B.O.S.S. (Build the Optimal System of Security) Retirement Solutions is a Utah-based company that expanded into Idaho in October 2021. While waiting for their permanent office in Meridian to be built, they rented offices at Regus at The Village in Meridian. Office Administrator Shay Calhoun was new to B.O.S.S. at the time and had this to say, “Starting in a rented space felt like we weren’t 100% settled. This new space is so beautiful, and it’s been so great to have something permanent.”
Reception
Building & Protecting Wealth
Ryan and Tyson Thacker founded B.O.S.S. Retirement Solutions in 2008. They focus on optimizing social security, minimizing risk, minimizing taxes in retirement, legacy planning, and maintaining one’s lifestyle in retirement. With a focus on helping families get to a point where they can retire and protect what they have earned, B.O.S.S. is passionate about helping families be able to have peace of mind no matter what life throws at them.
Valuing Employees
Shay believes the business’s success is due to the founders being great businessmen and employers.
“They really take care of their
people and make you feel valued.”
“Tyson and Ryan make sure every employee knows how much they value every individual’s contribution to the team. I think that’s a huge reason they have been so successful.”
Large Conference Room
Keeping Teams Connected Virtually
With a growing number of locations, B.O.S.S. Retirement Solutions has intentionally kept its employees connected. The advisors and office administrators each have weekly meetings via zoom for anyone not in Utah, with another large meeting monthly. In addition, the offices also look similar. Every office building has a similar layout with multiple private conference rooms used to meet with clients, a bullpen where all the advisors and team members work closely, and a striking blue wall in the space.
The First Out-Of-State Office
So why expand? The Thackers envision B.O.S.S. becoming a household name across the country, necessitating expansion. Moving to Meridian has been an excellent trial for out-of-state growth. The geography and culture are very similar to Utah. Helping in the expansion was senior advisor Ryan Landvatter. When the owners began discussing expansion, Landvatter volunteered to lead the efforts. In doing so, he acted as an extension of the culture and values of B.O.S.S. Retirement Solutions, making the October 2021 expansion a huge success.
Now that B.O.S.S.is in its permanent home in Meridian, the staff is looking forward to growing the business and meeting its goals. With such a great business model, employees, and financial services, B.O.S.S. Retirement Solutions looks forward to becoming the household name its owners envisioned.
About a year ago my dad went to the pet store and picked up three female bunnies. He has a bunny pen in the backyard (he calls it Bunnytopia) where he enjoys feeding and playing with the bunnies. This summer he had a surprise, well, make that seven surprises. At some point baby bunnies started emerging from the covered area of Bunnytopia. Apparently one of the bunnies purchased at the pet store was indeed a male and that bunny has been living his best life for some time now.
The commercial interiors industry has seen quite a few surprises emerge from “Construction Bunnytopia” during the past year. We have all been busy with our projects and then out of the rabbit hole has popped supply chain disruption, inflation, the great resignation, employees wanting to work from home instead of the office, and most recently recession.
What do we do about it? Well, I suppose we can follow my dad’s plan of action. Step 1. Smile and enjoy the baby bunnies. Step 2. Jump in the pen and catch the male bunny and move him somewhere else. Step 3. Pick the favorite baby bunnies and keep them. Sell the rest back to the pet store for a good return on investment.
In business terms I suppose we could say 1. Observe and understand business challenges. 2. Solve problems, which might involve strategic talent and personnel changes. 3. Be agile and be ready to implement plan B in order to help our bottom line.
Happy problem solving,
Scott Galloway
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While OEC in Boise, ID, is known for helping clients create amazing spaces that attract and retain talent, we do much more than that. In addition to our excellent furniture installation and design services, we excel in Division 10 specialties and Commercial Doors. To give a better overview of what we can do for your building or furniture project, we have broken it down.
Commercial Furniture Services:
OEC is the largest commercial furniture dealership in Idaho, with a sizeable in-house installation team of professional tradesmen. Combined with our outstanding workplace consultants and designers, we help our clients create an amazing space where employees want to work.
