From Leilani C. Latimer, Sabre Holdings:
The concept of a flexible workspace or “hoteling” has been around for some time, but since companies have placed a heightened focus on the environmental impact of their internal operations, and in particular their real-estate footprint, they have been grappling with implementing this kind of workspace strategy.
At Sabre we began to look at “hoteling,” or Flexspace, as we call it, to save costs and reduce our environmental footprint. We wondered whether these principles could be applied to a business like ours where only some employees travel, and not all of the time. Our goal was to create a system that would reduce real estate costs, reduce our environmental footprint, and create greater flexibility and agility for our workforce, and hoteling seemed like it was worth a shot.This strategy of “work is what you do, not where you go” accelerated a transformation in our employees and our work culture because not only did our employees adapt to the new “Flexspace” environment, they began working more closely with each other, breaking down many of the silos between projects and departments, created a more collaborative environment and ultimately strengthened our competitive position in the fast-evolving travel technology industry.
It wasn’t easy – change never is – but here are some success factors:
