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JLL Office Renovation Increases Workforce Flexibility

CHICAGO—Company officials say their new space has the ability to undergo constant change as the needs of the workforce change.

By Brian J. Rogal | brianjrogal | | Updated on April 12, 2016

 

chi-jll-aon-center-studio-user (2) The new workstations include desks that can be automatically adjusted stand-ups.
CHICAGO—As reported last week in GlobeSt.com, JLL has just finished the first phase of the six-floor, 200,000 square foot renovation of its global headquarters in Chicago’s Aon Center . The company undertook a multiyear effort to solicit employees’ ideas on how to redesign their workplace, and in addition to having more opportunities to connect with their colleagues, one of the most-prized qualities was agility. As a result, all of the furnishings in the renovated areas are on casters, and each group of employees now has the ability to shape their own portion of the office space and make changes when needed. And as those needs change, every few years the offices will take on a different look and style. “We’re not stuck in this space for 15 years,” Chuck Kelly , senior director, office services, told GlobeSt.com as he conducted a tour of a finished floor last week. The finished spaces have color and lack the monotonous feel of many outdated open office plans. And even though the work areas for human resources and information technology both hummed with conversation, neither seemed noisy. Each group had a lot of input in the design of their space, and it shows. The HR people had arranged their work stations into blocks, but those in the IT section had decided on a benching style now common in the world of high-tech. But perhaps the most popular feature of the refurbished space is the new workstation. Each has a desk that that employees can automatically adjust to any height, even transforming it into a stand-up. And these desks are remarkably free from clutter. Part of the renovation has involved educating the workforce on reducing their reliance on paper records by increasing the use of computerized data storage.       “We went pretty deep on data storage,” said Ed Nolan , senior vice president for workplace strategy at JLL. “We have sensitized all of the groups about how information moves today.” Even groups that typically have a greater need to retain paper records, such as the legal department, have adapted to this new world. Nolan estimates that company lawyers have reduced their amount of stored paper by 40%. Personnel do have assigned desks, but the lack of personal clutter makes it possible to move around to different workstations if desired. For example, a group collaborating on a project can sit near each other for a day or a series of days. This flexibility that employees enjoy is noticeable while taking a walk through the space. One senior vice president in human resources left a message on her workstation’s whiteboard that she worked at home on Wednesdays and Fridays, so “feel free to use this space.”

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