Case Study: Uberall

Opportunity

Given international privacy laws and Uberall’s commitment to data privacy, Uberall knew they needed to establish robust risk mitigation and governance protocols for their Choice First program. Uberall also wanted to undertake an in-depth employee survey to manage the change properly, and to ensure they would have the ability to measure and track program performance in real time.

Solution

Uberall implemented Upflex to manage its Choice First policy, giving their global workforce the flexibility to seamlessly access their own dedicated office hubs as well as high-quality workspaces in a variety of markets and locations around the world, on demand. All of this is handled through Upflex’s easy-to-use platform, which centralizes booking, invoicing, and data-driven insights.

The Uberall team managed to reduce time spent by implementing their strategy while improving employee experience across the board. Moreover, thanks to insights into space usage, Uberall’s Workplace & Culture team was able to see what’s working and iterate as needed for the best results at the lowest cost.

Uberall was also thinking about data privacy and security: Uberall is committed to data privacy, and they sought a workspace management partner they knew would be able to help them navigate these and other data privacy and security issues. Upflex’s GDPR and other international data security certifications fit the bill — and the platform provided them with not only the security they were after, but a uniquely flexible mix of workspace management options, including membership, team pool, and Hub & Spoke models.

The Upflex’s team worked one-on-one with Uberall’s Workplace and Culture Manager to assist in selecting the most strategic and cost-effective combination of approaches to meet their needs, and in the strategy’s seamless implementation.

In just three weeks, Upflex and Uberall solidified the legal, risk and governance framework of the formal flex working agreement, simultaneously conducting a series of on-boarding workshops.

Upflex was able to take Uberall from this initial phase in mid-May 2022 to active implementation at the start of June 2022: all on a greatly accelerated delivery timeline. they needed to establish robust risk mitigation and governance protocols for their Choice First program.

Uberall also wanted to undertake an in-depth employee survey to manage the change properly, and to ensure they would have the ability to measure and track program performance in real time.

Proof in results

Key Outcomes

• With Upflex, Uberall has expanded access to flexible workspaces to four times as many employees as before.
• Upflex provides Uberall with a bespoke, on-demand workplace solution: a mixture of on-demand memberships and hub-and-spoke offices around the globe.
• All hub payments are consolidated into one invoice per country for Uberall, simplifying accounting and bill payment.
• Upflex delivers Uberall clear and consolidated reporting, with workforce analytics, to improve managers’ insight into what’s working and what’s not.
• Even with expanded access and consolidated reporting, workspace costs are well below expectations. Uberall has significantly reduced the burden of in-house flex working administration and management.

Better geographic coverage to accommodate more team members

Previously, it had been difficult for Uberall employees to find and book meeting spaces or private rooms for collaboration and social work gatherings. Uberall evaluated several flex space providers, but ultimately chose Upflex, who offered the best geographical spread. Employees can now use Upflex to choose from a multitude of flexible workspaces and book them as needed. Within the first two months of usage, Uberall saw wide adoption of Upflex’s platform across its Barcelona, London, Paris, Detroit, Montreal, and Los Angeles teams.

“We didn’t have to arrange any additional training sessions as the [Upflex] platform is very intuitive. Now we’re able to offer our employees real flexibility. It’s a game changer, especially for teams in need of collaboration and frequent flyers – those who travel to international expos or networking events and don’t have a dedicated place to work during the days that they’re there.” –Andreas Angelakis, Uberall Workplace and Culture Manager

High-quality inventory and provider variety to boost employee satisfaction

Another strength of Upflex for Uberall is its network quality. As some of Uberall’s employees were already using WeWork spaces, Upflex’s exclusive WeWork partnership was a big plus for the Uberall team, centralizing all the booking and billing in Upflex’s easy to use platform.

“We really liked the adjustability of the various plans Upflex was able to offer, as well as its exclusive partnership with WeWork. Having had active WeWork memberships, Upflex was the perfect option for us. We got to retain access to the WeWork locations we’d been using, while being able to take advantage of new ones in our locations of choice.” –Andreas Angelakis, Uberall Workplace and Culture Manager

Centralized reporting and management to save time

Uberall has seen significant reductions in their administrative burden thanks to Upflex’s centralized booking system and management features, which help the company to track and refine its workspace strategy over time, while saving employees and managers bandwidth and paperwork.

“Consolidated reporting and payment are some of the features that prompted us to choose Upflex. Previously we had to manage these processes manually, , but now all the admin and billing operations are a part of one unified solution, saving us a lot of time.” –Andreas Angelakis, Uberall Workplace and Culture Manager

Cost-effective pricing to reduce workspace costs

Uberall reports impressive results in both employee usage and cost reduction. Four times as many Uberall employees as before now have access to flexible workplaces with Upflex’s network and services. The costs, however, haven’t quadrupled. Uberall pays less than twice what they paid for piecemeal flex work solutions prior to Upflex, while improving employee satisfaction and boosting productivity. In Barcelona in particular, Uberall’s workspace bookings increased tenfold with Upflex; despite this massive increase in usage, the workspace budget for Barcelona has only doubled, reflecting measurable value added.

“We really feel like Upflex’s offering is tailored to our needs, and it’s made the transition to the Choice First policy a lot smoother for all of us.”
–Andreas Angelakis, Uberall Workplace and Culture Manager

Improved employee experience to drive acquisition and retention

The main goals of Uberall’s Choice First workplace strategy are to encourage collaboration and to tangibly improve the employee experience. Armed with robust employee survey insights, Upflex assisted Uberall in establishing specific metrics, standard levels of flexibility, and basic user profiles by team and location.