KPMG took over Andersen's Johannesburg operations in 2002, inheriting the company's redesigned office space. ‘Exciting and funky’ might not be words usually associated with accountancy, but that was Daryll Jackson’s criteria when choosing Resolve for Andersen South Africa’s new offices in Johannesburg.
Jackson is the Country Managing Partner for Andersen South Africa in Johannesburg. Known as one of the ‘Big Five’ accounting firms, Andersen employs over 85,000 people in 84 countries. The South Africa division has about 600 people who provide clients with everything from tax services to business consulting.
He coined the theme ‘go boldly’ to describe the company’s mission to become ‘the top-rate player in our chosen fields’ by adopting ‘a more exciting approach to everything we do.’ That attitude was the driving force in moving their Johannesburg office into a new facility, the state-of-the-art Melrose Arch complex.
And it was clearly behind the choice of the Resolve system. Winning what Jackson calls ‘the global war for talent’ by enhancing ‘our desirability as an employer’ includes creating workspaces that make a statement. As a recent Andersen South Africa newsletter put it, ‘The design teams and consultants have been striving to create the best, the most leading edge, the most innovative. We have…the most advanced open-plan system and office chairs that are artworks in themselves.’
When it came to choosing the Resolve system and Aeron chairs for their new Johannesburg offices, Jackson found support in Lars Jaeger, who manages all Andersen’s facilities outside the USA. As Peter Lloyd of Herman Miller’s Strategic Business Group says, ‘Lars was an advocate for Resolve from the beginning. He saw that it could jump over what Andersen is doing in its offices in both North America and Europe. This made Resolve an easier sell.’
That might have been the case for Andersen's Corporate Facility Manager, but it wasn't necessarily an easy sell to Andersen South Africa. Even with Jackson pushing for a new and dramatic look to the offices, the staff still had to be convinced, including 35 partners who had always worked in private offices.
Convinced that Resolve had to be seen to be believed, the Herman Miller team, supported by Cape Town dealers All Office Equipment, worked with Andersen to take Resolve to South Africa. ‘We set up six Resolve workstations,’ says Peter, ‘and we presented to over 80 people over a two-day period, including executives and the design team. A lot of the questions had to do with concerns about confidentiality and filing. Most of the Andersen South Africa people are on the road a lot and share hotelling spaces, in some cases four people per workstation. So they wanted to know that Resolve would meet their needs.’
Once Andersen South Africa had chosen Resolve, their designers worked closely with Herman Miller's design team to develop the Resolve layouts together. The organic nature of Resolve worked particularly well in the wedge-shaped Melrose Arch building and suited the style of the office’s other new developments, such as the coffee bar and central atrium.
To make the transition to this bold new space easier for Andersen South Africa employees, Herman Miller helped the company's human resources department develop a light-hearted ‘Welcome to the facility’ guide, containing everything from how to adjust the Aeron chairs to how to find the toilets. Peter Lloyd and Herman Miller’s Dealer Market Manager Alan Kennett also ran two-day orientation and product training for all staff to help them adapt to their new open-plan environment.
Having settled in, Jackson believes the new space is just what Andersen South Africa needs. ‘We've all seen the challenges and opportunities offered by Andersen and by the new economy,’ he says, ‘now we need to have fun in dealing with them.’
