American Express, Melbourne

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“BlueWork” Plus - National pilot agile environment

American Express (AMEX) is one of the world’s most recognisable brands, offering financial and travel services in over 130 countries around the globe.

In 2005, AMEX established a new workplace strategy for its workforce of more than 63,000 employees, called “BlueWork”. BlueWork has evolved from a real estate strategy to embrace a holistic approach which supports a unified working environment consisting of Agile Based Working.

Prior to BlueWork, AMEX’s workplace strategies varied depending on location and sometimes by the floor of the same office building. BlueWork aimed to unify its offices under one global strategy, improve utilisation of real estate assets, and boost the company’s reputation as an employer of choice. The initiative aimed to make better use of its existing space while creating an environment that was more in tune with how employees are working today.

Following a review of internal processes, AMEX were seeking to develop the next generation of BlueWork. AMEX wanted to move away from grouping separate business units, instead, consolidating all units based on client account size (e.g. small, medium, large).

In addition, AMEX were seeking to review their current workplace to plan for a head count increase and their future workplace requirements. The outcomes of this program were to determine whether they should move or stay put. Incorp needed to take into consideration the integration of different working styles to suit the site, whilst finding the most cost efficient outcome that met their requirements.

To give the business a more competitive edge, AMEX wanted to push the boundaries of the existing BlueWork framework to set a benchmark of the new BlueWork environment which could  appeal to the wider Asia-Pacific region, and globally.

AMEX approached Incorp to support the business with the adoption of the next generation of BlueWork roll-out across their Melbourne and Sydney workplaces. The opportunity to relocate and define the future of their Australian workplaces began with its Melbourne workforce. BlueWork framework set a benchmark which could appeal to the wider Asia-Pacific region, and globally.

Our solutions included the following:
— A Design led strategy to capture and facilitate AMEX’s Australian objectives and adaptation into new BlueWork guidelines.
— Completion of Melbourne workplace as BlueWork pilot – capturing data to inform and further refine BlueWork principles.
— Shift from Individual Space to Team Space principles.
— Culturally embrace the new work style as a valid and necessary part of business innovation.
— A mixture of permanent desks and flexible desks for BlueWork, not a one size fits all solution.
— Address three primary components of the workplace experience: People (culture), Place, and Digital to create an optimal work environment.
— Use of space and technology enabled a more agile and flexible working environment for their people