Leading MedTech company reinvigorates the workplace

In the heart of a sprawling campus belonging to a global MedTech enterprise, a profound transformation is underway. Navigating the complexities of a post-pandemic world and a spin-off from their parent company, they sought to redefine their workplace strategy by pioneering adaptive learning environments.

Faced with the challenge of redefining an experience that satisfied both employee needs and business goals, the company turned to their trusted corporate real estate partner, JLL, for guidance. What unfolded was a growing collaboration grounded in innovation, learning and transformation—made possible by JLL Consulting Services.

Scoping the challenge

As a prominent leader in the life sciences industry, the company was eager to upgrade their workplace to resonate with its evolving identity and support its diverse functions. The campus, housing the latest healthcare technology alongside aging office infrastructure, was ready for a change. The aim was clear: create a workplace that not only enhanced productivity but also invigorated the professional and social lives of its employees.

Leaders from the company articulated the need for a partner who could provide more than just a refurbishment or redesign — and determined JLL was up to the challenge.  

"Our focus has been helping our client see what the future of work could look like for them," said Ed Nolan, JLL Consulting Services Executive Managing Director with nearly 40 years’ experience in workplace strategy.

Together, JLL and the client’s corporate real estate (CRE) team determined the goal: to craft a framework and spaces that would facilitate modern ways of working while fostering a vibrant company culture. Ultimately, the client wanted to create campus excitement, test new ways of working and boost employee engagement in the transformation process.

Test-and-learn: Iterative progress toward a future-focused office

JLL Consulting began with the bold idea of a Future of Work learning experience — a dynamic space designed not just for work, but for experimentation. The space became a testing hub for new workplace strategies, offering waves of employees the chance to engage with and provide feedback on their work environment. “It’s one of the most intriguing times to be involved in this kind of work,” said Nolan. “We’re at the cutting edge, experimenting with how hybrid models impact company culture.”

We created a bespoke “test-and-learn” program, which defined who was going to test, how we were testing and the target outcomes of the pilot, so that the client could use those learnings to inform their future workplace strategy and designs.

Together, we developed three different work neighborhood layouts with a variety of different meeting room sizes, technologies and enclosures which included a work café and concierge.

We set up two different pilot models for testing: one directed the teams through each of the neighborhoods, while the other enabled employees to choose how to use the neighborhoods to promote cross-functional collaboration. Each test included 175 people and was six weeks long. JLL led the first two testing rotations, empowering the client to lead the three more rotations.

To encourage employee feedback and engagement, we hosted focus groups, administered pre- and post-pilot surveys, and provided a QR code for immediate comments and feedback. Results were shared throughout the pilot periods, enabling the client to iteratively refine their strategy during the experiment.

This partnership brought together a myriad of JLL’s capabilities, from strategic consulting to design solutions to facilities management, ensuring an integrative approach. “We came in as strategists to help manage the change and recommend future actions,” said Lisa Hsiao, Senior Director in JLL Consulting Services.

The incorporation of cross-functional teams and ongoing communication exemplified the depth and breadth of a successful CRE collaboration. “Our strength lies in partnership-driven success,” Nolan said. “We co-create with our clients to achieve the best outcomes, which fosters engagement with everyone involved.”

Beyond the theoretical: Results

As anticipated, the experiment proved to be more than an operational test bed; it became a vibrant hub of employee enthusiasm, enhancing both campus excitement and workplace experience. This test-and-learn program is part of the larger workplace transformation and reshape of the client’s vision and culture for their HQ: aimed to improve the workplace experience, consolidate and renew existing spaces, experiment with new ways of working and enhance communication between their real estate team and the community.

“We created excitement about what the future could hold—a place for people to kick the tires and really understand new ways of working,” said Hsiao.

With feedback integrated into each phase, the hub was increasingly optimized for both individual focus and collaborative synergy. For example, we tested workstation sharing with highly varied results across teams, so we took a deeper look at each team’s sharing profile.

• Employees had a definitive preference for one of the three work neighborhood layouts. Further, 78% of pilot participants “satisfied” and “very satisfied” with the pilot collaboration spaces.

• Interestingly, self-reported ways of working (percentage of focus, collaboration, time spent in the office, etc.) did not change significantly during the pilot. Instead, the revised spaces enhanced the quality of collaboration.

• Teams who allocated zones for teams tended to use the collaboration spaces closest to them, as opposed to teams that were scripted to rotate through each neighborhood sequentially. This shows how easily a team can stay in one place rather than use a variety of spaces and connect with others, unless encouraged to do so.

• The concierge service was especially popular — with more than 85% of participants reporting they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” — leading to a formal concierge program launch across the company and underscoring the effectiveness of reimagining service elements alongside physical changes.

“The biggest value was the transformation and employee engagement; making the change tangible,” said Hsiao. “The design was a pretty typical open workplace, but it was new to them and helped employees and leaders visualize what could be.”

The pilot also led to further business transformation projects like creating the company’s first set of workplace standards, which were also rolled out globally.

Partnership down to a science

Looking forward, the partnership between JLL and the MedTech company is poised for expansion. As workplace strategies are refined and implemented across global sites, the lessons from the hub provide both organizations with a robust framework for continued evolution. In fact, the client requested JLL head up their Transformation Management Office to not only scale the strategic global transformation, but also to drive the revitalized Workplace Experience workstream.

“When we’re given the opportunity to scale this type of project globally, we embrace it,” said Nolan. “It’s about traveling together on a journey that extends beyond a single project and into long-term transformation.”

JLL’s collaboration with this MedTech titan is a testament to the power of strategic innovation in reshaping the modern workplace. By leveraging JLL’s extensive expertise across consulting and design disciplines, the company realized a transformative vision for their workplace — not just by changing physical spaces, but by influencing culture and igniting innovation in the office to complement their cutting-edge R&D space.

As both organizations continue to learn and evolve collaboratively, the future of work remains full of possibilities to transform not just spaces, but the way people engage with work.

Workplace transformation made possible by JLL

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