Tech from the Heart
The Search for a New
Sustainable Workplace
Insight Canada knows exactly what to look for in a new workplace — in a word, sustainable.
The end of one chapter means the beginning of another for Insight Canada.
After having called our iconic, glass-studded Montreal headquarters home for the last 20 years, we’re making a move — literally. Insight Canada has sold the building and is in pursuit of a new, modern workplace — and expectations are high.
In May 2022, Insight unveiled a new, highly sustainable global headquarters in Chandler, Arizona. The more than 200,000-square-foot facility holds LEED Gold accreditation and features:
Solar panel installations in the parking lot that power 80% of the facility’s energy needs during peak hours.
100% LED lighting with occupancy sensors to reduce wasted electricity in empty spaces.
Building automation systems to adjust lighting, HVAC and window shades.
On-site electric vehicle charging stations.
1,000 trees and plants placed across the building’s interior to improve air quality, along with abundant natural sunlight to reduce fatigue.
With that facility as a guiding light, sustainability is top of mind for Insight Canada.
The decision to downsize wasn’t easy, but leadership agreed it was a practical and responsible choice.
“We had a very large building that was inefficiently used,” says Insight Canada Senior Vice President and General Manager John Dathan, who spearheaded the decision to switch locations.
“When you talk about the environment, we were heating a 100,000-square-foot building that was housing very few people. We wanted to get a smaller space that will meet the needs of our teammates. But we also knew we needed to support the new, modern style of ‘we’re going to work in different places at different times, but we can connect.’”
After all, “hybrid” is now a defining characteristic of the modern workplace.
A reported 62% of Canadians are splitting their work time between home and the office — a phenomenon Insight is experiencing firsthand.
“We have definitely seen over the last three years that work from home and hybrid is what our teammates want,” says Dathan.
Dathan sees the eventual new headquarters as having a “start-up vibe.”
Although the new location has not yet been confirmed, Dathan says leadership has a good sense of how they plan to architect the workspaces.
He says 25% of the office should be devoted to desks assigned to teammates who come in regularly. As Dathan explains it, some people desire a daily change of scenery to separate their personal and professional lives. Providing that in the workplace is one way Insight prioritizes teammate mental health.
For another 25% of the office, hotel desks will be available for drop-in employees without a set in-office schedule.
The other half will be a mix of open collaboration spaces and meeting rooms both large and small.
The primary goal of the office space is to promote collaboration. Boosting creativity and challenging ideas happens by getting teammates together regularly again, Dathan points out.
After deciding to move the Canada headquarters, the next step was to choose where.
Although located near a subway station, the previous office had limited transportation options and suffered from frequent road congestion. So, when leadership asked teammates what they hoped for in a new location, accessibility topped the wish list.
Known as a veritable transportation hub, downtown Montreal came up as an obvious choice.
Montreal boasts one of the best public-transit systems in North America. Downtown, multiple lines and bus routes intersect — and trains arrive on the regular — providing multiple commuter options around a new office location.
“The place we’re looking at [without anything finalized yet] is close to public transportation but also rental bikes,” says Dathan. “It was taking a long time for teammates to get into work, which was really time that was wasted. Being downtown is going to make it easier for teammates and more efficient.”
The variety of public transportation options also supports Insight’s ambitions to be a more sustainable company.
In April 2020, when far fewer people drove to the office, global carbon-dioxide levels were 17% lower compared to 2019 peaks.
Despite the smaller projected space, our goal is to bring more teammates into the office, for both sustainability and corporate culture reasons.
We believe a strong corporate culture — which we’re very proud of — is essential to our success. Our values of hunger, heart and harmony create a positive and productive work environment that attracts and retains top talent.
“If everyone’s working remotely, there may be someone in a different department you wouldn’t have the opportunity to work with on a normal basis,” says Dathan. “We’re hoping to redevelop that culture of just teammates working together. Sometimes you get energy from other people. I think it creates a positive environment and it helps not only with the ‘harmony,’ but the ‘hunger’ and the ‘heart’ as well.”
Wherever Insight Canada decides to move, the new headquarters will be rented instead of owned. This will provide greater flexibility than the previous location and allows Insight to focus on sustainability in new ways.
“Many of our clients are downtown,” says Dathan. “It’s going to help us attract talent as well. If we’re close to public transportation, if we’re in a great environment, it will attract teammates who will want to come and workfor Insight.”
Heighten your expectations for hybrid work. Insight empowers(and powers up) your workforce wherever they are.
Learn more
