In the midst of COVID-19, Nationwide experienced a radical shift in how and where associates got work done. Today, the company continues to embrace change by finding new ways to bring their people-focused mission to a hybrid work scenario. It’s a big change, and Microsoft 365 tools are at the heart of how Nationwide delivers the future of work. A hybrid strategy continues the organization’s culture of care in a digital world for the 25,000 Nationwide associates experiencing the future of work firsthand.
Nationwide is one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services companies, made up of 25,000 associates who enact the company’s mission to “protect people, businesses, and futures with extraordinary care.” In the midst of COVID-19, Nationwide experienced a radical shift in how and where associates got work done. Today, the company continues to embrace change by finding new ways to bring their people-focused mission to a hybrid work scenario.
“Today, we use Microsoft 365 tools to create a hybrid workplace that supports our core values while still recognizing our associates’ desire for more flexibility.”
Jim Fowler, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Nationwide
“Nationwide has always had a face-to-face culture that’s focused on care,” says Jim Fowler, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Nationwide. “Today, we use Microsoft 365 tools to create a hybrid workplace that supports our core values while still recognizing our associates’ desire for more flexibility.” It’s a big change, and Microsoft 365 tools are at the heart of how Nationwide delivers the future of work.
Creating an effective hybrid work environment with Microsoft Teams Rooms
Melanie Kolp, Chief Technology Officer for Corporate Technology at Nationwide, usually recommends that newly hired leaders at the company spend their first day getting to know as many of their colleagues as possible. “Relationships are the primary thing we all value here at Nationwide,” she says. A focus on relationships and people is central to how Nationwide created its new strategy for more flexible working arrangements. “In the technology organization, the first thing we did was encourage leaders to sit down with their teams and understand what they wanted in terms of returning to the office,” says Kolp. “The majority of our associates chose a hybrid work model.”
With direct insights from associates, Nationwide moved forward in creating a modernized work environment. “Embracing hybrid work goes back to our values as a company. We value people, and our people had a desire for more flexible workplace options,” says Fowler.
“Embracing hybrid work goes back to our values as a company. We value people, and our people had a desire for more flexible workplace options.”
Jim Fowler, EVP & Chief Technology Officer, Nationwide
The changes gave Nationwide the opportunity to downsize on select real estate. While some offices have closed, Nationwide has revamped the remaining offices to provide the most effective hybrid work experience. “We have done a lot of renovations of conference rooms and collaboration spaces, including new microphones, new visual displays, and in some cases, we deployed Microsoft Surface Hub 2,” says Thomas Paider, Vice President, Digital Workplace Technology at Nationwide. “We chose Surface Hub 2 for our updated meeting rooms because our associates are well-versed in the Microsoft ecosystem already. They find the seamless integration between Surface Hub and other Microsoft tools makes collaborating easy and intuitive.” Changes to Nationwide’s physical office spaces have focused on creating a team-oriented environment. “It’s all very movable and very collaborative, but still with social distancing and safety in mind,” says Fowler. “All our collaboration spaces are now Microsoft Teams-enabled rooms, with one-touch join and updated video hardware to get the true virtual room experience for those joining from home, with cameras that focus on the people who are speaking.”
Fowler and his colleagues are experimenting with Surface Hub for digital whiteboarding capabilities. “The office space is hugely different than prior to the shutdowns,” he says. “In the past, we had stand-up whiteboards and paper cards to visualize our agile methodologies and flows; now we whiteboard in Teams.” Associates also use mobile whiteboard functionality on Surface Hub devices to facilitate collaborative sessions in the office. And select customer-facing groups use them for customer demonstrations. “Showcasing leading-edge technology is a big part of winning new business,” says Paider.
Attracting talent with flexible workplaces and the latest collaboration tools
Embracing a hybrid work scenario also helps Nationwide stand out in a competitive recruiting market. “In this new world, we are open to talent regardless of their location,” says Guru Vasudeva, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Infrastructure and Operations at Nationwide.
