The pandemic has transformed how we work around the world. Companies have quickly rethought traditional workflows to stay connected and focus on the employee experience. Reimagining their workplaces in a holistic way, designers at Louisville-based Humana are working on new workplace models that ensure employee safety and well-being while creating greater flexibility and diverse ways to collaborate.
The need for organizations to reimagine their work centers on the role of offices in creating safe, productive, and enjoyable experiences for employees. Many companies have redesigned spaces to ensure physical distancing, and restrict movement in congested areas. At the same time, offices are being reconsidered to complement the experience that employees have at home. The context of physical workplaces is also changing as attitudes towards offices and commutes continue to evolve.
The workspace of the future for Humana is being designed to best support a more hybrid workforce with increased attention towards collaboration, engagement, hospitality, culture, support and experience. The idea is that their workplace experience will gradually evolve as communities begin to normalize in a post-pandemic era. Understanding there is no one-size-fits-all solution, Humana has introduced a 4th style of working, that being hybrid home (office, hybrid office, hybrid home and home). Given choice of work location, the Humana workplace is being reimagined for people to gather, connect and experience the Humana culture together with ease and simplicity.
Employees at Humana want the future of work to include greater flexibility of when work gets done. So this hybrid home model also supports a broader range of flexibility for employees, understanding the impact of commutes and the desire for changes in when people come together. Now, they are solidifying new space designs and furniture standards that embrace new ways that employees use the office.
Rethinking the future workplace also means optimizing and repositioning Humana's enterprise real estate portfolio to align to the new ways of working and office culture. This is happening while implementing a fully-integrated workplace technology ecosystem that is mobile first with robust self-service capability into the future. With more than five million square feet of administrative space, Humana's ability to transform its workspaces and support new ways of working requires a multi-year strategy.
The post pandemic workplace for Humana also includes a greater flexibility of how work gets done. Through new program and furniture standards associates can embrace new ways to use the office. The programing of space shifts away from a cubical stacked floor to a more residential feel that supports team collaboration. Their recent renovation features a semi-public coffee shop, meal to-go market, conference center, and impromptu team collaboration space. Other new and engaging spaces have also emerged over the Louisville downtown campus, including the Refill coffee shop, a game lounge, and outdoor pop-ups.
A transformational approach to reinventing offices is definitely necessary. Instead of adjusting the existing footprint incrementally, companies like Humana are taking a fresh look at how much and where space is required and how it fosters desired outcomes for collaboration, productivity, culture, and the work experience. Efforts like these highlight how organizations can use a portfolio of space solutions: owned space, standard leases, flexible leases, flex space, co-working space, and remote work.
