Interview with Christopher T. Hood

Interview with Christopher T. Hood

Article Type: Talking heads From: Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Volume 11, Issue 3

by Debbie Hepton

Christopher T. Hood is a registered Architect in the UK and works for Hewlett Packard. He is based in Virginia and is currently heading up the design of the “global workplace initiative” – a program designed to integrate and deliver space, technology, collaboration, and services solutions into a single efficient and effective package which best supports the way people work.

He has been very active in studying the impact of reengineering initiatives and developing workplace solutions that compliment changes in the business environment. His involvement in this field is fundamentally practical, and has been involved in literally hundreds of projects conceived to develop a better fit between the evolving patterns of work and the environments which best support them. In this spirit, frustrated with the lack of furniture products that met these evolving needs, he designed his own furniture system and is the author of a US patent for a unique design which supports the twin goals of flexibility and technology integration.

Chris has enthusiastically exchanged ideas with others through his numerous speaking engagements at conferences and symposiums across the world. These include addressing the “Workplace forum” in Stockholm, IFMA World Congress in Melbourne, Australia and New Orleans, Future/Build, NEOCON in Chicago, ISFE in Boston, IDRC in Orlando, Corenet Global in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Washington, Sydney, Melbourne, Houston, and “Telecommuting and the virtual office” in Singapore. He has also appeared on radio and TV in discussing workplace change.

Currently, he is one of the three individuals tasked with building the “Workplace community” within Corenet Global. In 2008, he along with some colleagues at Herman Miller, won the coveted H Bruce Russell Global Innovation Award for his role in co-developing a wireless sensing technology to observe workplace utilization.

He has been with HP, and previously Compaq, and Digital Equipment, for over 28 years and has very deep international experience, having been involved in projects in more than 20 different countries. Prior to joining Digital, Chris worked for Business Design Group in Chicago, Higgins and Root in Los Gatos, California and for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in San Francisco. He trained as an Architect at the Oxford School of Architecture where he won the final year design prize for an International Yachting Center for the UK in association with Mike Lilly, who went on to become a very successful practicing architect in the UK.

First of all can I say thank you for agreeing to this interview.You are Program Manager for the “HP workplace” at Hewlett Packard. Can you give us an insight into your day-to-day role?

My primary role is to link HP’s workplace strategy to the implementation of workplace solutions which deliver upon that strategy.

The way that occurs is to link our knowledge of both the way people are working and our understanding of best practices through benchmarking exercises, and then to essentially translate and develop it into a series of design standards and guidelines that we can implement against.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I would describe my leadership style as visionary. I try to encourage others to think ahead. This is all about trying to put people in a position where they are thinking about how they are going to be doing business in three or four years’ time, not today, and to make decisions based upon that.

So, there is the visionary aspect and encouragement for people both in the real estate organization and in the other businesses to look ahead – let us try to get to the future quicker.

What was the driving force behind HP deciding to launch its workplace transformation program?

HP’s global workplace transformation is designed to create a world-class real estate portfolio and more flexible workplace environment. It is an ongoing global effort to assess HP’s real estate portfolio and reduce the amount of under-utilized space. This initiative enables HP to optimize the use of space, achieve long-term cost and operational efficiencies, invest in growth and drive shareholder value. This initiative was launched in July 2006 and becomes even more relevant now.

How successful has this initiative been since its inception?

HP has achieved significant cost savings and operational efficiencies in the last few years.

What are the main lessons you have learned that you can share with us?

Leadership sponsorship is absolutely vital. There is a lesson to be learned here about communication. It is vital that both managers and employees understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.

As we looked at our results over time we recognized the fact that when we were looking for questions that we could ask, which actually gave hints as to the overall success of the program, there was one question in particular that stood out and that was “do you know why HP is doing this?” When people understood the logic behind the transformation they were able to internalize it and they were able to really take on board anything that was coming their way. So, if it was a big change, for instance they were being moved from a dedicated space scenario to a free address (in other words they no longer had their own desk) most people could get through that as long as they understood why and they believed in it.

One of the biggest lessons for us was to go back and make sure that we were doing a really good job at the site level, making sure that people really understood what was going on and why.

Commenting on HP’s mobility program, four out of five employees expressed satisfaction, and “fears that mobile workers would become ‘disconnected’ from the company have not come to pass.” How has HP managed to retain organizational connectivity?

We do that by several means. One of which is to call upon managers to manage. This exercise in transformation is something which managers really have to come to grips with. In fact, managing a distributed workforce becomes a key and core management skill, so there is a lot of emphasis on our managers to actually manage through this transformation.

We found that a majority of our employees do not work in the same building as their manager, so if you think about that it means that you have a lot of people who are sitting somewhere else – in some cases even in different countries. The fact is, people learn to work together whether virtually or face-to-face, and when they do that they are continuously connecting and exchanging information.

