Continental Office Environments: Workplace Innovation

Corporate Spotlight
Written by Amanda Gaines
Monday, 01 October 2007
The executive team at this office environment solutions provider found opportunities by enhancing the company’s hidden strengths. XIra Sharfin, president and CEO of Continental Office Environments, might take offense if you refer to his company as ‘that big furniture dealer.’ The company’s 69-year history does include designing and supplying furniture, but for the past few years, Sharfin and executive vice president Rachel Friedman have concentrated on how the company’s other strengths have led it to create innovative workplace solutions. “When I got to Continental a little more than two years ago, I saw a great furniture company with service capabilities,” Sharfin said. “I envisioned the future of the company creating value propositions for clients by integrating our products and services, rather than being another commodity player.” Rachel Friedman and Ira Sharfin When Friedman rejoined the company in 2006 (she had started as a designer in the early ’90s), the experience she’d gained in the past decade working for Herman Miller put her on the same page as Sharfin. “The place he wanted to take Continental was exactly where I had found the greatest success in working with Fortune 500 companies,” she said. “I was excited to come back to Continental and develop the company, which was already providing many of these services, by coordinating and marketing it in a way we hadn’t done in the past.” Breaking it down Continental’s capabilities can be divided into four areas. The first is what the company is widely known for, which is furniture and accessories. This division encompasses everything from workstations to wood case goods to tables, lighting, seating, and storage. The second division, architectural products, started at Continental as an independent, wholly owned company for flooring materials. It has since diversified into movable walls and will expand into modular ceilings in the future. The company provides planning, project management, and graphic design through its third division, professional services. Together with Continental’s fourth division, workplace services, which covers services like installation, refurbishment, reconfiguration, warranty, repair, and asset inventory management, Sharfin and Friedman see the future of the company. “We have dedicated associates who are specifically billable service providers, and some are even based at our larger customers’ sites,” said Friedman. “The services we offer can stand alone,” said Sharfin. “They’re adjacent and related to the furniture and flooring products, but we can do projects or engagements for clients that didn’t buy our furniture. We’re still strong in our traditional divisions, but now we’re more powerful and having more fun.” Changing pace As Continental provided many of these services for free in the past, Sharfin and Friedman had to not only market these services as billable to their customers, they also needed to change the face of their company culture. Prior to Sharfin’s appointment as president and CEO, the company was focused on and run by sales leadership. “Many associates provided what we now call professional and workplace services without a strong reporting structure,” Friedman said. “When I came on board, these associates were assigned to me and became part of the team. In our first meeting, I told them they were the future of the company. They looked at me like I was crazy, but it couldn’t have been more true.” Although the sales consultants were optimistic about the services, they needed a bit of hard evidence, as the company had never structured its service offerings. Under the guidance of Friedman, the professional services team has grown by nearly 500% in the past year, and four out of five of Continental’s multimillion-dollar engagements have been fully integrated solutions. “With one person running all of our services and setting one strategic direction, we can lead with those services,” Sharfin said. “And the sales consultants are finding they can pull through furniture business by having valuable service offerings.” Service opportunities When looking at the culture at Continental, much has changed in the past few years. Morale has improved because associates can see a clear vision and direction for the company. Continental’s reputation as being a full-service provider for workplace solutions has also grown, enabling the recruitment of top-notch talent as well as expansion into Indianapolis. “Our culture is much more collaborative,” said Sharfin. “Associates are working differently, our team structures are more efficient, and people are excited about growth. If your company is growing and you’re profitable, then employees see opportunity.” The executive team has also developed opportunities for associates to grow personally. Branded Continental Cares, the company’s outreach program is dedicated to improving environmental sustainability, the wellness of people—both internally and externally, and the strength of the community. “We’re all about developing a brand our associates and customers can appreciate and value,” Sharfin said. “If people don’t appreciate your brand, they won’t want to work for or with you. We’ve branded Continental Cares because we do care about the community, the environment, and social issues, and we want our company to make a difference in those areas.” “From a competitive perspective, it is difficult to imitate what we’ve done or what we’re able to do. We challenge ourselves to think about what’s the next service innovation; what does it look like? That way of thinking opens the door to us to control our destiny,” Friedman concluded.

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