Our experienced workplace consultants work with clients to understand the needs of their organization. Then, they collaborate with OEC designers to address those needs with furniture solutions. Finally, our operations team coordinates to deliver and install the furniture on time and on budget.
Moves
In addition to installing new office, government, or educational spaces, our install team can make office moves. If your company is moving offices, our experienced team can move all your existing furniture to your new location. We are experts in commercial furniture, so we know how to properly handle and transport everything with extreme care.
Reconfigures
If your organization’s needs have changed, the OEC team can help you reconfigure your furniture to meet those needs. For example, we can move furniture to new locations, change workstation layouts, move walls, and more. A reconfiguration is a great way to rethink your space using your existing furniture.
Cleaning
Cleaning furniture is an integral part of keeping your equipment in top shape. OEC’s installation team is trained and ready to help clean your workstation panels and chair furniture whenever you need it. Our state-of-the-art cleaning machines break down stains and clean fabrics to help make our workspaces more sanitary. We can clean your task chairs, side chairs, club/lounge seating, sofas\couches, and panels, and wipe down your worksurfaces and leather furniture.
Acoustics
Making an open office a quiet place to work can be a challenge. That is where acoustic solutions come into play. At OEC, we have access to various excellent office acoustic solutions. Whether you are looking for hanging panels, ceiling or wall panels, or even a sound masking product, we can help.
Acoustic panels can become interesting art pieces while also absorbing sound. Sound masking systems are easy-to-install speaker systems that create white noise in targeted zones throughout your office. Whichever solution works best for you, we can help procure and install it for you.
Commercial Window Coverings
Every building needs window coverings to manage solar heat, glare, and employee comfort. Luckily, OEC is your Idaho leader for commercial window covering installation, service, and repair. We work with top brands to provide you with motorized and atomized shades, horizontal and vertical blinds, roller shades, honeycomb shades, and drapes. Not only do we procure and install these products, we can also help service and repair them.
Storage Racking
Transitioning to the construction side of OEC’s offerings, storage racking is the first item on the list. Storage racking can make all the difference for companies with large amounts of inventory. Whether you have a large warehouse or a large room, storage racking will help keep your products safe and organized.
Racking can also be used in more residential settings. For example, many multifamily complexes will provide storage solutions for their tenants. Whatever you need to store, OEC can help install your racking and shelving.
Prefab Construction
OEC’s Construction team specifies, procures, and installs a variety of products, including lockers, operable walls, and visual display boards to name a few. So whether you are a general contractor, facilities manager, or building owner in Boise or out of state, we can help.
One of the main reasons employees enjoy working from home is control; control over their schedules, their focus, and their postures. When working from home, no one cares if you kick your feet up on the couch or get cozy under a big blanket. You can take any range of postures in any number of rooms to find how you work best.
However, in the office, few employees have that level of control. They are restrained to one workspace, sometimes in one posture, visible to everyone. Building an alluring office should be a key part of your return to work strategy.
How Do Create An Alluring Office By Giving Employees Individual Control?
The discussion around returning to the office often focuses on work life balance, but there is more. Offering individual control is critical when luring remote workers back to the office. Places where people can find privacy, will be among the most coveted spaces in an office. According to Steelcase research, three of the top four elements people value now relate to private spaces.
It makes sense! After months or years spent in the privacy of the home, it is no wonder that employees now look for private and often quiet spaces in an office. Those spaces need to be available, whether someone needs to make a personal phone call or hide away for a few hours to focus. So, creating nooks, visual separation, and other focus rooms is more important than ever to draw back employees.
How Do I Create A Less Distracting Office?
Distractions at home are different than distractions in the office. For starters, home distractions can be anticipated and even scheduled. Children leave and return at specific times, and chores like laundry can be flexible.
In the office, you can’t predict who might walk by, stop to ask a question, or otherwise throw you off your groove. So, removing as many distractions as possible when trying to entice employees to come back is critical. Many of these distractions are audible, so better acoustical solutions, privacy walls, or sound masking systems can help manage sound.