Technology has dramatically shifted the way we work today. It is a necessary means to stay connected and communicate with colleagues, either formally or informally. HP encourages employees to use teleconferencing and web-based tools whenever possible to enhance communication and collaborate more effectively. HP offers tools such as the HP Halo collaboration studio, a real-time, person-to-person collaboration environment that enables remote teams to communication in real time in a face-to-face environment. Another tool is the HP virtual meeting room which offers a virtual environment for meetings, brainstorming and team collaboration.

HP has also established more discipline now around communication. When much more of the status quo was around people being in the office, there was an assumption that:

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  they were actually in the office; and

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  that when they were there they were actually communicating.

Both of those things turned out not to be true. In fact, the utilization of the office was about 35 percent on average and what that means is that if you have got six people, at any point in time only two of them are actually present. The assumption that they were in fact talking to each other is something that did not stack up either. There was a lot circulating about what was happening in the office, but now we find that when people are not sitting together there is actually a lot more effort being made for people to communicate with each other – so, we would argue that there is more, rather than less, going on.

HP’s real estate and workplace services has launched an initiative to align real estate functions in working toward sustainable building design. Can you give an example of your progress in sustainable building?

Yes. As a result of our workplace transformation we significantly reduce the amount of underutilized space in the real estate portfolio.

This reduction equates to a major reduction in the company’s carbon footprint. Not only are we driven to keep track of this positive impact through environmental tracking mechanisms but we are also inspired to ensure that as we modify, and operate, our reduced footprint, we do so in an environmentally responsible way.

We employ sustainable design checklists for each and every project we undertake. We set goals for energy reduction and we introduce company wide initiatives to promote recycling and responsible operation. At the present time, we are in the process of learning how to best tell the environmental story associated with our workplace transformation, as a means of further engaging employee buy-in and enthusiasm for the program.

You were one of three individuals tasked with building the “workplace community” within Corenet Global. Can you tell us about this community? What are the objectives of building such a community?

The workplace community was formed as a resource for anybody who was challenged with understanding more about the evolving workplace. We wanted to attract experts – people who had experience of it, who would enjoy having dialogue with other experts in creating knowledge from that interaction – we were also interested in acting as a resource for people who were being drawn into their subject. For example, they may be working for a company that has decided it needs to rethink its workplace strategies, it needs to understand what others are doing and it needs to become familiar with contemporary thinking about the workplace.

We conceived this community as a marketplace of ideas, information and of exchange on this subject, because we could not see anyone else creating that sort of environment, or that sort of utility for knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. That was the original goal.

To quote you: “Whatever way they’re organized, companies are interested in shedding real estate they do not need. That move is sustainable”. Can you expand on this comment? Does this issue become even more important in today’s economic climate?

Real estate adds cost to a company’s operations and bottom line. Most companies are trying to reduce that cost by ensuring that their current real estate portfolio is correctly sized. Depending on the company, the principle of high utilization is a driver for this right-sizing activity. Many companies feel that underutilized space is a wasted asset and choose to drive through the change management issues to rework their space assignment principles and realize the space reductions. Clearly an optimized infrastructure cost represents a competitive advantage and furthers the business sustainability of the organization.

Technology and the presence of mobility in the workplace, has shifted the way we work resulting in companies to experience lower utilization levels. Companies should think about how they can take advantage of these lower utilization levels and consolidate space accordingly, and ultimately take the appropriate steps to sell underutilized buildings or take restructuring funding to put space onto the market. Companies would ultimately find this to a way to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Sustainability does not just mean environmental sustainability it means business sustainability, and what we are really interested in here is: How can you do this transformation? How can you reduce your footprint and still make businesses viable? How can you deal with the cultural exercises? How can you keep people productive or engaged, or facilitate attraction and retention issues when you seem to be taking things away from them? Successful companies have absolutely managed to do that primarily by going back to this discussion of “why are we doing this?” Employees understand that everybody needs to take cost effective measures in order to stay competitive. When we talk about sustainability we are really referring to business sustainability and being able to optimize the cost structure of the company.

How can the corporate real estate solution impact an organizational culture?

HP’s shared values and corporate objectives have guided the company’s organizational cultural since the company was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard. Since then HP seeks to maintain the values which our company was built upon as we implement our workplace strategy and changes to our organizational culture. The culture of the company is about how we do business, it is about our integrity, it is about our honesty, and it is about our value proposition.

The workplace can, in fact, reinforce certain values of the company. For example, take the matter of trust; by saying to employees “we trust you,” by saying “we don’t care where you work, we are not going to sit here and watch what time you arrive in the morning or leave,” you are essentially trusting them and what you are saying is “we are going to measure you by what you do, not how you do it or when you do it.” I think it is expressions like these which create a performance culture – one in which people are respected and in which people have choices as to when and how they work.

These all create a culture that, I think, is remarkably “HP” – uniquely HP – and so there are things we can do to reinforce it. These happen regardless of the space solution, but we use the space solution as an agent of change and as a catalyst to remind people of what this company is all about, so when you do come into an office we greatly value collaboration. We create a lot of places for people to collaborate, we create expectations that they will collaborate. We also do a lot of internal training on business ethics and compliance – these are also foundations and cornerstones of integrity in a company that does business in a highly ethical way.

