Agile Working:

A Unilever Case Study

Presented by Michelle Pattison

Global Program Lead for Agile Working
Unilever
Today’s presentation

•Agile Working
> Business case
> Design principles
> Case Study: Unilever, UK & Ireland

•Lessons learned
•Q&A

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In the past…

•Organizations have
placed boundaries
around work
> When (9 to 5)
> Where (the office)

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Today…

•Technology makes
working boundaries
irrelevant
> Anytime
> Anywhere

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Key questions

•How do we increase productivity while

reducing costs?
•How do we gain competitive advantage?
•Which approach best aligns with our
strategy?

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Aligning approach & strategy

Strategic Focus Approach

Game changing Facilities where people
technology innovation love to be and work
together

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Aligning approach & strategy

Strategic Focus Approach

Delivery of effective Minimization of real
communication estate footprint;
systems leveraging technology

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Aligning approach & strategy

Strategic Focus Approach

Highly efficient Singular focus on
operations for a highly results
competitive environment

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Aligning approach & strategy

Strategic Focus Approach

Global innovation in Enabling truly global
partnership with anytime, anywhere
operational excellence working

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Agile Working

•An approach to working with

> Maximum flexibility
> Minimum constraints

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Enabler

Working
Working
Practices
Practices
Greater
GreaterFlexibility;
Flexibility;
Accountability
Accountabilityfor
for
Results
Results

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Enabler

Technology
Technology
Virtual
VirtualCollaboration;
Collaboration;
Advanced
AdvancedMobility
Mobility

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Enabler

Workplaces
Workplaces
Increased
IncreasedUtilisation;
Utilisation;
Collaborative
CollaborativeFocus
Focus

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Output

Savings
Savings
Less
LessTravel
Travel&&Real
RealEstate
Estate

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Output

Capability
Capability
Greater
Greatereffectiveness
effectivenessin
inBig
BigJobs
Jobs
and
andVirtual
VirtualTeams
Teams

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Output

Environment
Environment
Less
LessCO
CO22,,Energy
Energy&&Waste
Waste

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Output

Vitality
Vitality
Increased
IncreasedBalance
Balance&&Empowerment
Empowerment

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Output

Talent
Talent
Attract/Retain
Attract/Retainthe
theBest;
Best;
Stronger
Stronger EVP;
EVP;
Increased
IncreasedDiversity
Diversity

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Agile Working Model

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Working Practices

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Agile Working practices

•Employees may work anytime/anywhere as

long as business needs are being fully met
•Performance is determined by results, not
‘time and attendance’
•Managers assessed annually on how well
they support Agile Working

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Practice benefits

•Greater choice around

how, when & where work
is done
•Supports personal Vitality
and work/life balance
•Reinforces results-based
performance assessment
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Practice benefits

•Supports diversity by
making organizations
more accommodating
of different people
•Enhances the
employee value
proposition

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Workplaces

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Traditional environment

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Agile environment

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Office utilization

60% not fully utilizing Up to 40% less expensive to

their dedicated operate than traditional
workspaces offices
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Design principles

•Flexibility
> Mostly ‘free address’ space
•Zones
> Designed for activities, not individuals

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Focus zone

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Connect zone

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Vitality zone

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 Agile workplace floor plan

Small conference rooms

Large conference room Storage
Phone rooms

Café
Quiet work area

Huddle Lounge

Individual workstations

Quiet lounge FOCUS

CONNECT

VITALITY

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Cost comparison

Cost of Office Space for 100 Employees (€)

Traditional Agile % Savings

Required sq ft per Person 125 80 36%
Needs
Space

Total sq ft Required 12,500 8,000 36%

Cost per sq ft 110 125 (12)%

Buildout

Construction 1,375,000 1,000,000 27%

Costs

Furniture, IT, etc 667,500 562,000 16%

Total Cost 2,042,500 1,562,000 24%

Ongoing
Costs

Maintenance, Leases, Taxes, etc. 10,000 6,000 ~40%

Space reconfiguration/Moves 2,000 200 90%

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Technology

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Technology principles

•Technology will be implemented that

enables people to work anytime and
anywhere
•Users will have a choice of tools to best fit
their Agile Working style
•We will invest in training to ensure users
have the skills and confidence to use Agile
Technology effectively
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 Agile workstyles
Resident Mobile
Works at the same Works in a variety of
facility most of the time. locations – company
offices, customer locations,
at home, while travelling,
etc.
Offsite
Works at a fixed, non-
company (such as a
business partner facility
or home office).
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Technology types

