Functional Focus
KBR’s functional teams keep our business moving. That’s why we’re proud to showcase their work, recent wins, improvements and new initiatives, and highlight how their success benefits all of us.
Functional Focus
KBR’s functional teams keep our business moving. That’s why we’re proud to showcase their work, recent wins, improvements and new initiatives, and highlight how their success benefits all of us.
KBR Real Estate Solutions – Vital Solutions for KBR’s Global Footprint
KBR’s Real Estate Solutions (RES) team plays an important role in ensuring the success of our team of teams around the world, providing a multifaceted set of environmental and space solutions that include lease acquisition, facilities strategies, location security and much more. In this Functional Focus, we are exploring some of RES’ recent work that’s helping KBR solve the great challenges and opportunities of our time.
Setting the Standard
RES has continued to develop its global standards, which were launched in 2021. The Global Office Space Standards were established by KBR Corporate Planning Services and provide criteria for offices, workstations, restrooms, wellness areas and conference rooms. RES also created a standards and design/floorplans approval process that applies to renovations and new office spaces. You can find more information here.
“The global RES team ensures a sustainable approach in workplace projects. For example, in the Chennai (India) office, we have installed potted plants with a high CO2-to-oxygen conversion rate. In Houston, our recent efforts have resulted in 57 tons of materials diverted from landfill to recycling/composting centers and saved 160 tons of CO2 emissions.” – Frank Antene
Max FLEX
RES is leading on KBR’s new flexible working approach, which enable employees to work at the times and in the places that work best for them and their teams, subject to their ability to perform their role well and meet customer demands.
New KBR builds and renovations to existing sites reflect the need to provide spaces that facilitate KBR’s Next Gen of Flex Work. RES has considered the balance between focus areas and collaborative areas to help teams connect and tackle complex problems that require deep thinking.
Flexible working can mean less assigned space and more open space. To keep things organized, KBR implemented the MyWorkspace tool (https://myworkspace.kbr.com/) in 2021. The system currently maintains floorplans for 27 locations in five countries, with more being added each quarter. This online reservation tool can be used by any employee, from anywhere. Most sites offer numerous open/reservable spaces.
Collaboration area - Houston
KBR colleagues can also make use of the Hummingbird app to book workspaces.
Some sites have even implemented QR codes on signage which allows colleagues, through the Hummingbird app, to reserve a space by simply scanning the code. More information can be found here.
RES and KBR’s Net-zero Journey
As part of our ever-evolving sustainability standards, KBR’s Corporate Facility Operations team thoroughly details the various facility types within KBR’s portfolio so that we can better understand our emission and consumption rates on both the micro and macro levels. Annual data collection includes reporting on each site’s energy, water, refrigerants and waste outputs. Understanding where we are now helps us further our success in hitting KBR’s long-term goal of achieving net zero by the end of the decade. While data collection and analysis is straightforward in some respects, it often requires KBR on-site facility managers and their corporate support teams to get creative, as they are at the forefront of facility analysis within the U.S. and other regions across the globe. Our local facility managers strive throughout the year to make this data attainable. A big thank you goes out to them for their efforts!
Check the Manual
The KBR Global Facility Manual brings together the RES team’s wealth of expertise and advice. The manual essentially has two main functions: first, to set a broad standard that can be applied across KBR’s global footprint as much as possible; and secondly, to aid an employee who may be setting up a new facility or stepping into the facility manager role for the first time. The manual is frequently updated and covers as many aspects of KBR day-to-day operations as possible, — including security, vending, reporting, sustainability collection, mail services and more — while also balancing various logistical and cultural norms that can vary from site to site.
“The Global Facility Manual is, and should remain, a living document that can be updated and enhanced, evolving at the same pace as our company globally.” – Brian Elmer, Facility Operations Manager, Real Estate Solutions
The KBR Real Estate Solutions team empowers others to go above and beyond. Get in touch with the team via email.
