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“We know that change is hard. Change is really hard. Transformation is harder, because with transformation, you’re actually asking people to change their behaviour and we know that this is not easy.”
Back in 2020, Schneider Electric was looking to completely transform the way they worked, and that included transforming their workspace and adopt Agile working. This meant a completely redesigned space that encouraged open collaboration. On top of that, they were moving to a new location in Macquarie Park.
They knew the whole effort was a huge undertaking, but they were ready. They worked with expert workspace designers, and brought their employees along the journey at the very beginning.
“We know that change is hard. Change is really hard. Transformation is harder, because with transformation, you’re actually asking people to change their behaviour and we know that this is not easy,” said Elyse Glenn, then Corporate Communications Manager for Schneider Electric’s Pacific arm.
“We knew where we were heading, and we had a strong conviction that it was the right way for us to move forward. We knew the really specific change in behaviours that we really wanted to drive, and we actually designed the space with that in mind. We were actually setting ourselves up for success.”
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic blew off those plans completely. Lockdowns were put in place, which put Schneider Electric’s plans on shaky ground.
“We were really faced with uncertainty, to be completely honest. We didn’t really know how the world was going to change. We didn’t know what the world would look like in September when we were due to move. We didn’t know how we were going to be able to use our space exactly,” Glenn said.
“We had these bold ideas that were absolutely in line with where we wanted to head in the business, about people moving freely around a space and choosing to where to work according to their activity, collaborating with colleagues. We really were faced with needing to communicate something when we didn’t really have the full picture.”
Find out how Glenn and her team at Schneider Electric managed the crisis here.
