Global healthcare provider's new office boosts productivity

The organisation partnered with JLL to create an engaging and flexible workplace for its headquarters in Singapore.

As one of the world’s largest healthcare networks, the organisation focuses on making healthcare better for both patients and employees. However, their previous headquarters did not necessarily reflect this culture.

Physical barriers between departments, which were located across two floors, meant a lack of social and meeting spaces and few opportunities for employees to collaborate or socialise. The assigned desk arrangement also resulted in valuable space taken up by document storage.

The decision to relocate prompted the company to re-think how their new office could better meet evolving workplace needs accelerated during the pandemic, such as employee wellbeing, hybrid working and collaboration. The objective was to create a flexible activity-based workplace that would meet employees’ needs while achieving their wider organisational goals. Smart use of technology and the incorporation of sustainability elements were also key considerations in developing this employee-centric strategy.

The organisation’s Corporate Real Estate Services division partnered with JLL’s experts across office leasing advisory, workplace consulting, design and change management to achieve new global standards of productivity, experience and efficiency.

Office leasing advisory: We helped the organisation find an office space that offered a single open floor with the flexibility to expand to meet future business needs. This gave the organisation the room it needed for future expansion and to develop essential spaces that could encourage collaboration and employee wellbeing.

Workplace consulting: We conducted an in-depth workplace study to understand the needs and ambitions of both management and staff. Through leadership interviews, staff surveys and focus group workshops, we developed comprehensive, evidence-based recommendations focused on creating a new office centered on the employee experience.

Design: Our design team translated these workplace requirements and recommendations into a state-of-the-art office design that encouraged flexibility, wellness and productivity. The new office offers a variety of work settings for collaboration, including semi-open booths for informal discussions, meeting rooms for training and formal occasions and soundproofed phone booths for quick conversations.

Common wellness spaces include a reception area with community ambassadors to assist colleagues and visitors, a café served by a barista, a recharge lounge, a tech bar, a faith room, utility areas for printing and other tasks, and a mother’s room.

Technology: All workspaces can be quickly found and booked via mobile, the web or Microsoft Outlook. The system allows the organisation to track the use of space to continue to understand how employees are using the new office.

Change management: We developed a workplace etiquette guide that explains the new facilities and ways of working so that employees get the most out of the flexible, sustainable, technology-driven solutions in the office.

The hospital operator’s workplace transformation has won support from both management and staff. With all departmental siloes gone, teams can work together seamlessly on the same floor. With more efficient space usage, the new headquarters supports employees’ working needs, with plenty of capacity for future business growth. The organisation’s Singapore headquarters now sets the new workplace standard for future offices .

With a clear focus on wellness, collaboration and technology, we have transformed our HQ from a traditionally structured office into an engaging and flexible workplace. Our office adopts innovative work methods that are squarely aimed at disrupting the widely held notions of how and where people choose to work.

VP & Head, Corporate Real Estate Services (CRES)