Success Stories

THE GOAL

A leading strategy and technology consulting firm headquartered in McLean, VA found that much of the work of their employees took place at a client site or in the field rather than a fixed workplace. Many of the buildings in their footprint were being underutilized. They decided to introduce a flexible telework program with a goal of lowering the square footage per person in their space, and through hoteling and telework programs, encourage innovation and productivity through better work-life balance.

THE EXECUTION

AgilQuest provided the client the resources to integrate their people, space, and technology in an environment that supports innovation. AgilQuest’s wide range of interfaces, including a mobile app and on-site kiosks allowed employees to easily reserve and check-in to workspaces, locate individuals on their team, and connect more easily with others in the organization. The resulting usage data supplied the client with information about how the space was being used, allowing them to base future decisions about the space on hard data.

THE RESULTS

The client used AgilQuest to improve work-life balance and increase “personal ROI” for their employees. By giving their people greater flexibility to be better engaged and productive, the client saw they could get the best people to work better together. Part of that success is attracting and retaining talent based on the desirability of their flexible work program.

With the cost savings from creating a smaller, more efficient real estate footprint, the client reinvested those savings into creating new, cutting edge workspace that embodies the mission of their program and their organization. By creating an environment that supports innovation and workplace engagement, the client was able to increase productivity with better choices in how, when, and where to work.

Following the US Government’s 2013 “Freeze the Footprint” mandate requiring federal agencies to maintain or reduce leased square footage, the Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched an extensive hoteling program that saved millions of dollars in rent and other costs, while boosting productivity among employees.

THE GOAL

Of the nearly 14,000 square feet and 83 individual workstations on two floors, the Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had limited collaborative space, assigned seating and over 200 feet of “usable space” per person. Successfully meeting the guidelines of the “Freeze the Footprint” mandate to eliminate wasted desks, cubicles and offices would require a radical change.

THE EXECUTION

CBP launched an ambitious project that consolidated two floors into one, smaller, 8,700 square-foot floor with just 27 desks. The space contains a mix of offices and collaborative workspaces that support a mix of work styles by employees who are encouraged to work at home two days a week. CBP utilized AgilQuest’s OnBoard Workplace Reservation software to study the needs of the staff by collecting usage data as employees reserved spaces.

THE RESULTS

After a first-phase space reduction of 5,300 square feet, CBP generated an annual rent savings of $287,000, 98% of employees reported that communication and collaboration improved, and the department reported a 102% increase in worker productivity. The success of phase one funded an even more ambitious second phase in which seven floors in three buildings containing 550 employees coalesced into three floors in one building. Phase two resulted in a 46% reduction in square footage and a savings of $3.3 million per year in rent and operational costs.

THE GOAL

A global audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services firm was facing shrinking margins in their audit business and intense competition from low-cost alternatives. To support a firm-wide initiative to reduce operating costs, the firm needed expertise and technology support to implement a new workplace strategy that could leverage mobility and cut real estate costs.

THE EXECUTION

AgilQuest’s technology and workplace solutions expertise helped the firm develop a company-wide occupancy plan to support workforce mobility. Using the OnBoard Workplace Management System to manage hoteling and conference rooms, the firm was able to measure the actual use of their entire real estate portfolio and use the findings to justify a workplace change. The firm implemented this program over 8 million square feet of office space.

THE RESULTS

With a flexible workplace program in place, the firm positioned themselves to drive profitability and ongoing sustainability. By eliminating wasteful real estate vacancy generated by introducing mobility, the firm produced an annual real estate savings of $200MM, and a carbon footprint reduction of 70,000 Metric Tons of CO2.

A large-scale publisher of several magazines needed to reduce space while accommodating employees who needed temporary workspaces that fit the flexible and collaborative work environment of the company. With the help of AgilQuest technologies, the company generated a 50% reduction in real estate square footage and a savings of $10 million per year without losing a single employee.

THE GOAL

As the publisher of several large magazines, this organization’s success depends on the innovation, speed and collaboration of thousands of staff including full time, part-time, contracted and temporary (i.e. interns, short-term writers, etc). With such a range of employees, however, it became difficult to accurately understand the amount of space needed as well as the kinds of workspace needed to encourage productivity without breaking the budget with wasted space.

THE EXECUTION

The publisher installed the OnBoard workplace management system to offer an easy way for employees and contractors to find and reserve space for when they would be in the office. AgilQuest’s implementation and training team helped make the transition smooth for employees by providing them with two weeks of full end-user support. AgilQuest understood the need for these employees to quickly acclimate to the new workplace while keeping on task and not losing productivity while learning to use the new system.

THE RESULTS

The publisher succeeded in reaching their goals to not only reduce real estate and save money, but to make the shift from a more traditional work environment to one that meets the needs for a more flexible workforce. The company implemented this program in its new headquarters to support the same number of people in HALF the real estate, resulting in $10MM a year savings, all while improving the management of collaboration space.

THE GOAL

Following the presidential mandate to shed unused space and the Telework Enhancement Act that encouraged a more distributed workforce, The General Services Administration, the government’s leader in real estate management, committed to establishing a new workplace standard for all federal agencies. They would do so with the ambitious goal of consolidating all of GSA’s D.C.-area employees, spread across six DC-area leases into one 800,000 square foot building.

THE EXECUTION

GSA began with an extensive series of studies to determine how much (and what kind of) space they really needed. Once they implemented AgilQuest’s OnBoard Workplace Management System, GSA could put technology in place to gather and evaluate information to make it easy for them to share space and facilitate a Smart Building and Smart Occupancy technology strategy. The marriage of GSA’s Smart Building (which encompasses data points like HVAC, electricity, and lights) and Smart Occupancy (which concerns who is where, when) initiatives has yielded both a powerful solution for the workforce that could be mirrored across other federal agencies.

THE RESULTS

GSA, to create a more mobile work environment, achieved a 2:1 worker-to-workspace ratio, supporting 4,400 employees with only 2,200 desks. By consolidating those six leases into one, the organization saved nearly 50 percent in annual lease costs, a total a $24 million. On top of that, they’ve saved another $7–8 million by sharing all service costs, like security and supplies. Additionally, they reduced carbon and energy consumption by 50 percent, saved 16 million kilowatts of energy annually, and avoided 16 metric tons of CO2

THE GOAL

A large, national insurance company with more than 80,000 employees prepared to open a new headquarters building in New York City and saw an opportunity to save a lot of money in real estate costs by taking advantage of a flexible workplace program with employee mobility. Instead of simply assigning desks that would be underutilized they introduced a program called Work Smart in which employees share desks on a scheduled basis.

THE EXECUTION

The company brought AgilQuest in nearly a year before the roll out of their program to configure OnBoard to precisely match their specifications. They implemented the OnBoard Workplace Management system to measure the actual use of every workspace and produce the business intelligence necessary to support space planning, building consolidation and lease analysis. Following a workplace utilization study, the company found that the average workspace was in use less than 50 percent of the time while costing nearly $20,000 per workspace per year.

THE RESULTS

The roll out of their flexible workplace program began with their headquarters and established $10MM a year in reduced real estate costs. Additionally, the company rolled out this program across several other buildings, generating an additional $25MM more in annual savings, for a total to date of $35MM annually.