What are the advantages companies can gain by recognizing the potential linkages of CRE to company performance and ensuring CRE is represented on the executive board?

The workplace can become a catalyst for change. As we design our workplaces what we are essentially doing is asking businesses to think ahead into the future and asking them to imagine how they are going to be working in three or four years’ time. We are not particularly interested in how they work today because we intrinsically know that how we work today is not going to be competitive in the future. Therefore, we ask them to look ahead, we ask them to think about the things that they will be doing in, say, three years’ time that they are not doing today, or what they would not be doing then that they are doing today, and then we try to build an envelope around that.

CRE is the second highest cost behind people, and these are big numbers that are top of mind for companies. More importantly, CRE has the ability to drive and contribute to the performance of the company by encouraging businesses to think about how they are working and what processes they are using. There is an inspirational value in terms of the work, as opposed to just the place within which the work is done.

What role can office environments play in impacting and affecting human behavior and productivity?

First, more and more is known about the impact of environment on people’s general disposition, productivity, and effectiveness. In rethinking our workplace, we clearly espouse what we believe is the best thinking around this – for instance, access to daylight, using natural materials, and using high-quality ventilation with fresh air circulation. There are a lot of things about the physical environment that has an impact on people’s behavior, so we try to introduce as many of those as possible.

Second, people appreciate choices. Not everybody is the same. Some people prefer openness, transparency, and collaboration, while others might prefer individual privacy. As we evaluate our spaces or create the brief for them we are trying to create a variety of workspaces that people can use depending on their personal preferences and choices.

Reinforcing the company’s brand, the use of color and being able to remind people what we do and what we stand for are all really good opportunities to influence the way people think and work and their attitudes about the company.

Do you feel that the current downturn in many worldwide economies will reduce the amount of money being spent by companies on the green agenda?

In my opinion, there will be less investment in building infrastructure to implement what are seen as green improvements to buildings, designed to save energy for example. In this environment, I do not think there will be heavy investments in plant and equipment and energy production, or those types of improvements to buildings which save energy or somehow improve the sustainable feature. The return on investment for these types of upgrades and improvements spans a period of time and it tends to be more difficult to validate those decisions in a time of extreme hardship.

What I do think will happen though is that people will do what HP is doing. They will consolidate and reduce space. In doing so, companies will actually reduce the carbon footprint far more than they give themselves credit for, because they have not yet made this connection. Companies tend to look at this as a cost per square foot issue, as opposed to an environmental impact per square foot. It is a square foot impact that really counts. For example, we have been able to reduce space significantly, but our energy cost per square foot goes up, because we are actually condensing two operations into one building half the size. All the same computers are running in there, but in a much more efficient space. While we are saving in utility costs overall, our unit cost per square foot is rising. Overall, however, the carbon footprint of those two operations is reduced dramatically.

What we will start to see is other companies doing the same thing in terms of using less space, but what they would not recognize is that they have actually made a pretty remarkable contribution to the environmental story by doing that. It would not match the standard that you described, which is “how can we go in, take the buildings that we’ve got and somehow improve their performance from a sustainable design perspective?” There will be some of that where there are quick pay-backs, but some of the more thoughtful long-term improvements will probably be set aside for a while.

According to the next workplace revolution, an article by Chris Sullivan, “one-size-fits-all standardization is history”. How do you see the workplace changing in the future? Do you have any evidence to support this vision?

I agree with the statement in the sense that people are different, jobs are different – although I would argue that there is more difference between people and the way they work than between many jobs. For example, one may think that a software engineer has a very special set of needs and that he or she is constantly designing software. However, from my observations, I have also seen them doing other activities that require them to perform more general tasks, such as email or working on spreadsheets. They are not always sitting there writing code anymore than an architect is always sitting at a drawing board drawing or doing CAD work. There are a lot of misassumptions about what people do and how often they do it.

There is quite a lot of work that is essentially the same. When it comes down to it, most knowledge workers are working on a computer, they are on the phone, they are reading and writing, and they are meeting with people. To some extent, the difference between jobs is just how much of each of those tasks people perform. In that sense there are commonalities that we do all of those things and therefore it is necessary and wise to support that as a universal concept. However, what is different is the way people perform these tasks and the amount of those things that they need. So, how many people actually need a permanent work station, for example, as opposed to “well I come into the office pretty much to meet people, so I either meet them formally in conference rooms or I go and sit in the cafeteria and we chat together, and when I’m not meeting with people I’ll do my emails sitting at a cafeteria table.”

There are a lot of stereotypes around the office that we are breaking down, and the spirit in which that comment was given is along the lines of “people don’t sit in rows anymore with their heads down just doing computer work.” I think that is absolutely true, and I think offer a greater variety of workplaces is the right approach.

It is possible to be formulaic about developing a company workplace strategy and describe relative proportions of collaborative space versus personal space or quiet space versus private space that are applicable to lots of different kinds of businesses. In the long run, I do not think we are going to see the cube farms anymore, and I think that’s probably what the author was really trying to convey.