A great believer in the benefits of innovative workplace strategy, GE China has an
audacious plan to enhance all aspects of working at its technology park in Shanghai.
As part of its goal to maximize efficiency, the global digital giant chose to invest in
30 ClickShare units to enable flexibility, saving time, space and effort and making
sure that its employees work in the best environment with the best solutions
available.
GE believes that a change in corporate culture can often be sparked by a
nonthreatening change in the physical surroundings. Workplace strategy – including
facility management – plays an important role in the overarching business strategy
of the entire company. When companies invest in strategies that enable resources,
services and space to be shared and used efficiently, the result is productive, loyal,
happy employees and more value for the company.
“Previously, office environments used to be relatively closed, with each person
occupying their own small space.’ Tunsong elaborates. “We’re going to make it
open to encourage more interaction and collaboration, and ClickShare contributes
directly to that goal.’
“We’ve studied many different cases and scenarios,’ continues Tunsong. “By
adopting flexible office applications like ClickShare, 30% of the working space can
be saved for enterprises like GE in steady states of development. ClickShare helps
us eliminate the need for further expansion, since the space available – as well as
our time and our equipment – is being used in an optimal way.’
Facility management is the wave of the future in companies of all sizes. In making
sure that the workspace is managed efficiently and effectively, GE’s approach is to
maximize its employees’ personal creativity and contribution – key differentiators in
a changing marketplace. “We realize that the investment in facility management –
and thus the introduction of new ideas and new technologies – is not a sunk cost
like previously believed. It actually facilitates significant cost reductions. Also, as a
company that drives cultural changes and focuses mostly on technology, we have to
give this strategic change the internal foundation it needs to really take off,’
enthuses Tunsong.
In the past, each division of GE China had its own network of supportive functions,
resulting in duplicated resources, less efficiency and lower quality. “In helping us
make better use of our equipment, time and space, ClickShare has contributed to
the integration of these support services, which has led to significant departmental
increases in efficiency and improved management. We can focus much more effort
on developing our core business, reducing management costs in the process.’
