In 2018, Belfius launched ‘BeWow’ (Belfius Way of Working) an inspiring and innovative project aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of all employees throughout their working day. The initiative, brings physical elements (place of employment), digital elements (hardware and software) and behavioural elements (organisational structure, culture, leadership and empowerment) into balance.

At the end of 2018, more than 5,000 employees were already working in a BeWoW environment. In 2018, Belfius won the Corporate HR Award for this project in the "Inspiring Workplace & Future of Work" category.

The initiative has meant that each of the 28 floors of the tower are being redesigned, each with a different ‘theme’, in which the employees could decide. The 25th floor - where we took photos and made a film- has a ‘Fashion’ theme featuring a red carpet and catwalk in the coffee corner. These themes are part of the playful and inspiring nature of “BeWow” in helping to induce creativity and productivity.

Another aspect of the project was the decree that every employee deserves an ergonomic chair, instead of only providing them to people with back or neck problems. Why provide a solution to a problem, when you can stop the problem from even occurring?

With the redesign of the upper floors of the tower, Belfius chose the RH Axia chair for their entire staff, with the project featuring the installation of 4154 chairs in total across 33.697,78m² and 28 floors of the tower, over the next 3 years.

The option to work from home and the evolution towards a paperless office resulted in a workspace where people don’t necessary have their own desk. Personal items can be stored in a locker at the end of the day and picked up again the next time they need to be in the office.

One of the requirements for the new chair was therefore that it had to be easily adjustable, since you may have another chair the next day. The RH Axia was already known within Belfius as an ergonomic chair for people with back problems. Given the satisfaction of this group of users and the ergonomic features of the chair, it was considered the best choice when compared to other brands.

In addition to the ergonomics of the chair, the colour choice and the possibility to match it with the company’s branding certainly contributed to the purchase of the chairs.

“We received very positive feedback of the Belfius employees that are working on the floors where RH Axia is already in use. People who, due to circumstances, have to return to a floor that is not yet equipped with RH Axia chairs are frequently asking for a replacement of the old chairs on their floor as quickly as possible.” - 3. Stijn D’Hollander, Building Space Management & Support, Belfius