not only increased eibility but also realized signicant savinAdditionally, they re-aligned the workplawith SCANs vision in mind creating an eing, modern, agile and sustainable workpl

Aligning the w orkplace withthe corporate visionIt was clear early on that SCANs traditiocubicle design was not compatible withthe updated company vision and stratedirection. Originally, office space wasdetermined by an individuals job title. Iorder to link the design to business stratmanagement wanted the space to be lesshierarchical, foster creativity and innovabreak down silos, meet multigenerationaneeds, improve productivity and increasexibility for quicker expansion into newmarkets. A critical element of the strate

plan was the implementation of a virtuaworkforce with space that is exible enoto meet the demands of both offi ce residand home offi ce workers.

Change is always diffi cult, especially wmerely dictated from upper managemenOn the other hand, when corporateleadership models the path, change isembraced more easily on a corporate lev

Creating anAWESOME WorkplaceSCAN Health Plans Innovative Office Space

by Diane Coles, MCR, and James Ware, Ph.D.


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Te rst step in the process showed howserious the executive team was about thedesired change in culture when they allagreed to reduce their own offi ces from 250to 150 square feet. Many executives alsoexchanged traditional furniture for exible,more cost-effective tables. oday, when theexecs are out of the offi ce, their teams usetheir offi ces as meeting rooms. With the

new offi ce furniture, my team says they dontfeel like they are going to the principalsoffi ce anymore said Grace Mayeda, director,member services.

Developing th e space concepto create the new space, design charretteswere conducted with representatives from alldepartments. Employees were shown a seriesof pictures and asked to select which bestrepresented their ideal offi ce and explainwhy. Te common themes that emergedfrom these exercises were the need for better

acoustics, lighting and color, along with morefreedom of choice and mobility.

Working with Manuel Urquiza, managing principal of Urquiza Group Inc., andfuturists Jim Ware Ph.D., founder of TeFuture of Workunlimited, and CharlieGrantham, Ph.D., professor of managementat Capella University, the AWESOME teamdeveloped a unique design concept to replacethe traditional offi ce cubicle.

Sir Winston Churchill once said, Weshape our buildings; thereafter they shapeus. Te new design philosophy reectsSCANs corporate culture expressing openness, collaboration and teamwork. Itincludes creative spaces (literally placesto create), transcending traditional offi ceswith an environment more like a home orhome offi ce. Like a neighborhood, staff

have the freedom to work anywhere withincollaboration parks, phone booths, postoffi ces, touchdown areas and townhouses.

Te workplace solutions group wantedcomplete exibility to move furniturecomponents quickly, with no attachments topanels and minimal need for outside vendorservices. Tey created the townhouse idea,which is a home for four-to-six employees;the sizes range from 16 feet by 16 feet to 16feet by 24 feet.

ownhouse residents can choose theirown furniture (from an approved list)and its placement within the townhouse.Tey typically design their workspace bydisplaying their ideas on a Smartboard.Using the Smartboard, department staff andworkplace solutions can quickly redesign atownhouse, print a picture of the layout andmake the desired changes immediately. Helloself-service space planning and goodbyetracking churn.

Designed by Urquiza, the townhouses usSteelcase Post and Beam, and angramInteriors hybrid products. Post and Beamproduces a space-delineating structuralframe with visual and acoustical privacyscreens, creating unique design elementswithout using conventional partitions. Teangram Interiors screens employ aircraftcables, steel gripper units and architectu

door hardware to energize the townhousTe panels include a translucent surfacewith glass-sliding barn doors, acousticalpanels and connectivity supporting anyreconguration of townhouse interiorsovernight.

Te special requirements of SCANscall center were met by Kimball Offi cesinnovative HUM product. A 120 hexaglayout optimized what customer servicedemanded: accessibility and collaboratioAesthetically, HUMs contemporary nis

palette paired with its lightness in scale high-tech look produced a beautiful andproductive work environment. MemberServices Supervisor Martha Covarubiasis a fan. I have seen an improvementin communications among Call Centerstaff and an increase in productivity andteamwork.

