Strategy Behind Transformative Work

To reflect a bold direction in ways of working after a successful pilot, this international bank committed to a transformation through a radical downsizing of its legacy headquarters space in Manhattan. As an embedded consulting strategist for the national corporate services team, I ensured strategic goals were captured in the space design, delivered C-suite project updates, created roles and tools to support a new employee experience, and led the site-wide change adoption program for over 3000 employees.

CLIENT

ROLE

Organizational Strategy & Change Management Consultant

SERVICES

Business Advisory Consulting, Experience Design, User Research, Change Management

How does an organization enable positive transformative change while improving ways of working?

Story + Challenges

The bank’s new Headquarters was not only to reflect a modern space design, but also be a platform for revamping how the bank gets work done across business lines. Topics that were explored to be addressed through engagement, training, and a change program included:

  • Lack of standardized presence policy

  • Siloed work experiences and interactions

  • Adequate meeting technology not distributed equally among departments

  • Lacked of shared services and experiences to drive cross-functional cultural experience

  • Unequal experiences with facilities services

Change Management

An important part of ensuring success in the new HQ was getting everyone familiar not only with the space, but also with new technology and behaviors the space was designed for. An eight-month change management program allowed our team to engage with representatives from different departments to share developing strategies, get real-time feedback, and make adjustments in design and planning. This living feedback loop was critical to the creation of new roles, tools, and systems.

Taking learnings from the pilot Test & Learn program, business leaders were engaged in an extended discovery and programming exercise to shape how the different ways of working could align to a global direction of increased flexibility.

23 Business Leader Workshops

3000+ Employees impacted

30 Change Champions

245,000 Square Feet informed

Transformation Initiatives

  • Cross-functional change champions committee

  • Monthly feedback loop meetings with champions

  • In-person journey mapping workshops

  • Project Tours with live feedback survey

  • Centralized and universal online transformation resources

Impact

The engagement of business leaders and alignment of the C-Suite led to the successful transition of 3000+ staff to a beautiful Headquarters that exemplified the potential of flexible work for a global financial institution.

  • Consolidation of multiple office sites to one Headquarters

  • Leadership from different departments committed to supporting hybrid work and cross-functional collaboration while maintaining regulated firewall separations

  • Onboarded managers across departments to new protocols for interacting with facilities services

  • Generated excitement around move and positive feedback from employees during and after transition

  • Public coverage of the transition to a new site and commitment to flexible work in the finance industry