The IRD is taking advantage of the redevelopment of its premises to carry out a flex office pilot project for its 55 HR department employees using Sharvy.

Context of the IRD

The IRD ( Institute of Research for Development) is a multidisciplinary French public research organisation which, for nearly 80 years, has been committed to equitable partnerships with the countries of the South and the French Overseas Territories. Its aim is to propose practical solutions to the global challenges facing society and the planet.

After 2 years of health crisis, during which teleworking kept teams away from the office, the return to “normality” has been prepared to make life in the office easier. For this reason, the premises have been refurbished to take into account new ways of working (creativity room, project mode room, call boxes, coworking areas, breastfeeding room) and the possibility of 3 days’ teleworking a week has been introduced. Alongside these new ways of working, the IRD wanted to run a flex office pilot project within its Human Resources department. To carry it out successfully, a desk booking tool was needed.

Setting up of Sharvy

The IRD wanted to implement the Sharvy desk booking application for the new year 2022. That’s why, in just 2 months from October, the solution was configured and operational within the IRD: creation of the environment, integration of specific features, assignment of a team to each agent for better allocation… With its optimisation algorithm, the application makes it possible to allocate suitable workstations to each agent according to booking requests, and then to confirm them.

Thanks to Sharvy, the 55 people working in the HR department know that they will have a guaranteed workstation if they come on site, even though the department only has 46 workstations. In other words, a desk sharing ratio of 0.8 – equivalent on average to 8 workstations for every 10 employees.

Favourite features

Benefits noted

On a day-to-day basis, the flex office system works as follows: staff are assigned in teams to 2 or 3 of the 16 offices in the HR department. Once on site, they can choose their workstation within the designated offices. This depends on their tasks for the day and their needs. In this way, the flex office meets the need of flexibility, which is becoming increasingly popular with employees.

The Sharvy application removes a mental burden for staff: before they arrive on site, they know whether they will have an available office and which one. This is part of the QWL approach introduced by the IRD a few years ago.

The move to a flex office has also had a beneficial effect on relations between colleagues. They have the opportunity to sit next to a different person every day and meet colleagues with whom they might never have had the chance to talk.

Lockers and cubicles (with a compartment for a laptop, pencil trays, etc.) are available for keeping personal belongings under lock and for transporting them from one office to another.

Do you need to optimise your workspace? Would you like to switch to a flex office or desk booking?

Follow the lead of IRD and opt for Sharvy!