The power of choiceSCAN employees deeply appreciate theinew power of choice in self-designing th



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FacilityManagementJournal


offi ce space. Tis change alone has madethe once daunting task of space planning fun. Tere is no need for lengthy designmeetings, documentation and additionalvendor services (and expense).

Not only that, self-service space planning has additional benets including:

Giving staff choice in the design of

their space to improve productivity; Helping groups begin working asa team prior to moving into theirtownhouse; and

Introducing staff to new interactivewhiteboard technology.

ownhouse residents are asked to think about their productivity as they experimentwith the placement of their furniture. Someeven identify their performance metricsright on the Smartboard as they design

their townhouse. SCAN is beginning tomonitor these metrics to better understandthe impact of space design on employeeproductivity.

Te SCAN sales department creditsthe new space with playing a part in a57 percent increase in sales. According to Laura Hutchinson, telesales manager,Working in the townhouses has improvedcollaboration and customer processing intelesales. A video about the new offi ces with

comments from the sales team can be seenon You ube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1A9AdVd0Ks.

Selling the C-suite in a down economyWith the economic downturn occurring during the project, the team needed tosell the space concept to the C-suite andthen show savings on a continual basis.Management was persuaded to proceedregardless of the economy because thereturn on investment (ROI) was so high.

Some of SCANs executives and manyemployees questioned why the companywas making a large capital investment during economic uncertainty. ransparency forall costs was essential for the team, whichrecalculated and communicated projectROI on a regular basis to overcome thoseconcerns.

A cost/benet analysis of this space conceptprojects a savings of US$7 million oversix years. Tis conservative analysis showsthat the exibility of the offi ce design andprovisioning process produces a 38 percentsavings and a 25 percent increase in density.A historical nancial analysis identied sig-nicant increases in architectural, engineer-ing, construction, furniture, electrical andcabling costs from earlier periods. As SCANgrew, so did these costs.

With help from nance, the AWESOMEteam was able to project how the spaceconcept demonstrated a signicant costsavings over the former traditional offi cconguration approach.

It was clear to the team and executives the new offi ce design would enable SCAto convert facilities cost reductions intmuch-needed health care cost reductionsits customers, said Hiep Pham, SCANdirector, nancial planning and analysis.Tus, the new space concept has contribued directly to SCANs competitive positin the marketplace.

Managing the changeWith the executives onboard, the teamdeveloped a change management plan texplain the new space design benets. Othe staff understood the vision and the futresults, they began accepting the change.

Believing that a picture is worth a thouswords, the AWESOME team createdchange presentations and a workplacepolicy in pictures that was communicateseveral different ways including by the Cduring straight talk meetings with all sin company newsletters and at individuadepartment meetings. As Anna Richardsworkplace solutions manager, and her tefound, Graphic images provide quickeunderstanding during offi ce moves. Onc

SCAN Health Plan: A Flexible Office Story

Click here t o view


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FacilityManagementJournal


they see the pictures, employees immediatelyunderstand the concept and their choices.Tis new approach to policy denitionand enforcement also empowers I andworkplace solutions staff who have to dealevery day with issues and questions aboutworkplace and equipment standards.

Nomads in the workplaceTanks to these technology improvements,SCAN has a Nomads in the Workplaceprogram that allows employees the exibilityto work anywhere within a building ordesignated neighborhood. elecommutershave been practicing this nomadic wayof working for some time, but now evenemployees who must be in the office everyday because of the nature of their job canbenet from the exibility that mobiletechnologies enable.

Te Nomads program is geared towardemployees who are not able to telecommute.SCANs director of workplace solutionsbecame SCANs rst full-time Nomad in2008 and her former office now doubles asa touchdown and teaming space. Becoming more nomadic not only reduces real estatecosts, it also helps break down silos, allowsteams to become more creative and helps toresolve issues quickly by using collaborationareas more effectively.

