Singapore – Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life services opens its new APAC House, an innovative office that boosts employees’ all-round wellbeing, supports new ways of working and benefits the community and environment. The workspace boasts a full suite of digital innovations to make work life simple, productive and most importantly, enjoyable.

Located in Mountbatten Singapore, the 10,000 sqft workspace houses 130 staff from Sodexo’s APAC team. It was designed with input from employees, combining a balanced combination of hardware (a comprehensive suite of smart technologies) and heartware (the most flexible working arrangements) to improve every employee’s Quality of Life.

According to Sodexo Group’s global Employee Engagement Survey 2018 conducted by an independent research firm, Sodexo APAC reported an engagement level of 87%, the highest among all regions. The APAC House is yet another collective effort by Sodexo to engage employees, retain talent and to showcase the future of workplace and food solutions.

Johnpaul Dimech, Regional Chairman, Sodexo Asia Pacific:
“Our new APAC House puts our team at the heart of what we do. Sodexo improves the Quality of Life of the people we serve, and it starts right at home here with our new Asia Pacific hub office, which serves clients in more than 18 territories in this region. Our strong employee engagement is what drives the culture and business of Sodexo and we hope to further partner our clients to extend these strong outcomes to them with a suite of new technologies and innovations to improve their workspaces too.”

Supporting New Ways of Working

Sodexo’s progressive culture allows employees the flexibility to work remotely without watching the clock. Employees have the flexibility to adopt work arrangements, which allow for their own personalised balance of work-life arrangements. It supports fully the Singapore government’s push for forward-looking human resources practices.

Providing flexible work arrangements is also in line with Sodexo’s goal of increasing women in senior leadership to 40% by 2025.

At the same time, the APAC House’s Activity Based Working (ABW) concept accommodates a myriad of working styles and preferences including:

  • Hot Desking: At the APAC House, all levels of staff, including senior management, work on hot desks, which can be booked via a mobile application. The dynamic seating arrangement keeps teams productive and task-focused, and promotes inter-department interactions.
  • Focus Pods: The quiet enclosed area allows staff to concentrate on critical jobs at hand without distractions.
  • Xchange: Occupying one-third of the APAC House, this café-style environment is filled with vibrant energy – think good music, table football and all-round good vibes for chilling, working and having fun.
  • The Lab: An ideation room, decked with an interactive touch screen, TVs and flexible furniture. The space provides a casual setting for design thinking and workshops.
  • Height Adjustable Desks provide greater comfort and promote better health.

Smart thoughtful technology to increase comfort and energy savings

In facilities management, Sodexo’s IoT platform links up more than 200 sensors to provide intelligent insights, drive automated actions and send alerts to improve efficiency and comfort.
From the entrance to the bathrooms, Sodexo’s new office is an intuitive space powered by innovative technologies, with a comprehensive suite of features is implemented in this new office.

Energy savings measures include:

  • Air-con, lights and sensors: Air-conditioning and lights in meeting rooms turn on when people enter, and switch off when the space is unoccupied.
  • Automated temperature settings: The optimum temperature across the office is set at a comfortable 24 deg C. Any variations to this set-point will trigger an automatic update to correct the temperature.
  • Building Energy Management: Historic trends of energy usage and specific strategic asset classes of electrical distribution are available in real-time for monitoring and targeting.
  • Remote Tracking: Provides for remote tracking 24/7 by Sodexo’s facilities management experts.

Space optimisation and wellbeing: Occupancy sensors and comfort sensors (for temperature, humidity, air quality, etc.) allow the team to monitor space use and wellbeing of co-workers. These sensors also trigger alerts for maintenance when required, reducing redundancies in servicing.

Easy access to fresh wholesome foods: Balanced meals are always within easy reach for those who wish to dine in for lunch, thanks to the automated RFID smart kiosk and Sodexo’s Smart Chef mobile app. Using the app, staff can peruse the menu, find out the day’s promotions and easily purchase their meals and beverages without the need for product scanning.

Caring for the Community and the Environment

Aspretto, the APAC House’s in-house café offer presents a cup of possibilities to the community at large. The cafe uses only ethically sourced fair-trade coffee and tea products, providing a source of sustainable livelihood for smallholder farmers.

Aspretto has also initiated a Barista Training Programme, designed to support trainees from challenged backgrounds. Trainees include students from Mountbatten Vocational School, a special needs institution imparting skills in food and beverage preparation and housekeeping. The programme supports graduates with future employment opportunities.

Proceeds earned from the sale of items at Aspretto go towards Stop Hunger, a global non-profit organisation founded by Sodexo employees to fight hunger and malnutrition.

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