Other distractions at work come from too-open sightlines. When an office is completely open, employees can often become distracted by coworkers. When employees must have heads-down time, adding movable screens or creating quiet nooks are great privacy solutions.
How To I Design a Biophilic Office Environment?
An excellent feature of working from a home office is quick and easy access to natural light and plant life. Scientifically we know that humans are positively impacted by natural light and plants, so the more we interact with them, the better. However, many offices can not offer exposure to natural light or an outdoor patio.
If your office has artificial lighting, it would be wise to invest in lighting that will mimic a circadian rhythm (the body’s internal clock). This translates to blue light in the morning, white light in the afternoon, and red light in the evening. And if you lack views of the outdoors, biophilic office design can come in handy.
The biophilia hypothesis states that humans have an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other life forms. If this is true, filling your office with plant life is a great way to improve oxygen levels and create a welcoming and relaxing environment. Incorporating biophilia can have healthful benefits and be as easy as using natural materials in your office, pictures of nature, leaf prints, or potted plants.
Organizations seeking to create a more alluring office to entice their employees back to the office would do well to 1. Give employees individual control over their workspace. 2. Remove distractions. 3. Bring light and plant life into the space.
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Outgrowing your house is painful. There comes a point when the space you once thought you could never fill becomes cramped and uncomfortable. Many families have felt this throughout time. The twist is that SRA is not a typical growing family but a business that has outgrown the converted house it has been inhabiting.
Original Office: A Converted House In Meridian
SRA provides a mix between finance and insurance. Like how individuals set aside money in a tax-deferred 401k account for retirement, SRA utilizes a tax code called 831b that helps businesses set aside tax-deferred money for risks that fall outside traditional insurance. In essence, they help companies to save money for a rainy day.
SRA Creates A New Meaning For Working From Home
Two years ago, SRA moved from its downtown Boise office to the heart of downtown Meridian. They were a small team needing a larger space and liked the idea of converting a house into a place for their business. What used to be the entry became a waiting room, there was an old fireplace in the conference room, and the bedrooms were converted into private and shared offices. The team could enjoy a beautiful patio with a pavilion in the backyard when the weather was nice.
Original Conference Room With Fireplace
A Phased Move
Unfortunately, like any growing family, it did not take long for SRA to outgrow their adorable and historic little house. With rooms filling up and more staff set to join the team, it was time to move. It took a while to find the right fit, but they finally settled on two adjacent suites in Eagle, providing them with five thousand square feet.
The next step was getting the space ready. “We were like fire drill trying to figure out who we were going to use, and with supply chain issues, we needed to decide quickly,” says Marketing Manager/Project Coordinator Bre Cohen. “The OEC team was so responsive and scheduled a meeting right away. We told them our deadlines (which were rushed), so we broke the project into two phases addressing the top priorities first. OEC immediately saw our vision; even the first drafts blew us away.”
Conference Room
Settling Into Their New Home
The new office is entirely different from the little house SRA is leaving behind. Light wood floors lead down a brightly lit corridor framed by a wall of glass-encased private offices. On the other side are more offices broken up by what the team calls “The Space,” a large collaborative space with a sleek leather couch, armchair, television, and work table. Directly behind “The Space” and separated by floor-to-ceiling glass is a dazzling conference room with a modern and moody chandelier and oval conference table.
Private Office
While SRA continues to function like a family, they are no longer working on top of each other. Instead, they have leg room. With room to breathe and expand, SRA is ready to do what they do best; help businesses protect themselves against risk.
Covid changed the workplace forever as employees adopted work from home. Now employers want their teams back in the office. Can they compromise? In this issue, employers make their case for the office.
Sometimes the best way to move forward is with an honest conversation. Back once more to share onsemi’s return-to-work compromise is Test
Development Engineer Dave Stout. In our last edition, Dave shared how he has successfully managed remote teams from home. In this edition, he shares how empowering managers is an essential step to bringing remote teams back to the office.