I really enjoy the exibility of the nomadstatus, said Ed Dignan, project manager.With wireless, Im online anywhere in thebuilding. I dont need an office. We haveseveral well lit, comfortable open areas eitherto work solo or to assemble a small groupfor quick meetings. And, we have numerousphone booths if I need quiet time. Tefurniture is state-of-the-art, which adds tothe feeling that Im in a modern, professionalenvironment.

Improving corporate agility

Tis project shows that a facility teamcan have an impact on corporate strategy,corporate productivity and cost savings.AWESOME has laid the foundation forSCANs entry into new markets by putting in place a more efficient facility changeprocess and creating a workplace thatattracts and retains employees.

Perhaps the most important point is thatAWESOME has been a team effort. Rightfrom the beginning, representatives from

workplace solutions, human resources andinformation technology came togetherto produce a unied vision and actionplan. Working together gave us a betterunderstanding of how each of our strategicareas impacts corporate agility and theworkplace, said Dennis Duran, Director, Iinfrastructure.

Te AWESOME team pushed the furnitureindustry to think differently by abandoning the traditional cubicle mentality in favor of a more exible and sustainable approach.As Urquiza put it, Tis project is putting pressure on SCANs facility services andsupplier network specically officefurniture and commercial real estate serviceproviders. It is requiring them to changehow they do business with SCAN. As morecompanies adopt similar space concepts,more pressure will be placed on vendors whoserve the FM industry.

Tis example shows that facilitymanagement can, and should, lead thedevelopment of a strategically-focusedoperation that can be adapted to corporateneeds as companies contract their workforce,expand into new market areas and/orincrease their emphasis on attracting andretaining talent, rather than a more narrowcost-optimization approach, commented Janice Cimbalo, senior vice president, JonesLang LaSalle.

SCANs AWESOME project demonstratesthat prudent investment in new designand provisioning processes can contributedirectly and almost immediately to thecorporate triple bottom line, saving millionsof dollars that can be put to better use, inSCANs case, providing senior citizens withbetter health care.FMJ

Diane Coles is the director of workplace solutions at SCAN HealthPlan. She has more than 20 yearsof experience in corporate realestate, facility management andbusiness continuity planning. She

is the recipient of the 2009 IFMA George GravesFacility Management Achievement Award, the 2009Corenet Southern California Remmy for WorkplaceInnovation and was named a Southern CaliforniaReal Estate Journal Woman of Influence. Coles isthe co-author of Cut it Out: Save for Today, Buildfor Tomorrow, an IFMA Foundation trustee, IFMACREC secretary and past president of the IFMAOrange County chapter.

J im Ware is the founder andexecutive director of the Future of Work...unlimited research programand advisory services. He is also apartner in the FutureWork Forum,a London-based consortium of

futurists and workforce experts, and serves as theresearch director of Occupiers J ournal, Limited, a

global peer exchange and knowledge developmentnetwork for workplace services professionals. Hehas more than 30 years of experience in research,executive education, consulting and management,including five years on the faculty of the HarvardBusiness School. He is co-author and lead editorfor Cut It Out! Save for Today, Build for Tomorrowand co-author of Corporate Agility. Ware earnedhis doctorate, masters degree and bachelorsdegree from Cornell and an MBA from the HarvardBusiness School.

Confused b

the Cover?It is a working QR code that, whenscanned, will take you to a photogallery where you can uploadpictures of your modern workplaceand compare it to others! First,download a QR scanner app foryour mobile device all serviceplatforms have a least one freeapp. Next, scan the cover usingthe app. You will be directed to ablog where you will see picturesothers have submitted of theirmodern workplace. To submit yourown, click the submit link at thetop right and upload your photos.

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Creating an AWESOME Workplace FMJ