Leading-edge collaboration tools are part of what makes Nationwide an attractive employer. Fowler has seen the flexibility of hybrid work bring new talent to the organization: “The fact that we can offer new associates options about how and where they work helps us attract and retain new talent,” he says. Nationwide is also piloting Microsoft Teams Phone for cloud-based telephony. “Many associates feel that desk phones have become unnecessary,” says Paider. “We want to give people the tools to communicate in a way that makes sense to them, not hold on to legacy technology.”
Nationwide’s commitment to associates led Paider to create a digital workplace experience team dedicated to understanding and improving associates’ working lives. “In the world of talent wars, it’s crucial that we apply the discipline of user experience to the employee experience and intentionally create great, flexible workplaces,” he says. “Microsoft 365 collaboration tools, including Teams, play a big part in how we plan to do that.”
“In the world of talent wars, it’s crucial that we … intentionally create great, flexible workplaces. Microsoft 365 collaboration tools, including Teams, play a big part in how we plan to do that.”
Thomas Paider, Vice President, Digital Workplace Technology, Nationwide
Empowering a strong citizen developer movement with Microsoft Power Platform
A burgeoning citizen developer program at Nationwide encourages associates to use Microsoft Power Platform to increase productivity and improve their day-to-day work lives. When Mark Gibson, Product Manager at Nationwide, decided to create a one-stop-shop for employees returning to the office to find the equipment they needed, he used Microsoft Power Apps to make it happen on a tight schedule. “Associates had to navigate three different interfaces to find things like cables, headsets, monitors, and information,” he says. “We needed to create an easy, intuitive way for people to get what they needed to be successful back at the office.” After attempting to create a website for this purpose with the help of developers, Gibson and his colleagues discovered Power Apps and got to work creating their own solution. “In one day, we had a working model, and in three days, we were done,” he remembers. The solution narrowed a confusing system into a single portal. “To date, we have seen more than 2,000 orders come through the Power Apps solution,” says Gibson. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are currently working on expanding the scope of the app.”
The success of the ordering app meant that Nationwide no longer needed to develop a website. And the solution helped save costs for the organization by redirecting associates to items that were already in stock, helping ensure no one ordered new items that were already on hand. “We have avoided a lot of unnecessary expense with the Power Apps solution we created,” says Gibson.
“We have avoided a lot of unnecessary expense with the Power Apps solution we created.”
Mark Gibson, Product Manager, Nationwide
According to Fowler, a strong citizen developer movement is about more than streamlining work. “When we deputize all our associates to be their own app developers, we drive speed and efficiency, which helps create opportunities to spend more time on the things that matter to customers, like empathy and judgment.”
Supporting employee wellness with data and insights from Microsoft 365
The notion of “protecting people, businesses, and futures with extraordinary care” extends to how Nationwide approaches employee wellness. “We have a lot of frank and honest conversations about how to stay healthy working from home and avoid burnout,” says Kolp. “We used Teams live events to host workshops and ‘Wellness Wednesday’ events to encourage everyone to take good care of themselves.” Nationwide associates also receive Microsoft Viva Insights reports to help them track their work habits and support a more balanced schedule.
“We used Teams live events to host workshops and ‘Wellness Wednesday’ events to encourage everyone to take good care of themselves.”
Melanie Kolp, Chief Technology Officer for Corporate Technology, Nationwide
“We use Viva Insights to better understand how our associates are working and how we can roll out new technologies to support them,” says Fowler.
A win-win for associates and customers: A flexible, community-focused future of work
A hybrid strategy continues the organization’s culture of care in a digital world for the 25,000 Nationwide associates experiencing the future of work firsthand. “A hybrid work strategy is a win-win,” says Vasudeva. “Associates love the community we have at Nationwide and offering more flexibility will give everyone the opportunity to experience that, no matter where they are located on a given day.” For Fowler, adopting new technology to enable hybrid work is part of staying focused on the future and Nationwide customers. “I think we are going to look back on this as a historic moment,” he says. “Hybrid work gives us a chance to rethink the best ways to deliver value to the customer.”
“We use Viva Insights to better understand how our associates are working and how we can roll out new technologies to support them.”
Jim Fowler, EVP & Chief Technology Officer, Nationwide
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