Managing a high-impact workplace transition under pressure.

A relocation that became an organisational crisis.

Following a major acquisition, the organisation needed to rapidly separate from its previous corporate ecosystem and establish its Belgian headquarters in a new Brussels location. Approximately 200 employees — across support, mobility and operational teams — were moving into a building designed with only 65% workplace capacity relative to headcount.

The project was already complex: hybrid work policies were still being defined, organisational structures were evolving, and the physical workspace had been planned under assumptions that were no longer guaranteed to hold.

During the transition, global leadership announced a mandatory shift in attendance policy — fundamentally changing occupancy assumptions and creating significant operational, organisational and human pressure. A relocation initiative had become a critical organisational transition requiring immediate change management, occupancy governance and employee alignment under highly unstable conditions.

Occupancy and capacity analysis establishing a clear picture of the gap between physical capacity, headcount and evolving attendance expectations — creating a factual basis for decision-making.

Structured interviews with employee representatives and unions — ensuring the change management process was grounded in actual employee concerns and aligned with social dialogue requirements.

Development of occupancy scenarios to navigate the tension between the physical capacity constraint and changing attendance policy — enabling the organisation to make informed, documented decisions.

Co-design sessions with management and employee groups — building shared understanding, collective buy-in and practical solutions to the spatial and organisational constraints.

Co-design of Golden Rules, Floor Agreements and Team Agreements — providing the organisation with a layered, practical governance model for hybrid presence and shared space usage.

Practical workplace usage guidelines integrated into a dedicated employee onboarding booklet — translating governance principles into day-to-day behaviours from day one in the new building.

From crisis management to stable operating model.

The programme was structured to respond to a situation that was evolving faster than a traditional project timeline could accommodate — combining rapid diagnostics with structured governance design and sustained employee engagement throughout the transition.