New ways of working

We structured the plan in 3 phases: pre-move, move and post-move. For the pre-move phase the plan has developed: information tools, as a monthly e-magazine, e-cards and an internal communication campaign, aimed to transfer to the internal population the useful info to best get to know the concept behind the new office listening and engagement activities, as the activation of the Ambassadors team, a group of volunteer employees involved in the internal communication activities of the project. The moving phase was focused on supporting people in the physical moving process: during their first day in Nuvola all the employees were involved in an edutainment activity, a treasure hunt in the new building in order to discover all the new features and services offered in Nuvola. After the move, we created a dedicated task force group to design the flexibility work policy through a pilot project and we supported the launch of the new Intranet with communication activities.

To involve more than 1.500 employees in a big change toward new layout, new ways of working and new behaviours it was fundamental to apply Methodos’ Smart Working Model: Employee Journey Experience™. We started from an innovative choice and we created a smart space where 70 pioneers from different organizational functions could test the new furniture and the smart ways of working in advance. Afterwards, 80 ambassadors were involved to facilitate the most and to support the working group in the testing phase or to collect feedback from the population. The key element to guarantee the success of the project was to make people understand the Activity Based Working practice, that is, being free to choose the workplace according to the activity to do. In this way, the office turned into a choice to make to and not an obligation any more. There are many challenges to cope with in a journey like this one in Crédit Agricole, nevertheless the most important in order to succeed is the leaders’ change. They were called to go beyond the usual on control of the employees’ presence in the office, and to shift toward people management practices based on objectives definition, trust and empowerment.

We subdivided the project into three “waves”, each one corresponding to a specific phase of its implementation (pre-move; move; post-move) with dedicated communication tools. For example, we decided to realize video interviews to tell the story of the architectural project by those who saw it coming to life and growing, up to its completion. Thanks to the Virtual Tour we had introduced the new spaces giving travel tips and info on available services. Our goal was to create an open channel with the internal population to make them increasingly aware of the changing processes. We wanted to generate knowledge and participation thanks to the dedicated section of the Intranet Generali Portal ‘Come noi’ called “Generali Tower”.