Today’s workspace is more than just where you do your job. Agile teams need a space to support the work they need to do today. And employers now get it. Your talent needs an informal, warmer space that makes them feel at home and serves their overall wellbeing. An agile space to match an agile workforce. Combine that flexibility with a new emphasis on telling your brand’s story in the space, and you have a unique engaging healthy workspace.
Cisco was a cube farm that was costing them existing and potential employees. Candidates would leave the office uninspired, while competitors’ spaces would inspire. When you’re in a war for talent, you can’t have your workspace be the reason you lose.
So we made it better.
With 500 offices worldwide, at any one time, two dozen were being designed. Cisco broke offices down into two categories: customer facing and employee facing. The customer-facing spaces had to express the Cisco brand and tell stories that would resonate with customers. The others would focus on telling engaging stories that relate to and inspire employees.
All of the newly redesigned spaces would use our brand identity DNA, but express it in different ways.
Customer facing
These spaces leaned heavily on the corporate identity for their feel. Tying the space to our marketing and enduring brand attributes.
Employee facing
Theses spaces exuded our brand personality’s warmth and lighter side. Our overall building themes had larger meanings communicating our brand experience. Maybe a country theme linking to where part of the organization works elsewhere in the world. Or it maybe emphasizing the Cisco’s “connecting the unconnected” brand promise through multiple office elements connecting with each other.
We gave local artists history of the group and the way the group’s products have changed the world. The artists then told those stories through hallway murals.
While the debate still rages about open workspaces, what isn’t up for debate is how a strong brand story and an intentional experience leaves a lasting positive impression and warms the soul.