The future of Work at SSC: Rethink collaboration

Office or home office? This has been a frequent debate in recent years. With “Shaping collaboration together,” we at SSC want to develop a new collaboration culture that all employees can identify with. The goal: to combine the advantages of the remote and office working environments.

Hybrid working creates flexibility for everyone

“It’s been very nice to see the office come back to life lately,” begins SSC Managing Director Matthias Stroezel. “Nevertheless, we are convinced that collaboration is possible from any location. That’s why we developed a concept for a hybrid way of working that combines home office and office as a place to work.” The idea did not just originate as a result of the Corona pandemic. Even before, the option of remote working was part of our way of working.

For implementation, we launched the “Future of Work” project with an external project partner in fall 2021. Starting with a small circle of pioneers who dove deeper into the topic, a growing group of representatives from the individual teams developed. “In addition, we used a quantitative survey to identify work situations for all employees for which we want to develop a common understanding of values and establish them in the SSC agreements,” adds Matthias Stroezel.

These agreements are to be finalized and implemented in everyday work by fall 2022. We laid an important foundation with the Future Event in May 2022. At this event, first Agreements were worked out by employees on site and remotely on various topics such as the workplace, meetings, the kitchen, etc.

An office in transition

“We see our office as a place for collaboration and personal contact. Not everyone wants to work only from home, but also wants to come into the office sometimes. We have now responded to this,” says Katrin Reichert, pioneer of the project. To make better use of the benefits of the open-plan office, it is gradually being adjusted to the needs of the workforce.

For example, some work desks have been removed so that there are now only flexible workstations. In addition, there are now quiet zones to provide silent workplaces and niches for hybrid meetings. The next step will be to design special socializing areas to increase face-to-face communication on site.

Since August 2022, employees have been able to pre-book these workplaces using an app. For example, all team members can sit and work in the same area during their team day. In addition, further investments in technical equipment and general furnishings in the meeting rooms will simplify hybrid working and create further opportunities for creative collaboration.

“For us employees, the strive for flexibility comes first. SSC now enables this flexibility without compromising the quality of our collaboration,” Katrin Reichert sums up.