New Work at Ginesta: more flexibility, fun and sustainability

If we look back three years, it would be hard to imagine that we have already come so far in terms of flexible working. The corona lockdowns and the changing demands on a modern employer have given us a strong tailwind along the way. We made good use of this without grumbling and are now grateful that we took our homework seriously and worked through it consistently during this process. And we can now proudly say that we have been able to make ourselves even more attractive to customers and employees in three major steps.

Step 1: new branches in our market areas

The Real Estate business thrives on local expertise. Only those who are close to people and properties can do their job properly. With four newly opened offices in just over three years – Zurich North, Zurich City, Pfäffikon SZ and, from February 2023, Winterthur – we now cover all the regions in which we have managed mandates in recent years and where we want to have an even stronger presence in the future. We have always opted for spacious and prestigious properties, which on the one hand represent the Ginesta image as a high-quality real estate service provider. On the other hand, we have focused on ensuring that all offices offer sufficient space for employees from other locations to work there. This promotes the company-wide exchange of knowledge and collaboration on comprehensive or special projects as well as a better work-life balance for our employees. Because today, we organize our working day according to the tasks at hand, pay attention to short distances and have the freedom to do so in harmony with our private schedules.

Step 2: the introduction of new digital tools

All employees have mobile devices at their disposal. And to ensure that everything runs smoothly, we have been using digital telephony successfully since summer 2022. You no longer see any telephones on our desks. Anyone who is on a call, video call or conference call uses headphones and enjoys above-average voice quality without annoying background noise. We have implemented state-of-the-art online collaboration tools for order processing, which can also be used, for example, to distribute assistance tasks in the assistance pool during vacations or other absences. This also allows tasks to be completed when and where they best fit in with personal daily planning.

Step 3: a new mindset

Those who are used to working at a fixed workplace still have the option of doing so today. But especially those who travel a lot or who, for example, like to have a private lunch in the city at lunchtime or want to go to the gym closer to home after work, can simply look for the nearest office to work at. In this way, everyone can organize their day according to their preferences, which leads to a high quality of life with a high degree of self-determination. Since we took this step, we have all felt that we have been richly rewarded for it. Because communication has improved, just as the journey to a specialist in a particular field has become shorter. Simply because we know each other better as people. This modern way of working together requires a great deal of mutual trust and employees who know how to deal with it. And here, too, we have only had positive experiences and have found that this model attracts employees who are aware of the price of additional freedom and gain a great deal of motivation from it, which directly contributes to our overall performance. Or in other words: Win-win.

“For me, the Ginesta model has nothing but advantages: I am closer to our potential clients, I regularly meet my team colleagues from all offices in the greater Zurich area and, finally, I have more time for private activities as I don’t have to make unnecessary journeys.” Riccardo Fazzino, Acquisition Consultant

Priceless: the other benefits in the area of sustainability
With the switch to greater flexibility and greater proximity, we are seeing many other positive effects on people, quality and, above all, the environment. The distance for our customers to reach us has become shorter and we can be on site more quickly for viewings or for our management mandates. This means we spend significantly less time in the car, avoid pointless journeys, use public transport more often and thus massively reduce our_{CO2 emissions} without our customers having to compromise on the quality of our service. A positive balance not only for our travel expenses, but above all for the climate. We have also noticed that, thanks to clever digital solutions, less is printed out. After all, all that paper weighs heavily and hardly offers any added value these days. As a result of all these measures, which also virtually eliminate local distances thanks to more frequent meetings and video calls, the sense of community at work and in the pursuit of sustainability has become noticeably stronger. You feel part of a modern company that has all aspects of a good future in mind. A meaningful approach that pays off.
 

 “The opportunity to work in different offices is always a change of perspective for me, which promotes my agility and also sharpens my senses for my job.” Jessica Ecknauer, Acquisition Consultant