Using Design to Boost Productivity

8.28.09

by Jan Buchholz
The Phoenix Business Journal

Three diverse local companies aiming to create productive and pleasant environments for employees and customers turned to global architecture firm Gensler to get the job done.

Each of the firms - utility provider Salt River Project, hospital system Banner Health and law firm Jennings Strouss & Salmon PLC - had different circumstances and objectives, but all desired to enhance their work environments.

SRP needed to build a call center and customer service office from the ground up in Pinal County. Banner Health wanted to convert an aging hospital into a high-tech regional facility and simulation lab. Jennings Strouss is preparing to move its offices from the Collier Center to the new CityScape project in downtown Phoenix by next summer. All wanted expertise that was a little out of the ordinary.

By leveraging an emphasis on what it calls the "new science of work," Gensler has attracted clients from around the world, including Comcast, the Associated Press, Bank of America, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier this year, Gensler published the findings of its 2008 Workplace Survey. After sampling 900 workers, it concluded that four working modes drive employee productivity and company success - focus, collaborate, learn and socialize - and each mode must be organically facilitated through design to create a successful workplace and maximize company financial performance.

The up-front costs of architectural and space planning isn't cheap, said Beth Harmon-Vaughan, principal of Gensler's Phoenix office. She said productivity outcomes can be tracked for specific spaces and people, but it's not an exact science.

Harmon-Vaughn acknowledged that her company's services are more expensive than those of a typical office furniture company, but she said clients receive a greater return on investment.

"The ROI is achieved through our thorough experience and tools," she said. "We are able to diagnose areas of bona fide improvement in a space that results in higher productivity of employees, which allows them to work more efficiently and effectively."

Gensler is based in San Francisco and has 32 offices around the world. Its Phoenix operation has 27 staffers who practice in 17 disciplines, ranging from mission-critical design to education facility design.

Marlene Imirzian, president of Imirzian & Associates Architects, said design goes hand in hand with productivity.

"Productivity has been studied extensively in recent years through an effort by the (American Institute of Architects) Academy for Neuro­science and the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education. It's documented studies that show the significant effects of building design on learning and productivity in the classroom and workplace," she said.

Imirzian continues to inform her clients, many in the field of higher education, that an emphasis on enhanced design will improve outcomes for students, teachers and, ultimately, the environment through energy efficiencies.

Branding the environment
The issue of design was particularly important to Banner Health when it decided convert the Banner Mesa Medical Center - a 355,000-square-foot hospital that was built in 1961 near downtown Mesa - into a regional office complex called Banner Corporate Center-Mesa.

"We picked Gensler because of their background in workplace design and because they fit the bill in knowing technology," said Steve Eiss, senior project manager of design and construction for Banner Health.

More than 1,000 employees from across the Valley now work at the contemporary workplace, which was created from what was left of the original building: elevator shafts and steel framework. What were hospital rooms now are streamlined work areas with rays of natural light.

"We gave a lot of thought about whether to demolish or sell the building, but saving and reusing it is the best thing for the company and the community," Eiss said.

Creating an inspiring workplace also involved branding.

"A branded environment helps with recruiting. It helps with retaining people. It helps give employees a stronger sense of belonging," Harmon-Vaughan said.

Thus, the Banner brand name is displayed prominently on every floor through various graphic elements, including large glass dividers that greet employees upon exiting the elevator.

Doing More with less
Evoking a sense of belonging is a vital force in planning the new Jennings Strouss workplace, said Howard Mudrick, the firm's chief operating officer, who is leading the effort.

"I don't want this to be your parents' law firm. That thinking needs to go by the wayside," Mudrick said. "We're not going to design this based on how we've worked in the past or the work habits we used to have, but how we anticipate we'll be working in the future."

Barriers that have created de facto caste systems will be brought down in favor of collaborative work spaces, he said. The pool of administrative assistants will work together in a prime corner location with views of the Phoenix landscape.

"This is going to be a very comfortable environment that will attract others who want to work for us, and it will enhance the experience of serving our clients," he said.

But it will be smaller. The 54,000-square-foot space at CityScape is about 20,000 square feet smaller than the firm's offices at the Collier Center. When its 94 employees move in June 2010, the firm hopes to become more productive with less space.

Space planning expert Niki Possas, director of DFD Interior Architecture, said the key to lowering long-term lease costs is planning. She said companies that spend money up front on design usually end up better off in the long run.

"It generally results in leasing less space that is better organized, supports their business practices both now and in the future, and results in happier, more productive employees," Possas said.

Beyond a box
Customer service and employee satisfaction were factors in the design of SRP's Pinal County call center, near Schnepf and Combs roads in Queen Creek.

"They wanted the best-of-class kind of place," Harmon-Vaughan said.

Gensler and SRP personnel flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to learn how office supply giant Staples built what many consider one of North America's best call centers.

"That facility has very high employee satisfaction. So we benchmarked that and several other places, like the USAA call center we did in the north Valley," she said.

The 62,000-square-foot SRP building opened in March.

About 110 people work there, but the building could accommodate 400.

"Phone reps have very difficult jobs. We wanted to create a comfortable environment that allowed people to look out the window and take in the view. That was critical," said Mike Lowe, SRP manager of customer service.