ERGO Group AG

There are many facets to new work. The first is the choice of where exactly to work. For the insurance company ERGO, with its seven administration centres located throughout Germany, the introduction of desk sharing and remote working is a mammoth project when you consider that the rollout affects 14,000 employees. And the goal is ambitious: to meet the requirements and needs of every employee, offering them greater flexibility and variety – but in fewer square feet than before

Rollout at seven locations

In 2021, ERGO Group AG implemented their New Work model, an element of which consisted of remote work and desk sharing. The aim was to increase employee satisfaction and, consequently, overall productivity. By offering opportunities to work from home, the group hoped to become an even more attractive employer, and it also wanted to save costs by reducing the office space it was currently occupying. 

When the project was at its peak, 60 Drees & Sommer staff were involved in the creation and implementation of the “Space” component of the model. The broad spectrum of consulting and planning services commissioned by the client was applied seamlessly across all seven office locations – clearly a must if a project of this scale is to be successful. 

A challenging starting point

ERGO Group has grown tremendously in the last few years. The buildings it occupies all reflect the history of past decades and could not be more diverse: the Hamburg office is situated in a grade-listed building from the 70s; the Düsseldorf staff reside in the 108-metre-tall, glass-fronted ERGO Tower from the 90s. In Munich there are still individual offices arranged in a cell-type structure, whereas the Cologne office features large, open-plan work areas. These offices, each with their own style, were to be upgraded into future-ready workplaces – all seven of them in one fell swoop. And yet, despite the conditions at the individual sites appearing to be so different, it was possible to define standards and guidelines that could be applied across the board. These were codetermined with the involvement of various committees, such as the workers’ council, employee representatives for the severely disabled, company doctors and security experts. 

The new home base

The newly designated “home bases” in ERGO’s buildings comprise approximately 70 workspaces for every 100 employees; they represent the heart of each working environment and offer colleagues a place where they can feel a sense of belonging. Each home base is populated by a different group, department or division. Desks are not allocated on a permanent basis; instead, they are shared, and a clean desk policy ensures that everyone arriving at a desk will be met by the same standard of work surface. Desk sharing encourages the flow of information and stimulates cross-team exchange. Desk reservations are made using the booking tool, and lockers supply storage space for personal items, documents and technical equipment. 

The creation process

The project began with the compiling of a comprehensive planning manual for the new work concept, detailing all ERGO Group’s requirements for their future work environments. Job-specific workshops then took place with representatives of the organisational units to ascertain the employees’ needs. The desks for day-to-day work are located in the so-called standard zones, which are supplemented by shared value-added and breathing spaces. Specific focus areas provide space to work undisturbed on confidential tasks or those requiring full concentration. Collaboration areas promote communication and community. Refresh modules are areas where employees can take a break, have a coffee and perhaps engage in spontaneous conversation with their colleagues. This offering is a huge benefit for staff wellbeing. Although these shared spaces are mainly used by the nearby home bases, they can be accessed and reserved by everyone. 

One-stop consulting, planning and supervision

The new work experts at Drees & Sommer supervised the project from start to finish, from drafting the concept to conducting the actual move. Among other things, they prepared rough occupancy and furnishing plans for all seven offices. And worked in close cooperation with ERGO Group’s purchasing team on the – in part – very complex calls for tender, and commissioning processes for the furniture. Here, it was important to comply with ERGO’s corporate guidelines for assigning contracts and, at the same time, bring the technical preferences of all the different sites into line. A project manual for communication and internal organisation ensured that efficient cross-site and cross-discipline action was taken at all times. 

A cascaded move

In October 2021, detailed planning finally began at all seven locations. The first moves followed in March 2022. Entire offices or large groups of employees were asked to work from home for a few weeks before moving back into the newly renovated work environments. The Drees & Sommer team managed the whole move from planning to implementation. In November 2023, the Nuremberg office became the final premises to be completely reoccupied. 

The result

By introducing remote working and desk sharing, ERGO Group AG has succeeded in condensing the amount of space required in its individual premises. Whole storeys, parts of buildings or even entire buildings have been relinquished, reducing office space by 60,000 square metres in total. 

The new work concept has made it possible to convert 19,000 individual employees’ desks into 12,000 desk-sharing spaces. Simultaneously, the working environment has been made much more attractive by the improvement in human spatial experience, flexibility and variety.