Connecticut Water

Space and tech solutions that prioritize hybrid

Named a “Top Workplace” in a nationwide employer feedback survey, Connecticut Water was already a great place to work. But the utility leadership wanted it to be even better – more environmentally sustainable, more tuned in to the needs of its employees, and more intentional with its physical footprint. So decision-makers reached out to PLASTARC to find out how to optimize their office space with a workforce that is steadily growing and more distributed.

When PLASTARC began working with Connecticut Water, its offices were set up for individual work. Not only was that inefficient, since roughly 38-65 percent of their workers are in the office at any given time, but it was unsustainable, given the increasing size of their workforce. Leaders wanted worker-friendly and efficient offices that could serve this larger workforce, without enlarging their physical footprint. Additionally, office tech wasn’t meeting the needs of their remote workers, office space was dark and uncomfortable, and leadership was worried about a loss of organizational culture.

PLASTARC discovered that Connecticut Water employees come to the office for team work and prefer to do “focus work” at home. We recommended transforming cubicles into shared and collaborative space, in diverse configurations that encourage vibrant group, as well as casual, interactions and cater to a variety of ergonomic and sensual needs. We also redesigned little-used individual offices to accommodate multiple managers and used employee feedback to develop remote-work set-ups, to help integrate remote and in-office workers.