As those who have read our previous columns may know, ITOKI has formed a business partnership with Veldhoen + Company, the originator of Activity Based Working (ABW). By sharing knowledge with the original ABW company and working as one team to support projects, we are putting our efforts into promoting ABW projects in Japan.
We heard that the head of Veldhoen + Company's Asia region and two consultants from the Japanese subsidiary took a tour of Grab Holdings Inc.'s offices, where they helped the company introduce ABW, and were very impressed, so we would like to introduce it to everyone in Japan in this column.
project overview
| Base | Singapore (2019) |
|---|---|
| Total area | Over 27,000㎡ |
| Number of employees | 3,500 people |
Office consolidation project with business growth forecast for the next five years
Grab Holdings Inc. is a Singapore-based company that operates a car-dispatch application. Due to the rapid growth of their business in Southeast Asia and future expansion, one of their goals was to consolidate three offices with a total of 3,500 employees into one location, which would also be able to accommodate additional employees within the next five years. We also wanted to use the relocation as an opportunity to create a new workplace that would allow workers to achieve higher performance, facilitate collaboration, and foster a culture within the organization that would foster deeper connections with others, and that would fulfill these goals.
There have been big changes not only in the office environment, but also in the way we work every day. The company decided to abandon the previous way of working, where they worked at the same desk at the same time every day in assigned seats, and adopt a new way of working. They changed the place of work while thinking about where they and their team can work productively. They chose a place that suited their activities, such as concentrating on work, collaborating, or taking intentional breaks to increase productivity. They decided to adopt such a way of working.
Creating an internal structure is the key to changing the office
In the case of a relocation that involves such a big change in the way workers think and behave, it is important to prepare in advance and create a system to instill new ways of working. Employee surveys were frequently conducted and feedback was collected mainly from over 45 change ambassadors. In addition, while in many cases when it comes to office relocations, general affairs and facility staff are the ones who lead the project, in the case of the company, HR, IT and facility staff worked together to ensure that the new ways of working were instilled on-site. Above all, it can be said that the success of the project was due to the efforts of the entire organization, including the active involvement of the co-founders and other leadership members.
The effects of introducing ABW are enormous, and although it may be hard to believe before trying it for yourself, once workers have transitioned to ABW they will not want to go back to their previous way of working. If you want to change as a company, have a reason for needing to change, or have a vision to aim for, introducing ABW may help. Please contact ITOKI.
