Suez: A cultural transformation to break down silos

The Challenge: consistency with our company vision

Agbar, (later Suez and currently Veolia), in its more than 150 years of history, has always been linked to the major transformations of the city and its surroundings, and has accompanied Barcelona on its path to becoming one of the largest business areas in Europe.

Pax: 700

M2: 14.000

Sector: Infraestructure

Year: 2016

As an example, in 2014 they decided to abandon the emblematic Agbar Tower to move to more horizontal offices in an area that was, at that time, less developed, the Zona Franca, and to serve as a driving force for its growth, as they had done previously with 22@.

D38 (the building into which the Ciutat de l’Aigua is incorporated) was originally conceived as an urban business park. It is based on a modular project consisting of two buildings of avant-garde architecture, integrated into the public area, and which are specially designed to offer quality of life at work and guarantee their integration into the urban environment. The Ciutat de l’Aigua, specifically, occupies Building L, designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, and Building T, designed by the Spanish architect Alejandro Zaera-Polo. Both buildings were conceived as modern, intelligent, sustainable and eco-efficient spaces.

This real estate decision is seen as an opportunity to open up a deeper reflection on how they wanted to work and relate to the environment.

The Solution: the evolution of change

Through a participatory process, a clear strategy of cultural transformation based on agility and digitalisation was set, a culture that puts people and their needs at the centre, with the aim of improving collaborative work, knowledge management, innovation and sustainability in the workplace.

This strategy had a clear impact on the spatial concept, technology, work dynamics and organisation, as well as cultural aspects.

All this transformation has been carried out by acting and becoming aware of four key axes, which we call the axes of change. They are as follows:

Cultural transformation

For the development of the project, the figures of the ‘change ambassadors’ were defined, people of reference for the transformation project. The ambassadors were responsible for disseminating the project and involving their colleagues, gathering the concerns of their teams, as well as participating in the co-creation of the initiatives and channeling the needs of all so that they could be taken into account.

Technology

All this evolution of change would not have been possible without technology. The investment to modernise the digital tools of the professionals, as well as to equip the spaces with the appropriate technology, was key to favour collaboration and autonomy of professionals.

Architecture

The Ciutat de l’Aigua was designed based on the concept of Activity Based Office and a real analysis of the use of spaces, which made it possible to reduce standard workstations and increase alternative workspaces (meeting rooms, open collaborative spaces, terrace areas equipped for work…).

Processes

The strategy of new ways of working based on efficiency, innovation and agility also includes an analysis of work processes to identify those tasks where there is room for improvement. In this way, room booking processes have been transformed into a much more efficient and agile process; and printing and document management processes have been focused on the new philosophy of the paperless office.

Keys to Success:

It was very critical to listen to and understand the opinions of the entire group in order to adjust the project as it progressed. Therefore, in addition to the ambassadors, working sessions and information sessions were held with other key stakeholders such as trade unions and managers. Initiatives and surveys open to all employees were also launched to ask them about their interests or the services they would value, among other examples.

In terms of participation, the community designed for dialogue between ambassadors registered more than 500 comments throughout the project.

Having its own image and entity in the project was also key to generating the enthusiasm and the engine of change necessary for the adoption of new dynamics in the new workspace.

Another highlight was the creation of a one-stop shop where professionals could find out any relevant detail for their experience in the new headquarters, from the distribution of departments in the space, to the opening hours or the seating capacity of the canteen, among many other things.

Finally, the integration of disciplines under the umbrella of a New Ways of Working strategy made the model coherent and robust, but also ensured that the project team carried out a coordinated implementation and relocation and with which the population was highly satisfied.

The Results:

This project was the starting point of a much more extensive collaboration with Suez. The Ciutat de l’Aigua was the pillar of a cultural evolution that later led to other projects such as hybrid work, the evaluation of the portfolio in the commercial network, or the innovation hubs.

Some outstanding results of the project were:

  • 97% of the population was satisfied with the entire change process (with ratings ranging from above expectations to satisfactory).
  • Only 13% of the original documentation was moved, with almost 1 million pages being digitised. A document management unit was created as a result of this project.
  • A structure of 56 ambassadors was put in place, which was later reduced to 33 after the move to the new space, but was maintained in order to continue the evolution of the project.
  • After the move, a 20% teleworking pilot was carried out, which served as a lever for further progress in the flexibility of the working model.