Knight in shining armor, indoor track, inspirational messages, lighting that mimics your daily rhythms, on-site health screenings? Are you thinking office space yet? We bet not.
However, these are just some of the changes defining our new workspaces at Symantec. We believe that the workplace can be an important agent for change. Space can help define a culture, impact productivity and well-being, support innovation, socialization and inspiration.
Over the past year our Workplace team has implemented our new Global Workplace Guidelines making the following updates to various sites around the world:
- Cafeterias focused on healthy food choices
- Open, agile workspaces
- Shuttle services
- On-site health talks and health screening
- Continued expansion of PIT stops with IT
- On-site managed fitness centers
- Increased adoption of technology allowing extended teams to connect from anywhere around the world
- Support is provided for varied work styles, including quieter areas for dedicated focus.
Take a peek inside Symantec's Mountain View, California Headquarters
In August 2015, our new Cambridge, Massachusetts site became the first to implement these new guidelines. The site moved from Waltham and is now a brand new facility with the latest technology and amenities including an open floorplan, abundant sunlight, dedicated team rooms, and a campus easily connected to public transportation.
“Our Cambridge location sets us up for success – it serves as a melting pot of technology innovation, offers a diverse and productive workforce, and produces more engineering graduates than any other US city.” – Samir Kapuria, Symantec Senior Vice President and Site Executive
Additionally, Symantec recently became one of the first technology companies in Silicon Valley to obtain the WELL certification at our Mountain View, California headquarters. While green building standards such as LEED focus on reducing the impacts of the materials and resources used to create and occupy buildings, the WELL certification addresses the effect of a building’s environment on the health and well-being of its occupants.
Developed over seven years, the WELL standard was the result of a public commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative by design agency Delos “to improve the way people live by developing spaces that enhance workers’ health and quality of life.” The WELL standard looks at seven key factors - air, water, nutrition, light, fitness, comfort, and mind – that medical research tells us contribute to spaces, which promote and improve the health and wellbeing of its occupants.
“WELL is a pilot program, and we’re learning while evolving our buildings with each future project. Everything that I’ve seen in the WELL Building standard is important for our employees– which, in turn, supports engagement and performance in Symantec’s workplace.” - Jim Grenier, Symantec VP Performance & Rewards, Workplace, HR Ops.
In Mountain View, the office today looks nothing like it did in 2001, when the building was opened. Approximately 60 percent of the campus has been renovated and the new buildings – named INSPIRE – are infused to tell a story. Each floor has its own distinct personality and walls display company values. Cues of security are sprinkled through the space, whether it is a Sherlock Holmes pillow or images of keys in the artwork. Lighting shifts color to complement one’s natural physiological rhythm— more blue in the morning, more yellow in the evening.
From the jumprope wall, hulahoop wall, to an indoor track for walking meetings, all promote health and wellness. A walking path is designed to connect buildings and within the campus, approximately 12,000 square feet of space has been dedicated to a stateoftheart gymnasium called SymFit Center.
Rooted in best practice
To develop our Global Workplace Guidelines in line with best practices, we compared our data with the standards of 30 hightech companies, while also gathering feedback from employees via workshops across 20 locations and 3 global regions.
Concepts are one thing, but putting them into practice is another. We additionally held events with proposed mock ups/demos of furniture choices to select those which met the majority of our users’ needs.
The Symantec work experience is about highperformance integration in a technologyrich environment that provides a sense of wellbeing for its employees. Our Global Workplace Strategy aligns to this and brings intent to how we use our spaces worldwide, embedding the five Principles that support our mission of "the right talent and performance driven workplace to enable growth at the best cost".