Dave Stout Test Development Engineer in Boise onsemi
Localized Control: Empowering Managers
Imagine being a leader with offices around the world implementing a return-to-work policy. Not only is it complicated, but also impossible for any one person or even team to manage. Yet, this is where onsemi’s leaders were a few months ago—trying to bring back hundreds of employees to offices all around the world who were comfortable at home. While they are still transitioning, the key to their
success has been leaning on their management teams. “There is no replacement for face-to-face interaction, and I think that is important to the executive team. At the same time, they recognize how difficult it is to go straight back to the office after working remotely for two years. So, they decided it was in everyone’s best interest to have employees work directly with their managers (at least in the U.S.) to determine what works best for their teams.” This way, managers can advocate for what is best for their team.
Connect With Employees
With control in the hands of the individual office and manager, each team can function at its best. For Dave, that means he can have honest conversations with staff about their productivity. “With Covid, you found out quickly who couldn’t efficiently work from home. I had to sit down with some of my team
members to solve those problems. I think it is crucial to make it an “us” issue rather than a “them” issue. One of my employees has terrible internet at home, so he needed to be in the office for better internet. Another lives in a small home with kids, so it is distracting. Having those conversations and understanding the root of the issue helps us have an open dialog and solve the issue. If I were to say, ‘You’re not getting anything done; therefore, you must work in the office,’ that wouldn’t go over well. Instead, we can reach a conclusion together with it being their idea. Then the employee is more open to the differences between their situation and someone else’s.
By bringing human connection into the equation, onsemi is on its way to a successful return-to-work compromise.
Covid changed the workplace forever as employees adopted work from home. Now employers want their teams back in the office. Can they compromise? In this issue, employers make their case for the office.
By now, almost everyone has heard the ultimatum that Elon Musk gave Tesla employees around working from home. In short, the message was, get back in the office or get out of Tesla. This move has inspired some companies while others choose to navigate things differently. To weigh in on the return-to-work compromise from a management point of view, we invited David Berry back to share his perspective.
In our last edition, Senior Project Manager, David Berry shared his experience working from home and some of the great ways it has helped him prevent burnout and prioritize his family. In this edition, David shares three reasons why the office still plays a vital role in the success of a business and its employees.
David Berry Senior Project Manager in Boise POWER Engineers
Realigning Employee Expectations
POWER Engineers recognizes that things have changed over the last two years, and they must take time to realign expectations. “A challenge companies are facing is that if you told someone two years ago that they could work from home two days a week, they would have jumped at it. Now bringing people back to the office is like pulling teeth.” To help realign employee expectations, they are breaking down requirements by job role. For example, it makes sense from an accountability standpoint to have production staff in the office. Meanwhile, an engineer can be hybrid. Depending on the job role, industry, and a person’s social skills, some individuals need to be in the office.
Socialization & Personal Interactions
Regarding productivity, David recognizes that while employees have been more productive, they lack socialization. “When you’re in the office, you might have banter that lowers your efficiency but improves your network, socialization, and maybe your self-actualization. That is a key benefit of having the office. It is great being in the office to see staff, but you also collaborate more. You also talk about what it means to be an employee in a company, and those personal interactions are so important for personal growth.”
Promoting From Within
Perhaps the most valuable part of being in the office is growth. POWER tries to promote leadership within the company. “A lot of those decisions are based on direct interaction with employees. It is difficult to determine growth on phone interviews or email responses. A lot is based on the knowledge and expectation of how someone will interact and their leadership skills. I think it will affect their growth trajectory if people don’t go into the office to meet with key staff. In that regard, the office will always be an integral part of any company.”
Whether it is for accountability, socializing, or personal growth, the office still plays a vital role in an employee’s success.
Erin Warwick is a finance director at TELEO Capital in Boise, but recently she has been wearing many other hats. One of those hats includes bringing the new TELEO headquarters online.
