Jones Lang LaSalle reports big jump in productivity following move to activity-based working model

Global commercial real estate group Jones Lang LaSalle has reported a big increase in productivity one year after moving to an activity-based working (ABW) environment in its Sydney CBD office at 420 George Street.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of employees agreed that the new work model increased overall productivity, a Jones Lang LaSalle survey of employees found. By comparison, only 24% of surveyed employees found the previous work environment increased their productivity.

ABW does away with a personal workspace for each employee, while providing different spaces for various work functions, including collaboration, learning, focusing, and socialising.

It has become an increasingly popular option, with the GPT Group, CBRE and KPMG adopting the new model in their offices.

A Colliers International 2012 Office Tenant Survey also revealed that one in three organisations have implemented or are planning to implement ABW.

Jones Lang LaSalle uses an in-house designed ‘WorkSmart’ workplace model, which uses non-assigned desks to create multiple work settings. These include focus desks, ‘hush’ or quiet rooms, discussion pods and ‘touch and go’ areas for employees who go into the office for short periods.

Australian head of corporate consulting and tenant representation, Tony Wyllie said the low productivity scores before the move to ABW and the high scores following the move demonstrate the value of ABW environments to business operations. 

“We have seen a number of organisations go down the path of ABW. The organisational benefits of productivity improvements, talent attraction and retention and brand differentiation, as well as the real estate benefits of increased flexibility, improved utilisation and cost efficiency over the long-term are some of the main drivers of this trend,” Wyllie said. 

A 2011 Colliers International White Paper on Activity Based Workplaces found that the trend towards adopting ABWs comes at the same time as companies re-evaluate the utilisation of their real estate assets.

It also found that ABW may be able to reduce the total floor space occupied by an organisation. As a result, companies have found savings of up to 30% from rent and outgoing costs.

The white paper did raise some concerns with employees reporting the the ABW work model focused on the financials of the business, and may lead to a “perceived decrease of humanisation in the organisation.”

Rajiv Nagrath, director of corporate solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle, said its employee survey was a massive endorsement of its new range of workspace areas.

“One of the comments we received from the survey talked about the increased flexibility for the working week and how people are utilising different settings day-by-day depending on the work they need to complete,” he said.

Nagrath said the next evolution for Jones Lang LaSalle was to incorporate some of the feedback from the survey into new features for the WorkSmart concept.

These include the possibility of new technologies to complement their workspace, going beyond the current laptop and wireless environment.

“Facilities for Skype and virtual phones were seen as the next evolution,” Nagrath said.