American Express on Diversity of Work Styles
American Express has developed a programme called Blue Work, which marries various work styles with appropriate work spaces. This programme helps the company manage not only the new work preferences of different generations, but is also cost-effective and increases productivity and employee engagement.
Knowing that on any given day, 50 percent of American Express employees are travelling or at non-office meetings, American Express set up the 4 boxes of the Blue Work programme including: Home, Roam, Hub and Club. Each of these work style categories allows employees to either work from home, while travelling, at the hub office or in a unique shared space system where the employee signs in at a hub office and is assigned a space for the day.
While meeting the desires of various work styles, many costs including real estate, hardware, and employee time can be saved. Also, since the programme has launched, the increased interaction of employees, particularly in the shared space, has increased employee engagement and new ideas.