TELEO Founding
TELEO Capital is a lower middle market private equity firm. They are targeting opportunities in the technology & software, healthcare IT, business services, and industrial sectors. Private equity firms like TELEO Capital are the go-betweens connecting investors to private companies looking for capital or helping investors buy into private companies to diversify their portfolios. Three coworders founded TELEO in 2018 by three coworkers who decided it was time to build something themselves. George Kase and Andy Martines specialized in deal sourcing, while Robb Warwick complemented their skills with his operational experience. Together they formed a strong team that would eventually lead to a company with two offices. One is in Los Angeles, California, and now, a beautiful headquarters is in Boise, Idaho.
Private Office
TELEO Building Its Space To Support Its Culture
Over the last few months, it has been Erin’s job to bring the owners’ vision to fruition. With 27 employees split between two offices, creating and maintaining a strong culture has been top of mind. “We have a culture of integrity, honesty, hard work, and fun. The founders want to create a place where our team can work hard and go home to be fully present with their families. They know the importance of balance and believe that if you take care of yourself, the quality of your work improves.” To help both teams benefit from this culture, the new office in the 11th & Idaho building has many open workspaces to accommodate the LA team when they come to town. This encourages camaraderie between the offices and helps them feel connected although geographically apart.
“We have a culture of integrity, honesty, hard work, and fun. The founders want to create a place where our team can work hard and go home to be fully present with their families. They know the importance of balance and believe that if you take care of yourself, the quality of your work improves.”
Erin Warwick | Finance Director
Conference Room
Designing Their Space For The Future
OEC designed the extra room to support the future of the company. “Robb calls [this office] the ‘Center of Excellence.’ He dreams of bringing acquired companies into this space to get them on their feet and share in our culture. Then, once they grow enough, they can start looking for an office space of their own.” By using their space as a “launching pad,” TELEO will be able to intentionally grow their business by bringing more portfolio companies into their office. The new office encompasses three-quarters of the floor. It is filled with workstations, private offices, a kitchen, and Erin’s favorite, a giant OEC conference room with a view of the foothills.
Kitchen
Now enjoying its new headquarters, the TELEO team has its sites set on the future. A future guided by the principles of its name. When it came time to pick a name for their new company, the founders took a while. The Greek route word “teleology,” coined by Aristotle. It has the same meaning as the famous Arabic phrase “It is finished,” as pronounced by Christ on the cross. This idea of completing, performing, and accomplishing resonated deeply with the founders and is what guided them then and what will guide TELEO Capital into the future.
Movement is important in nearly every aspect of your life. Regarding your work life, movement is key to having a healthy, productive, and pain-free work experience. Here are three ways I like to incorporate movement into my work routine to add variety and give my body a break from sitting in the same position.
Change postures.
This is where furniture can really help. In my situation, I have a height adjustable desk. I move it in four different positions during the day. Regular ergonomic sitting position, standing, perching at my chair armrest, and down low so I can put my feet up. Also, my task chair is ergonomic and has some natural flex and bounce, which helps.
Get up and walk around the office.
Every couple of hours or so, I’ll take an intentional break and go to see somebody different in the office. Sometimes just a quick catch-up at their desk, or I’ll even jump in the car and do a short gas station or coffee run. This week I was feeling a bit antsy and even did a walk around the block. It was pretty hot, so just one loop sufficed.
Change the work location.
I like to work in different areas. Right now, I am sitting upstairs on a soft sofa with my feet up. Not only does this give my body a rest from the typical ergonomic office chair, but it places me in a different physical environment which helps change my mood and clear my mind.
Drop me a line sometime and let me know how you incorporate movement in your work experience.
Keep moving.
Scott Galloway
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Despite employers’ best efforts to entice everyone back to the office, people are dragging their feet. Their reluctance isn’t about COVID. If you look at the data, far more people have been to a restaurant, movie theater or traveled on an airplane than who’ve gone to the office, according to the Kastle Back to Work Barometer. People’s resistance doesn’t seem to be about flexible work either. Hybrid work has been embraced by 71% of global leaders. They are giving people the option to work two-to-three days from home or other locations.
Hesitancy to return theories range from the dread of wearing work clothes to long commutes. But maybe the most obvious reason is being overlooked. Do people believe anything has really changed if everything looks the same?
