Standard Chartered Jersey has completely refurbished its office and is formally implementing a hybrid working model to create the future workplace, now.
This new approach to working patterns and building refit come at a time when the Bank’s employees start to return to 15 Castle Street in line with the Jersey government’s health and safety guidelines.
From listening to colleagues and applying the lessons learned from remote working during the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank is offering a hybrid approach, combining virtual and office-based working. Consequently, over the next few weeks, Jersey employees can state their preferences for how they want to work, specifying working pattern and location, with the overall degree of flexibility to be offered determined by business needs and individual choices. It is anticipated most employees will fall into a hybrid pattern, i.e. some days in the office and some days working from home.
The sustainability-focused, revamped office space offers collaborative spaces, sitting and standing desks, telephone pods, four extra video conference systems and enhanced Wi-Fi. There is a new mother’s room and gender-neutral washroom to foster an inclusive environment. The building also boasts a new café, shower facilities and locker room for cyclists. Additionally, the Bank is reducing its floorspace by 25 per cent to make the most efficient use of surface area.
Henry Baye, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, said: “This is an exciting time for Standard Chartered Jersey to evolve the way we work, as we know the expectations of our employees and needs of our clients are significantly changing.
“We’re making a meaningful investment in our office environment because it has an important role in the new working arrangements. It’ll continue to encourage productivity, provide an enhanced employee experience, build an inclusive culture, and remain relevant to attract and retain the best talent. Plus, host those all-important coffee machine chats that get the creative juices flowing!”
The office design takes into account environmental and energy considerations, including:
- A new state-of-the-art lift that self-operates by reclaiming power supply from the braking of the lift car
- LED lighting installed throughout the new office to save circa 65,000kWh, which is enough to power 15 homes for a year and save approximately 14 tonnes of CO The LEDs are complimented by motion and daylighted sensors to further save energy.
- The latest Air Handling Units to improve the energy efficiency by 30% of the airflow around the building.
- Smart Metering fitted to provide informative data to better manage our energy usage, with a target to further reduce energy usage by another 5%.
- Extra recycling bins to continue segregating and reducing waste.
- Low flow shower heads to minimise our water consumption and the foundations laid for a future solar thermal system for hot water.
New employee Gareth Morgan, Head of Mortgage Sales, commented on his modern office environment: “Having worked in a number of different office environments, your work location is really important for so many reasons. The office refurbishment looks professional and gives everyone access to quieter and more relaxed working areas, which really helps when we need to get creative or focus on a more complex problem.”
The building also exhibits the recently unveiled branding, which features a simpler and bolder design with bright colours. The brand refresh reflects the Bank’s digital transformation and further propels Standard Chartered as the go-to name among younger global consumers. The new look office décor will also be complete by the end of the year with artwork created by local Jersey young people, as part of the lately launched Standard Chartered Jersey art competition in partnership with charity ArtHouse Jersey.
