Consolidating Close Brothers’ offices from three buildings to two would be easy if we ignored the 1,500 or so people directly affected by the move. Thankfully, that’s not how Thirdway or Close Brothers operate.
Our objectives were to:
- Provide the best experience to employees, customers and clients
- Value and nurture diversity of thought
- Provide genuine wellbeing for all
Initial consultation
To enable us to achieve this, we needed to know the client better than they know themselves. A 13-week consultancy programme gave us quantitative and qualitative data to inform future-looking decisions.
- Leadership workshops
- Employee interviews
- On-site surveys
- Occupancy studies
- Maturity mapping
- Ideation sessions
Our engagements led to a full maturity map detailing the support each team will need throughout the change process. With the foundation and aspirations of the brand in mind, we worked up a comprehensive change strategy with confident recommendations for space, technology and culture solutions.
Space
Ideas thrive in agile working zones while on the same floor, someone is deep in focus in a small library room. People recharge around the tea point or take their beverage (or work) to a soft seating booth. However people feel comfortable working, there’s a space.
Technology
Technology can be the source of celebration or frustration, depending on how it fits with the way we work. We guided Close Brothers through a technology workshop to identify those frustrations and implement better solutions across the organisation. Solutions to celebrate because they enable a better way of working.
Culture
It’s hard to define and even harder to influence but supporting positive culture is a crucial factor in change management. Our early consultation work identified potential stumbling blocks to rolling out a redefined workplace, and their counterparts in cultural enablers. These insights allowed us to develop a 12-18-month roadmap to support cultural change including consolidating operations, restacking and refurbishing their space.
Sustainable well-being
Plenty of greenery, abundant natural light, access to the ground floor courtyard and space to switch off all support employee wellbeing. And they can rest easy knowing we sourced recycled materials, reconditioned furniture, and used only UK suppliers, to minimise the building’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, Close Brothers decided to partner with both our charity, Thirdway Trust, and Toilet Twinning, to “twin” all 53 of their toilets. In return, this funded the build of life-saving toilets in local communities within countries such as Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe to name a few.
