Auditing Workspace

Richey May

Picture it! It is January of 2020, you employ over 200 people who are mostly CPAs and Financial gurus who work 9 to 5 at a physical office, which looks like it was last updated in the early 1980’s. There are private offices on the perimeter and high-walled cubicles in the center. You are looking to move and update your space. Oh, and you hire a firm called DORIS to collect data from your people to make well-rounded data-driven decisions (because you are smart, and ahead of the curve).

You have this wonderful document full of insights from which you know the next steps to take; Real Estate Broker (check), architect (check), now the quest to find the perfect space and utopia ensues. Ok, ok, back to the nasty reality that a PANDEMIC hits. Those 9 to 5’ers are sent home to work for over a year, your business changes, you start hiring remote employees all across the country, and yet…there are questions that linger;

      • “Do we still need a physical office?”
      • “What is the purpose of our office?”
      • “Does all this DORIS data still hold true even though our entire world has changed?”

Meet Richey May, DORIS’ favorite financial smartiepants who figured it out, leading us all to believe you can too.

Who is Richey May?

Founded in 1985, Richey May provides assurance, tax, business advisory services, and technology solutions to clients throughout the Denver metropolitan area and the United States.

Location

Englewood, Colorado

Industry

Financial Services

Organization Size

230

Decibel Diplomacy: Navigating the Symphony of Office Sounds

Did you know?

Though many employees describe the office as “loud”, the challenge is actually more nuanced than that. The office is actually very quiet, clocking in at an average of 48.90 and 48.40 decibels for the main office and One Maroon, respectively. For reference, 40 decibels is comparable to a library, while 60 dB is typical of an average office. However, when a space is open and quiet, conversations can easily carry, disrupting those nearby. Quiet spaces are breeding grounds for noise because it’s easier to hear unwanted sound (aka noise). Think of it this way – someone having a conversation in a busy coffee shop would bother you a lot less than that same person having that same conversation in a library. 

Voices of Richey May

Josh Jensen
Mortgage Banking Audit Partner

“Sometimes, you can be crippled by indecision, but DORIS helped expedite the decision-making process. Once we got DORIS involved, it seemed like the beginning of the end to get a space that would attract talent.”

Jake Lawrence
Mortgage Banking Tax Partner

“I worked at a previous firm and they moved workspaces too. That process was… well, we were not involved. It felt very different with DORIS, open to wanting feedback and hearing from everyone, not just certain individuals. That set it apart for me; everybody’s voice was important.”

Brook Moore
Employee Experience Manager

“Our employees felt heard. No one liked the old building. The real benefit was that our employees got to see that we do care about how they feel and they do have a say”

Richey May leaders think DORIS is great:

“DORIS was a great investment. We gave our architects the DORIS reports and said ‘This is your starting point’. We made sure that at least some portion of all the solutions were implemented, whether from the wood accents to the sound masking and extra soundproofing between the offices.”

Moving in and Moving Forward

Richey May didn’t stop listening once they were moved into their new space. Oh no, they used DORIS methodologies to gather teams together in their neighborhoods at the HQ office to create their own designs for wall art. When you walk into each neighborhood, you get a sense of their character immediately before even talking to someone.