PSA’s Office Renovation Improves Employee Engagement, Performance and Client Experience
Posted in: News
Research has shown that employees who are highly dissatisfied with their work environment are often the least engaged. And that lack of engagement can often translate to poor customer service and less satisfactory client outcomes.
At PSA, we recognize the importance of a favorable work environment for our employees — so they’re equipped to better serve you, our clients.
To do that, we recently completed renovations at our offices in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Conducted in partnership with Mackenzie Services Co. and landlord Greenfield Partners, LLC, the renovations allowed us to add a variety of different spaces conducive to learning, collaborating, brainstorming, or simply recharging, which in turn makes a difference in the service you receive. We have also reconfigured part of the office, which opened up another large conference room for our valued clients’ and partners’ use.
Happy Employees, Improved Service
Happier employees are more productive. To promote employees’ mental well-being, we recently added a new “Recharge Room” to our office, which is designed to provide a relaxing setting with comfortable furniture. This space gives employees a place to take a few minutes away from work; it also provides privacy for personal activities, such as making a phone call.
With a place to relax for a few minutes during the workday, employees are more likely to come back to their desks refreshed, energized, and ready to provide outstanding service.
A Focus on Collaboration
Collaboration is necessary for employees to communicate effectively, continually improve, and provide enhanced solutions for clients. To encourage that, we’ve built several new spaces that allow for closer collaboration. By allowing staff to “huddle” in-person as well as connect wirelessly, we’ve created an even better environment for teamwork. Previously, these spaces had no real purpose and were mostly used to store old furniture and files. They are now colorful spaces that facilitate communication across several PSA business units and systems, and include:
- A small “huddle room” affectionately called “The Hive.” It has a flat screen TV and bench style seating for three to four people, giving staff a quiet place to collaborate on projects or conduct small group training sessions, while freeing up larger conference rooms for guests and larger meetings.
- A dedicated space for our Employee Benefits Communication group, which builds dynamic communications materials, including custom videos to help our clients engage their employees to understand and fully use their benefits plans. This space allows four creative staff members to collaborate without leaving their desks or disturbing their colleagues.
- A collaborative space that creates a working area for systems training and administrative staff to work closely together. The space is designed to allow for rapid deployment of system enhancements and the sharing of approaches to training and process improvement.
Prioritizing Training
To equip our staff to more expertly handle challenges and develop effective solutions, PSA is making 2017 a year of training and staff development. We created two new single-person “think tanks,” which ensure everyone has access to a dedicated training space. These small rooms are internet-enabled and are the perfect place for staff members to access PSA’s Learning System or view training videos.
Opening our Space to Clients and Partners
To give back to our community and help our clients grow their business, we’ve opened up an additional conference room for their use, free of change. The room is fully equipped with audio-visual technology. While it previously was only open to PSA employees, we now invite you to use it for your conference room or meeting needs.
We’re planning even more improvements here in the future that will present our clients with additional benefits. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our efforts, please feel free to contact me at jhoffman@psafinancial.com.
