Earthjustice Client Story

THE CHALLENGE

A widely distributed team needing a cohesive facilities strategy

With staff spread across 15 different offices in 15 different cities, space management for EarthJustice was a challenge for the facilities team, even before the pandemic hit. Without any refined systems or processes in place, they relied on PDFs and shared Excel sheets to track their facility use—a “very manual, stressful, and time-consuming” process, according to Office Associate Lily Rosenthal. 

“It’s really easy to miss things when you’re relying on that type of system,” she says. 

Add in a global event forcing everyone into lockdown, and the team realized they couldn’t put off finding a professional workplace platform any longer. They needed a better way to keep track of their facilities and who was using them.

We needed an easier way to capture who is actually coming into the office and manage our space.

Ernest Parker
Senior Workplace Operations Manager

THE SOLUTION

Saving time and money by collecting the right data and tracking the results

Like so many organizations, Earthjustice quickly went remote in response to the pandemic, despite never having tried WFH before. 

To support this pivot (and prepare for the eventual return), Ernest and Lily needed space management software that could simplify both daily operations and long-term planning. With OfficeSpace, they were able to help employees easily access the newly hybrid office and provide their leadership with high-quality data for future real estate decisions. 

This, coupled with new shared seating options, ensured remarkable buy-in and an incredibly positive response across all levels of the organization.

I honestly don’t know what we would have done without OfficeSpace!

Lily Rosenthal
Office Associate

Intuitive tools for employees

Employees at Earthjustice get to choose whenever and wherever they use the office. To support this flexibility, the facilities team implemented intuitive OfficeSpace features designed for the end user. For example, the mobile app helps everyone find, book (and cancel), and check-in to desks in seconds, while Who’s In helps them easily align their schedules with those of their colleagues.  

Lily also reports that people really enjoy the wayfinding features within OfficeSpace, and how easily they can share a link with coworkers to let them know where they’re sitting.

It’s just really easy to do things in OfficeSpace, so it’s been easy to get buy-in from staff, too. Even our higher-ups use it.

Lily Rosenthal
Office Associate

Reliable data gathering for leadership

While OfficeSpace is making it easy for Earthjustice employees to navigate and use their hybrid offices, on the flip-side it’s also helping their leadership and Future of Work team make more informed, long-term decisions around strategy and real estate.

Knowing where people actually are is so important to us. Now we can see how people are interacting with our spaces and which desks are being booked.

Lily Rosenthal
Office Associate

As they continually evolve and adapt their return to the office strategy, Ernest and Lily have been reviewing and synthesizing desk utilization data, taking the insights gained, and using them to guide future space decisions. Through metrics like bookable seat occupancy, occupancy by office, and desk cancellations, they’re getting accurate, real-time data about office use—critical information they’re using to inform their workplace strategy for 2023. 

“We know that going forward, as we collect more and more data over time, we can be even more confident in those decisions,” says Ernest.

Standout client support for the facilities team

While Ernest and Lily equally make use of their new tools and analytics, they also note how much they appreciate the level of client support and regular check-ins they receive from their OfficeSpace Client Success Managers.

It’s been an incredible experience with regular client success calls from our account managers and project manager.

Lily Rosenthal
Office Associate

Better still, the support team actually delivers on promises—so much so that it’s even come to the attention of the SVP of Operations at Earthjustice. “If OfficeSpace says they’re going to do something by a certain date, it’s always done,” reports Ernest. “The SVP was just just blown away by that.”

THE RESULTS

Visibility into the workplace—now and into the future

Offices at Earthjustice are in flux, but Ernest and Lily no longer have to rely on hunches and guesses to make decisions. Using OfficeSpace, they’ve come up with a ‘magic number’ for office sharing ratios for each location. And they’re using the real-time data on actual office use to help leadership make informed real estate decisions going forward. This data has already helped Earthjustice make a decision about an office where the lease was up, confidently saving them future expenses.

As they continue to parse data for other locations to see what their long-term approach to hybrid will be, Ernest and Lily are confident they have the tools they need to make these decisions. 

Meanwhile, they’re using OfficeSpace data to “mix it up” in the short term, looking for opportunities to use their current spaces more creatively. Instead of simply wondering whether they can convert some spaces into collaboration zones, for example, they can now clearly see what types of spaces employees want and need. 

OfficeSpace continues to support Earthjustice as their organization evolves and its needs change. Working with their Client Success Team, Earthjustice has a trusted partner and a reliable source of truth to guide their decisions now and into the future.