‘‘Seeking highest performance in health and safety, ensuring the involvement of all staff’’ Interview with Isabelle Siac, Project Manager for the Alcan move

An international company of Canadian origin, Alcan is world leader in the production of aluminium, machined products and specialty packaging. The December 2005 issue of Mobilitis’s Newsletter carried an initial Testimonial from Patrice Ficarelli, Alcan Realty Coordinator Europe. Here he gave his vision of North American business organizations, in whose eyes a business location must be a properly designed and high-performance working tool, providing quality services at best cost. Early in 2006, Alcan entrusted Mobilitis with the mission of carrying out a real estate audit and opportunity study. The study’s conclusions prompted Alcan to relocate its offices. Alcan instructed Mobilitis to manage the move. Alcan moved into the CB16 tower in La Défense in July 2007.

How was the project managed?

IS: The project dates back to September 2006, the building having been chosen in July. The move organization was rapidly set up and a steering committee, including business group and senior corporate managers, handled strategic trade-offs. A project committee was set up, including the site directors, the real estate manager, the IT manager and myself as Project Manager with responsibility for the overall move process. A network of a dozen or so correspondents, each representing a business group or division, was also set up and ensured the upward and downward circulation of information about the major stages of the project.
A major drive to set up the appropriate organization was essential if everyone was to work together. All were required to follow common guidelines, while taking full responsibility for their own scope of action.

What did the staff expect or fear?

IS: The major concern expressed by people was fairness. People wanted to be sure that they would all be treated in the same way, according to the same rules. This was not always easy. In practice, management staff, working practices, and business specializations differed greatly, so there were many barriers to the adoption of a uniform approach, although a maximum was done to ensure that rules of fairness were respected.
As to the fears people felt, there was considerable concern expressed early on about open plan office layouts, although this gradually faded as people saw that there would be relatively few open plan areas, and much more importantly, that these were designed on a human scale. Our preference went to shared offices. We now see that people are working together happily.
One expectation not met was noise levels. The air conditioning system meant that the partitions did not deaden sound as much as we would have wished. On the other hand, most of the offices are much lighter than before, and this is really appreciated.
Finally, the CHSCT Health and Safety committee was particularly demanding about health and safety questions, including air and water quality, workstation lighting and choice of furniture. On this last point, there was a thorough and highly constructive exchange of points of view, with close involvement of the workplace medical services, on topics such as ergonomics and avoidance of risk of injury (repetitive strain syndrome). Safety features were relatively speaking easier to deal with, as the CB16 tower has to comply with standard regulations for High Rise Buildings.

How were staff members involved in the project?

IS: In a project like this, once the framework is set (number of square meters of floor space per person, for example), it's vital to bring in as many people as possible, so that they feel they own their future working environment.

When I was in charge of the Danone move, I set up cross-departmental groups, and that worked well. So I tried the same thing again. There was tremendous involvement, at all levels.

Each working group was made up of five or six people representing different business lines, entities or functions, including the staff elected representatives. Everyone we asked to take part in the working groups did so unreservedly, and they set about their work with real enthusiasm.
The four work groups set up at the outset of the move handled the following questions.

The design and features of the different types of workstation.
Shared spaces: cafeteria, meeting rooms, communication bubbles.
Information processing, from the point of view how much paper to use or avoid using. Here we called on an external consultant. Paper use was reduced by around 30% and the number of printers halved.
Building services. Here, the working group organized a survey of expectations. The response rate was more than 50%, which shows the interest attached by Alcan employees to their day-to-day working conditions.

The practical outcome of the survey was a decision to set up a sports facility and organize collective jogging sessions. We also revived things that already existed, but that few people knew about, such as help with looking after sick children. Now handling administrative procedures for travel purposes are also being looked at, such as making applications for passports or visas.
As the move project went forward, two other working groups were set up, which particularly interested people. The first dealt with furniture, and the second how to live in a shared space, as we were going from 90% of people in individual offices, to 40%.
Finally, we organized a competition for the names of the meeting rooms, which attracted around 50 contestants. The winners received prizes of furniture, such as settees or lamps, from the old headquarters.
All these bottom-up communication initiatives were of course supplemented by top-down communication, for example a newsletter on the move, circulated to all staff at intervals of around 6 weeks.
Last but not least, there were social events, such as a cocktail halfway through the process for all correspondents, or breakfast and coffee on the days set aside for packing or unpacking.

What difficulties were encountered?

IS: Difficulties were mainly due to the heterogeneity of the business groups and divisions, and the way in which people worked and communicated. Some correspondents carried out the desk layout with their teams; others preferred a more directive manner. The choice of methods had an influence on communication, and some staff only knew where their future office would be a few days before the move. As everywhere, we had to deal with a number of people who were far more difficult to satisfy. The fact that the people from Mobilitis and myself always spoke the same language was priceless. Our relationship with Mobilitis staff was excellent, and I much appreciated the availability, flexibility and patience of the Mobilitis consultants.
We also had some moments of tension within the organization when we realized that we didn’t have enough room at La Défense, and that one department would have to join the IT projects department at our Gennevilliers site.

How were members of staff greeted when they arrived at the premises?

IS: On the Monday of the move, every staff member was welcomed with Viennese pastries and a gift, presented by a hostess, of a small bamboo plant in a little jar. When people arrived in their offices they found a number of small welcome gifts, including a mouse pad with useful contact numbers, a photo stand with a greeting from the chairman of Alcan France, a welcome booklet with practical information, and a key fob. The presents were much appreciated. The same evening, drinks were organized for all the staff.

How was the new working environment perceived?

IS: There was no major difficulty in setting up the open spaces, particularly as we had planned “communication bubbles” for private conversations or small meetings. Everyone was prepared to work in the open space layout, and finally, only 20% of people work in them. Far more people share offices with two, three, or four people, and that works well. The working group on how to survive and prosper in shared workspace, which was very much a staff request, developed a number of simple rules. People gradually got into the habit of working in a slightly different way. They were very much aware of the quality of the furniture, which was something we chose to invest in. Overall, people are very satisfied with the new offices.