In offices around the world, organizations have adopted hybrid work policies. However, they haven’t changed their offices to support the new realities of hybrid work. Some say they’re waiting until employees are back in the office to make changes. But hybrid work means people will come and go at different times. Without changes, the office is often likely to feel empty and lack energy. After two years of isolation, who wants that? Hybrid work also means people will spend a lot more time on video calls. So, they will look for more privacy to meet with remote teammates. Or worse, they’ll do video meetings in the open and become the hybrid version of the office loud talker.
Hybrid work policies will work better if an organization’s space changes in tandem.
The new era of hybrid work means people will have choices about where to work and, in many ways, the office has to work even harder to attract people and keep them coming back. Offices will need to earn people’s commute by meeting a new set of needs: support hybrid work, establish connections, create a sense of belonging and promote wellbeing — all of which suffered during the pandemic.
A NEW INSPIRATION
This requires a shakeup in thinking about the future of the office. The workplace should draw inspiration from a new source — the vibrant communities in which we live. Jane Jacobs, author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” argued decades ago people need diverse neighborhoods to thrive. Places where homes, bustling sidewalks, shops, parks and public spaces come together and “exist in extraordinary variety.”
WHY A HYBRID NEIGHBORHOOD?
A hybrid neighborhood exudes vitality and energy — nothing is static — places and activities adapt and change. The neighborhood is where people form relationships, feel a sense of belonging and build trust.
Today, organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant agrees. “A better vision for a workplace is a community — a place where people bond around shared values, feel valued as human beings, and have a voice in decisions that affect them,” says Grant. The best neighborhoods are ones that foster inclusion and exude personality, where ideas are born and trends are launched.
This is what people at work need more than ever before.
BUILDING A HYBRID NEIGHBORHOOD AT WORK
Organizations can create diverse neighborhoods in their workplace as a tangible way to communicate their values and shift their culture. The workplace can create the same energy and connection people feel in a cafe or in the privacy of their own home.
Neighborhoods at work, like the ones people live in, are a homebase for people and teams, departments or project teams. They include a variety of interconnected spaces that support different types of work, a mixture of uses and the natural flow. They include:
Individual spaces assigned to one person or shared amongst the team
Collaboration spaces for in-person and virtual interactions that support the different ways people need to come together
Places with appropriate privacy for individual heads down work or finding solitude and rejuvenation
Areas to gather, socialize and learn with teammates
Neighborhoods become a destination. People feel comfortable and confident they can find their teammates and the tools they need to do their work.
For a neighborhood to truly work for people it has to be based on a fundamentally new employee experience.
A Framework for Employee Experiences
Equity: Create a more equitable and inclusive experience for all participants. Set a design goal to eliminate the gap between co-located and remote employees.
Engagement: Design settings for a range of experiences that help people participate fully, focus deeply and stay in flow longer.
Ease: Design a variety of intuitive virtual and physical experiences that are easy to navigate and control.
4 KEY DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Every neighborhood has its own distinctive character — four key design principles guide their creation.
Me + We
Just as city neighborhoods have homes and shared spaces, the new neighborhood at work supports both individual and team work. The amount of space for each will vary, but they support people doing different types of work throughout the day. They help people make quick shifts and give people more options and autonomy over their day.
Fixed-to-Fluid
Great neighborhoods evolve when new people move in or a new store opens. At work, change is constant, sometimes in small ways as teams need to grow, or collaborate. A hybrid neighborhood is modular and flexible — embracing change instead of resisting it.
Open + Enclosed
Privacy in the office has become even more important during the pandemic. People struggled with open office plans, after working from home, and are sensitive to their privacy. Great neighborhoods blend private and public spaces, making the neighborhood diverse and dynamic.
Braiding Digital + Physical
Urban planners are creating smart cities and hybrid office neighborhoods need to do the same. Video meetings are a new norm in the office and everyone needs to interact equally. The technology needs to be easy to use, but also the right space and size.
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