Me Generation invades the workplace, changes the way offices look

As more and more young people enter the work force, companies are faced with changes in the behavior of their employees. In order to boost productivity, workplaces have had to adapt. The result: coolness.

Recently, Supreme received a tip about a kick-ass new space in Makati. As you can guess, it wasn’t a mall. Wasn’t a new club, either. Rather, it was an office — one of Procter & Gamble’s. We’re as surprised as you.

Procter & Gamble’s Global Business Services (GBS) unit does the dirty work — HR, technicals, accounting. They’re the backbone of the entire P&G conglomerate, and there are three of these units in the world: one in New Castle, one in Costa Rica, and one in Manila.

The Manila office has been around since 1999. They started small, but continue to expand today. Because operation costs remain low in the Philippines — and most GBS operations can be done remotely — the local unit’s absorbing more accounts, they’re hiring, and they just occupied a new floor at the Petron Mega Plaza in Makati.

A big thing for them, they tell Supreme, is a focus on home-life balance. Their average employee is 25, 28 — single, spends lots of time at work. So, they gave their offices a make-over last year. The result is what you see on this page. There’s an iPod room, a massage room, a Wii room, and an exercise room, among other cool-looking nooks in their workplace.

The redesign was conceived by a team composed of members from all the company’s departments.

We’re also told that GBS likes to keep an open office — people from different departments are encouraged to go around and interact. (Way to battle group think!) Breaks every hour are mandatory. Employees get to form interest-based organizations, which are subsidized. And, a lot of the employees get a day a week to work at home (setting up a home office is also subsidized).

Now, the reason GBS has spent so much effort in home-life balance is that they place a premium on training and developing their employees. The company loves recruiting fresh grads. They also only promote from within — meaning, personnel are encouraged to work up the company ladder.

GBS says productivity is us... could be everything we’ve mentioned. Or, it could just be the free food/drinks at their pantry. Works for us at Supreme.

We give this office space 5 Supreme stars for its awesome new approach to the work environment.

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Supreme’s always on the cool hunt for awesome new nooks and crannies. Send us a tip at feedback@supreme.ph.