FUNCTIONAL FOCUS
A Focus on People
KBR’s functional departments keep our business moving. In Functional Focus, we highlight these departments and tell you about how their work affects you and benefits KBR. To kick off the new year, we’re featuring the newly renamed Real Estate Solutions (formerly Real Estate Services) and the multifaceted, collaborative work they do to support and promote KBR’s global presence.
More than “Services”
KBR’s Real Estate Solutions (RES) team is responsible for much more than just acquiring and outfitting office spaces. In fact, a lot of the things one encounters — and maybe takes for granted — when at a KBR location are the result of strategic planning, collaboration and execution. RES has a global reach and offers a comprehensive suite of environmental and space solutions that includes:
Location security and access
Business-specific facilities strategies
Facility maintenance
Lease acquisition and management
Mail services
Parking administration
Reception services
Setting a New Standard
Prior to the pandemic, RES had been developing new global standards for KBR spaces. The launch of our Reimagining initiative last year — with reimagined workplaces a key area of focus — gave RES the opportunity to accelerate its efforts in implementing the new standards. The result — efficient, modern, fun environments that encourage collaboration, that accommodate more flexible work arrangements, and that cater to the specific needs of our customers.
The new standards include:
- A reduced footprint
- Consistent, standardized office, work cube and work bench sizes
- The latest audio/visual and IT standards for greater connectivity and productivity
- Standard employee-to-workstation ratio with increased hoteling and hot desking, enabling greater flexibility for employees who split time working remotely and in an office
These and other features can already be seen at our new Government Solutions U.S. hubs and will be implemented at new KBR locations worldwide and rolled out at existing locations over time. For example, at the KBR Tower in Houston, RES has consolidated our footprint and reorganized our presence on the floors we occupy. They’ve also converted to hoteling concepts in new quads. And with Zero Harm ever at top of mind, existing spaces have been laid out to ensure that our people can maintain appropriate distance and outfitted with dividers and safe, touchless features where possible.
Sustainable Spaces
When it comes to sustainability, RES is helping KBR walk its talk in numerous ways. Reducing our footprint at KBR locations helps increase energy efficiency, reduce waste and cut back on our overall carbon emissions. Before the pandemic, RES had surveyed KBR sites worldwide and was developing an action plan to convert our locations to renewable energy sources. Additionally, RES developed minimum sustainability standards that new and legacy KBR locations must adhere to and also created a list of sustainability-focused criteria for site selection.
“RES used to be primarily about finding the right location and keeping costs low. Now we’re much more involved in helping KBR become the company of the future through the development of these new sustainability criteria. We’re asking questions like, ‘Is this building sustainable? What kind of energy does it use? Does the landlord offer centralized recycling?’ We’re using this information, figuring it into KBR’s decision-making, and helping keep our sustainability commitments.”
— Frank Antene, Director of RES
Team-of-Teams Mentality
Like all of our functional businesses, the amazing work done by RES isn’t accomplished in a vacuum. RES works closely with business leaders across the company to equip teams with the tools they need to deliver for our customers, to meet any strict requirements, and to anticipate growth and the needs of the future. RES also works closely with Marketing to ensure everything is on brand — from wall signage to paint colors to furniture patterns — so that our spaces look like KBR.