Virtual Collaboration Advanced Mobility

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Telepresence

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Telepresence footprint

• 50 key locations connected via Telepresence

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Case study

• Unilever UK & Ireland

• - An Agile Workplace
Business change

• Unilever’s UK & Irish businesses

were officially integrated in
November 2007 as part of the
global ‘One Unilever’ programme

• Three UK head office sites

(Ice-cream, Home & Personal
Care & Foods businesses) co-
located to a newly built office in
Leatherhead from November
2008
Approach
• Set the principles
>Leadership set the objectives
>Understood the issues
>Clearly communicated the principles

• Consult and engage

>Major change – made sure employees had input
>Were clear about the non-negotiables
>Aligned with business plans and activities
>Developed clear and focused communications plan

• Establish new behaviours

>Leaders led from the front
>Honesty and fairness
>Applied workstyles to meet individual needs
>Clear about the compromises and benefits 42
Team deep dive feedback

•Team of 35, based across 2 locations

•Team took a structured approached to
agile working which has worked well for
them
•We spoke to the Team Leader
and team members to
understand their journey

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What worked well
Team Leader
- Equipping people to work
anywhere effectively has great
benefits and balance to working
longer hours
- Retained more people who
would have resigned due to
office relocation
- Softphones – one number
service works really well
- Team Assistant became the
knowledge lead on technology;
team became more effective
users
- People feel more in control of
their work pattern and hours
Team members
- Laptops allow freedom of
movement, much easier to work
with colleagues and saves on
printing
- People feel empowered
- Lots of time spent planning how
we would work as a team before
we moved, this was a worthwhile
investment
- I didn’t realise it would work as
well as it does today
- Value the communication in the
office. When in the office make an
effort to talk more to people
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Challenges and learnings

Team Leader Team members

Challenges
- Retaining a sense of team when
not in the office
- Agile working requires
investment in manager time
especially for the start-up phase
and sporadically thereafter
Learnings
- New starters for the first 3
months are full time in office to
train them; they need a cultural
and work related immersion first
- Watch out for those trying agile
work and childcare
simultaneously…A big no
Challenges
- Accept that IT is a challenge and
work with what you have
- Isolation – if I work two days out of
the office I feel out of touch
- I need to make sure I stay
connected
Learnings
- Ensure we make better use of
time in the office
- It’s a journey! Need to persevere
and have structure
- It’s not easy at first to get used to
working alone

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 Other comments

Investment in
the team is
really important It’s important
Need really Everyone to maintain to agree ways
clear aligned needs to team spirit of working up
visible buy-in for it front
leadership to be a
success

You need the

Continue to right
share best technology &
practice of agile good support
working with
new starters

Clarity on
It’s crucial to rules of
trust people! engagement
is key

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 The overall feedback

36% 55%

65% the 63% positive

44% workplace is a work-life
66% the high vitality balance scores
workplace environment
positively
impacts my
vitality
34%
62% the
81% workplace is
Leatherhead is energising and
a good place motivating
Pre-
to work
move
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score
Leadership view & learnings

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Lessons learned

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Are there trade-offs?

•Yes…
> Less “personal space” in the office
> Less “face to face” time with colleagues
> Potentially harder to manage
boundaries around personal time
•But…
> The trade-offs can be worth it

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3 Agile Working killers
•Improper balance—judgment is the key
> Always virtual/never available
> Always in office/never flexible
•Using space inappropriately
> Wrong activities in wrong zones
> Discourtesy to colleagues
> Camping in free address areas
•Unsupportive culture
> Inappropriate comments about how others work
> Pressure to violate Agile Working principles

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Three success drivers

•Willingness of senior leaders to personally

adopt
•Training on technologies, HR policies,
etiquette, and virtual working skills
•Willingness to continually assess and
adjust to ensure optimal performance

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Your questions

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