The client.
This client case study has been written about one of the world’s largest and most successful risk and insurance brokerage companies, with over 30,000 staff located in 85 offices across the UK, EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas.
Freespace has been working with their global Corporate Real Estate (CRE) team since 2017, following a successful pilot where our sensors technology and digital signage was rolled out across their global real estate. Our workplace sensors now monitor over 27,500 different spaces. We have deployed 250 digital screens to support wayfinding and make meeting spaces easier and more effective to use.
The combination of sensor devices and insights, with analytics provided by our space dashboards and reports, enabled the risk and insurance brokerage company to evidence the need for a global reconfiguration of their workplaces. Adopting a data-driven approach enabled them to supply distinct types of workspaces, better aligned with the demand of their workforce.
There were added benefits for building users also. Now, they can access the right number of meeting rooms, with the right capacities, when they need them. Rather than when they may become available.
Industry: Risk management, insurance brokerage and advisory.
Location: Global.
Deployment Size: 173 sites on the App and counting.
Product: App & Sensors.
Solution: Return to office.
The challenge.
Since 2017, Freespace workplace data has provided the company’s Corporate Real Estate teams with the intelligence and insights to achieve real estate savings that exceed millions of dollars. Based on a business case of increasing workspace use and utilization (more than 20%) at logical lease breaks and divestment points. In addition to real estate savings, Freespace technology has improved the workplace experience for users. The installation of under-desk sensors makes it easy to locate an available space, and digital signage provides easy and convenient wayfinding and navigation of office space.
Building on the success of the partnership, the leading risk and insurance brokerage company reached out to Freespace for support during the Covid-pandemic. They needed to transition a safe and effective return to office for their global workforce. Helping to establish employer and employee confidence and demonstrate that the necessary measures had been taken to minimize the risk of infection and transmission.
Return to office.
Solution to transition to a safe and effective return to office for global workforce.
Targeted cleaning.
Demonstrate necessary measures had been taken to minimize the risk of infection and transmission.
Employee confidence.
Provide total certainty to the end-user that the space they’re using has been 100% sanitized.
Socially distanced spaces.
Ability to color-code and individually number every workspace to ensure social distancing compliance.
The solution.
The plan included a working pilot, with the intention to develop and roll out a robust return to office solution to all 30,000 staff across 85 locations globally. The return to office solution required:
- Planning of socially distanced spaces in the firms offices. Provisioned by color-coded and individually numbered workspaces, the SPOT Platform and the Freespace Employee App was used as a space reservation system.
- The Freespace Employee App was also designed to be used in conjunction with the existing room booking system.
Commencing in October 2020, we began rolling out the Freespace Employee App to 200 users in Lime Street, London – the first pilot site.
- This was used as a test instance to gather user feedback and build attendance policies to ensure a safe and compliant return to office.
- The Freespace platform generates data in relation to bookings and check-ins, providing cleaning teams with desk use insights to support effective and targeted cleaning. In addition to wider utilization data by zones, floors, and days of the week.
Following a successful pilot, we have now rolled the Freespace Employee App to an additional 173 sites including Milan, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Amstelveen, Singapore, Zurich and Istanbul. These additional sites have benefitted from a standardized set-up and configuration of the Freespace Employee App, and cloud-based portal, in accordance with the clients’ operational requirements both globally and locally.
- Complete 1-to-1 training has been provided to site workplace leads on the Freespace Employee App administrator module, with pre-configuration of the back-office settings now a key feature for each additional site deployed.
- We have moved on to the second stage of the global deployment with a further 25 sites installed within less than 3 months, representing more than 60% of the organizations 30,000 users.
Our impact.
Positive user feedback ratings.
User feedback in relation to the Freespace Employee App has been very positive, with high approval ratings relating to the ease and simplicity of use. Positive feedback ratings included the convenience of being able to use corporate credentials to access the app and authenticate credentials – made possible through client SSO (Single Sign-On) integration.
Easy allocation with automation.
Workplace leads who oversee the back-office rules and space utilization reporting also gave very positive feedback. They appreciated that the admin portal set-up is easy to configure, with minimal oversight due to all desk allocations taking place automatically at pre-set intervals. In accordance with the rule set and user preferences, without the need for manual intervention.