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Using four successful companies as their examples, associates with BHDP Architecture demonstrated to members of the Central Ohio IFMA Chapter January 9 how their organizations might achieve a significant savings if and when cultural change is under consideration.
The program, Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POE) of Creative Companies, was presented at the Fawcett Center by Patrick Donnelly, principal in the firm’s Cincinnati office, and former IFMA chapter president Vicki Simons, associate principal and director of the Columbus office. Both made a similar presentation at World Workplace last October in New Orleans.
Simons said even though their presentation will deal with post-occupancy evaluations, “We want to try to answer the question of whether we can design a tool that correlates the design of space to business success…and what impact it can have on the bottom line if you use certain design strategies when you are putting together your projects.
“Leadership teams won’t listen unless you can impact the bottom line to show a return on investment,” she said.
Simons said that the Government Services Administration (GAS), which maintains the largest building portfolio in the U.S., if not the world, realized a savings of $793 million annually by incorporating seven hallmarks of a productive workplace— spatial equality, healthfulness, flexibility, comfort, connectivity, reliability, and sense of place—into its design of space.
With GAS responsible for some 334 million square feet of building space, this represents a savings of $2.37 a square foot, a figure that facility managers could utilize in helping to sell their projects.
Simons said change is important for companies that want and/or need to attract the so-called “creative class…the knowledge worker of the 21st century.” According to some intellectuals, these are the people companies must recruit if they are to thrive, she said.
Some cities, such as Austin, Boston, and Washington, D.C. have figured it out, she said. They understand what it takes to attract this creative class and they are among the rapidly growing cities today.
Originality and creativity are really necessary things for companies to be successful. This applies to any business, not just the traditional creative companies, she said.
The four companies involved in the “project” were dunnhumby USA, an information management company; Bridge Worldwide, marketing firm; Al Neyer, Inc., real estate developer and design-build firm; and BHDP Architecture. All are in the same building in downtown Cincinnati.
BHDP conducted pre-occupancy “visioning sessions” and interviews with the employees of the four organizations to obtain their opinions on vision, strategy, and culture. This was combined with the organization’s hard data—number of employees, growth projects, and support facilities needed—and used to develop a vision statement and design solutions for each organization.
BHDP waited about four years to do post-occupancy evaluations of the four companies, which, according to Simons, was probably longer than necessary. However, she recommended waiting at least six months to a year “for things to settle in and to work out the bugs” before doing a POE.
To do the POEs, 11 metrics or standards were established to help define business success. Questions were then developed around each of the metrics in an effort to show there is a correlation between design and business success.
Simons said the metrics were put together by a BHDP research team using the firm’s collective experience for ideas, information from other POEs, workplace strategy by other companies, and information obtained from the four companies in the discovery and design process.
Donnelly pointed out that corporations and organizations spend a lot more money on people than on facilities, and are realizing benefits from people being more effective through design changes in the workplace.
“So, our approach is to connect business success to the design of facilities and…its impact on people. How does what we do make people more effective?” Donnelly said.
In discussing the findings of the four companies Donnelly referred to the 11 metrics used during the evaluations of the four companies. The metrics were divided into two categories—measurable and perceived.
Measurable metrics were staff size, revenue, speed to market, employee retention, recruitment, and attracting clients. The perceived metrics were collaboration, marketability, flexibility, efficiency, and image
Common themes running through each included open workspace to encourage employee collaboration and innovation, less hierarchy, the role of technology, and space and attitude that help define the organizations, and cultural alignment.
Positive results—improvements—were recorded for dunnhumby USA in each of the 11 categories, in nine of the 11 for Bridge Worldwide, eight for Al Neyer, and nine for BHDP. Bridge Worldwide reported no change in employee retention and marketability; Al Neyer reported a mixed response for speed to market, job retention, and collaboration; and BHDP showed a mixed response to speed to market and efficiency.