PULS is a medium-sized business that specializes in creating high quality DIN rail power supplies. The company has taken the opportunity to change their premises for a complete modernization and digitalization of their workspace.
PULS has a reputation for innovation and significant investment in R & D and considers its employees to be key to its on-going success. Therefore, the HR department introduced a new social collaboration platform – a tool for more agile and transparent knowledge sharing – and commissioned a new staff centered workplace design. Evolution design what tasked with creating an environment that moved the culture away from ‘islands of lonely workers’ towards a ‘networked community.’
The new work environment is being developed around the concept of a small village. Each team is located in a distinct neighborhood, with individual colors and a bold graphic concept defining and demarcating the space. The design focuses on bringing together different departments to foster teamwork – with engineering, manufacturing and IT specialists now closely connected to sales & marketing, HR, and senior management.
Engineering motifs are used to create bespoke illustrations, which give the space an individual feel and help create a sense of belonging and identity.
Based on staff feedback, PULS decided against adopting a hot desking model and instead assigned individual desks to each staff member. But the overall area devoted to individual workplaces what reduces, delivers more floor space for communal areas for collaborative working. Now these include a large central amphitheater, a café and both formal and informal meeting spaces: lounges, coffee points, meeting pods and creative rooms in which to connect and exchange ideas.
The new approach is driving cultural change, with teams reporting a significant increase in internal communication, in particular between R & D and other departments. Thus, the company has seen a rise in spontaneous informal meetings, known to be one of the key indicators of success in R & D innovation.
Along with helping foster innovation and boost team spirit, the new spaces are so enhancing PULS ‘values and culture. And by differentiating it from other engineering companies, the design is playing a part in helping to attract new talent.