It wasn’t enough to relocate the law firm into a state-of-the-art office; Stephen J. Shechtman and his two partners wanted the move itself to go as smoothly as possible.
“There’s a lot of focus on quality of life issues at our firm,” said Shechtman, managing partner of Shechtman, Halperin Savage. “Certainly compensation is important … but there are often issues that are equally or more important.”
When the 55-person firm moved from Providence’s financial district to a renovated mill building at 1080 Main St. in Pawtucket earlier this month, its three partners’ top priority was to limit stress and distractions for their staff. This was no small task.
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Shechtman said the firm formed a committee with 10 senior staff members to coordinate the move. The group covered everything from planning the renovations at the new office to communicating with employees, updating them primarily via e-mail on the firm’s plans.
“People want to be informed,” he said. “They want to know what was going on, so we were very focused on that.”
Keeping the entire staff involved began six months ago, Shechtman said, when the partners bused everyone to the vacant mill building for a tour with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, prior to the $1.5 million renovation project.
The staff also completed frequent surveys about what kind of amenities they wanted at the new office. After they moved into the remodeled building recently, they were surveyed again to gauge the success of the move. “It was flawless because it was very well-planned,” the managing partner said.
A key ingredient to the “flawless” move was not to disrupt employees’ work schedules, he noted. Employees lost only 3.5 hours of access to their computers, which were unplugged at the former office at 86 Weybosset St. at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. A team of IT technicians worked overnight, reinstalling the computers before staff arrived at the new building Friday morning.
Nancy Ridley, human resource consultant and founder of HRExpress in Johnston, said that supporting employees is just as important as the logistical aspects of moving an office.
“Change is disruptive,” said Ridley, “not only to operations but to people. This is the time when the resilience of your employees is put to the test.”
Ridley noted that, if kept involved in the process, employees could provide solutions to the challenges faced in a move. Without knowing what Shechtman, Halperin Savage had done, Ridley also advised that companies survey employees both before and after a move to gain feedback and learn their needs.
In addition to meeting space demands, Shechtman said, addressing employees’ needs was one of the main reasons the law firm relocated. Just 2.8 miles away from the Providence office, the new location has had little impact on staff commutes while offering new amenities.
Shechtman said the building has 125 parking spaces, saving employees about $2,000 per year on parking in downtown Providence. It is also located along several bus routes.
The new facility has a fitness center with locker rooms. The company cafeteria, which has indoor and outdoor dining areas, features a 50-inch flat-screen TV with surround sound. (In comparison, the Providence office had a small TV with tin foil wrapped around the antennas for reception.)
The firm occupies about 17,000 square feet of space on the first floor. The Providence Center, a behavioral health group, leases the rest of the 45,000-square-foot building.
“[The building] was designed in an attempt to create the most appealing work environment that we could,” Shechtman said, “and I think we’ve accomplished that.”
