Home office has been part of everyday life since Corona – and more and more companies are saving office space. Take TUI, for example: the travel group only has permanent jobs for part of the workforce.
What happens to the goldfish from the old office? How long is the canteen open? Will there be good coffee too? When project manager Inga Meyer is asked such questions, she is reassured: “Once we have arrived at such details, the fundamentals are no longer questioned,” says the 42-year-old.
“The basics”: This is the big relocation and relocation of TUI employees to the partially renovated office building in Hanover, which they now call “Campus”. Two old buildings are being given up, and all employees are to come together on the “campus” in the future.
“Virtual Towel” secures the desk
At the same time, however, this will not work. Because for the 2,800 employees there are only 1,500 permanent jobs. You have to book them digitally in advance: on a map you can see where something is still free, how the space is technically equipped and which colleagues have already reserved. Employees throw their towel digitally over an office chair.
For months, project manager Meyer has been explaining the new concept in video conferences, talking about “co-working areas” and retreats, about the number of tea kitchens and dishwashers. Especially at the beginning, the employees wanted to know: Will I always find a place in the office? Even if I forgot to book?
“I’d like to know that too,” says Meyer, laughing. “If I ask my crystal ball, I would say: Yes, there are enough places. And for those who come in spontaneously, there are another 200 additional places that cannot be booked.”
Praise from the works council
Frank Jakobi, Chairman of the Group Works Council, is also confident. “No one will be at the door,” he is certain. Surveys of the workforce have shown that more than 80 percent want to come to the office two days a week and work from home three days. Business trips, holidays and cases of illness also led to vacancies. Jakobi praises the fact that the company took the employees on board right from the start and that the concept was always communicated transparently.
Transparency is also a word that comes up frequently when talking to Sybille Reiß. The head of human resources invites you to an interview in one of the “co-spaces”: large room, lots of blue, a long conference table, sofa and groups of chairs. And on the edge some smaller work areas separated by glass doors. The idea: if you are looking for peace, you should find it, but the focus is on exchange. “It’s clear to us that transparent communication and a lot of leadership are needed to make the concept successful,” says the 47-year-old. “But we can.”
“Co-Spaces” are intended to offer TUI employees places of retreat in modern day-to-day work.
Everything has to be off the desk in the evening
The head of Human Resources is also aware of employees’ concerns: “For example: where do I keep my personal belongings from my desk?” On “Campus” the desk must be cleared in the evening – according to the so-called “Clean Desk Policy”. Photos, tea bags, water bottles: Everything has to be taken home in the evening or in the locker overnight.
Project manager Meyer also knows that some colleagues fear that everything will just come and go – without real cohesion. “People ask: Where can I decorate my colleague’s birthday table now?” Meyer’s answer: Book a room like “Team Island” and celebrate there. 75 common rooms, 16 tea kitchens, a large canteen: Meyer believes that there will be enough places for encounters.
The group saves a lot of money
Research has also been dealing with flexible forms of work for years. Psychologist Jonas Brüggemann from the University of Osnabrück names key success factors. “Task design, management style, the inner attitude of the employees and the corporate culture: all of this must be in harmony for flexible working to work.” If many of these variables ran in different directions or even conflicted with one another, corresponding concepts could fail.
It is important for employees to be seen by their superiors with their work. In comparison, the specific place of work is of secondary importance. HR Director Reiß puts it similarly: “Work is what we do. Not where we go.”
One thing is clear: a company like TUI also saves a lot of money if only one office building is needed instead of three. However, the group does not name a sum. However, Reiß assures that it was equally about saving and a modern way of working. And they have now found a solution for the goldfish: the next tenant will take care of it.