KOHLER

Kohler set out to transform Building 83 – its largest office hub within its HQ campus, housing mission-critical product development, IT, ventures, design, and engineering teams – into a workplace that supports retention, engagement, and productivity, addressing persistently low employee sentiment scores.

Key Outcome:

Despite Kohler's reputation for craftsmanship, innovation, and spa-like customer experiences, its largest office facility, Building 83 – home to 730 employees across design, engineering, IT, and ventures – was internally one of the lowest-scoring workplace environments. Employee sentiment surveys pointed to uninspiring décor, limited cultural expression, inadequate food service, outdated technology support, and a lack of spaces for both focus and community. Recognizing the impact on retention, engagement, and productivity, HR – not real estate – led the call for change.

Key Challenges:

• Overcoming Kohler’s propensity to invest in customer-facing investments only – products, spas, golf courses – with office space often taking a back seat and bypassed on improvements despite several historical efforts to design better workplaces
• Kohler's largest and most critical talent groups were housed in an underperforming facility, with consistently low sentiment scores
• Gaps across décor, cultural expression, food service, technology, and space for both focus and community
• A need to reframe the workplace as a people strategy rather than a real estate decision
• Aligning any changes with Kohler's long-standing culture and heritage while still enabling meaningful transformation

Kohler partnered with Cushman & Wakefield to build a comprehensive workplace strategy and BOLD Workplace Guidelines, gathering input from factory workers to executives before committing leadership to a phased, pilot-first transformation of Building 83.'

What We Delivered:

• Employee surveys, interviews, and workshops across all levels of the organization to inform an outcome-driven vision focused on retention, productivity, and engagement
• BOLD Workplace Guidelines – five people-centered principles covering design excellence, wellbeing and inclusivity, agile collaboration, consistent global experience, and embedded sustainability
• A strategic roadmap prioritizing employee wellbeing, cultural alignment, and scalability, structured to pilot, learn, and then scale successful elements
• A 6,200-sf pilot – a “living lab” on Building 83's 4th floor – featuring modern daylit workstations, huddle rooms, phone booths, focus pods, renewal spaces, and a refreshed kitchenette, with cross-functional teams rotating through and providing before-and-after feedback via Experience per Square Foot™ (XSF) surveys

The pilot validated Kohler's approach and is already informing a master plan for the rest of Building 83, with construction underway on additional floors and a full campus upgrade planned next.

Measured Outcomes:

• A clear, phased roadmap: the pilot-first approach lets Kohler test, learn, and adapt, so future investment is validated by data before it scales. 
• A Building 83 master plan shaped by pilot learnings and XSF survey insights, prioritizing community hubs, expanded food and wellbeing offerings, a centralized sample library, concierge support services, and inclusive design
• A shift from cost-per-square-foot to people-focused metrics – productivity, collaboration, renewal, and culture alignment – so every phase of investment is measured against employee impact
• BOLD Workplace Guidelines now serve as a global playbook, giving every Kohler location a consistent framework as the transformation rolls out
• Demonstrated leadership commitment, with active executive involvement helping drive the initial success