Savills expands integrated workplace strategy and change management platform across North America

Manhattan, NY Savills has continued expansion of its workplace strategy and change management practices, including the appointment of Benay Josselson as executive vice president and head of workplace strategy and change management for North America, new change management hires in Houston and New York, and expanded workplace strategy leadership across the East Coast.

The investments are part of Savills broader strategy to grow its consulting services platform and bring a more integrated perspective to complex workplace and real estate decisions. By combining workplace strategy and change management under unified leadership, Savills is helping clients consider not only how people work and what that means for their space, but also how real estate decisions intersect with other changes employees and organizations are navigating.

This approach gives clients a more complete view earlier in the decision-making process, connecting business objectives, workplace requirements and organizational change before major real estate decisions are made.

“Understanding how people work is critical to determining what kind of workplace an organization needs, but that is only part of the equation,” said Josselson. “You also need to understand what else is changing across the business, what employees are navigating and how a real estate decision may add to or influence that change. Bringing workplace strategy and change management together helps clients make decisions with a fuller view of both the business and people impacts, rather than looking at real estate in isolation.”

Josselson brings more than 20 years of experience spanning organizational leadership, communications, human resources, operational strategy and law. She advises executive teams on the intersection of business strategy, workplace and people and leads multidisciplinary teams that translate those insights into workplace and change strategies. Her role connects workplace strategy and change management with project management, relocation and occupancy planning, giving clients a holistic view of the operational, cultural and employee implications of workplace transformation.

This integrated structure reflects the increasingly complex environment in which companies make workplace decisions. Organizations may be managing changes in leadership, technology, operating models, workforce expectations or business strategy while also evaluating their real estate. Understanding how those factors interact can help companies determine not only the right workplace solution, but also how to introduce and implement change in a way that supports employees and business objectives.

“When you change the workplace, you are often changing much more than where someone sits,” Josselson said. “You may be changing behaviors, routines, team dynamics or expectations at a time when employees are already adapting to other shifts across the organization. Looking at those factors together allows us to help clients anticipate impacts, plan for them and bring people through the change more effectively.”

As part of the practice’s growth, Savills has expanded its Change Management presence in Texas by adding Sofia Fonseca de Nino, senior director, change management, and Rachel Williams, manager, change management, strengthening the firm’s Houston-based capabilities in response to growing client demand.

Fonseca de Nino brings 25 years of experience advising senior executives on workplace, workforce and workflow transformation. An expert in pre-design strategy and architectural programming, she helps organizations connect business and organizational priorities with how, where and why work gets done. Since applying agility principles with Spotify in 2017, her work has increasingly focused on how emerging technologies, including AI, are reshaping business strategy, work and the workplace. She holds an AI and Business Strategy certification from the MIT Sloan School of Management and will participate in the Vatican’s AI and Work Forum this fall. Throughout her career, Fonseca de Nino has advised organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies, including bp, Marathon Oil, Spotify, Convoy and HP, with experience spanning the energy, technology, corporate and institutional sectors. She also serves as a lecturer in the University of Houston Hines College Graduate Thesis Program.

Williams brings strategic communications and change management experience to the Houston team, where she leads workplace transformation initiatives and integrates change management with workplace strategy. She partners with leaders and stakeholder groups to assess how workplace changes may affect employees, build alignment around new ways of working and support successful adoption. She joins Savills from Capgemini, where she held roles spanning organizational change management consulting, employee communications and social impact.

Together, Fonseca de Nino and Williams strengthen Savills ability to help clients evaluate the people and organizational impacts of workplace decisions alongside their real estate and business objectives, while deepening the firm’s change management capabilities in Houston and throughout Texas.

Savills has also added Christine Freed as director, change management in New York, further expanding the practice’s capabilities across the Northeast. Freed brings more than a decade of experience in human resources, organizational effectiveness, leadership development and culture transformation. She works with clients on leadership alignment, stakeholder engagement, impact analysis, business readiness and communications, with expertise helping senior leaders and managers understand how change will affect their organizations and prepare employees to navigate it successfully.

Before joining Savills, Freed served as senior manager, People at View the Space, where she partnered with executives on people strategies across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Earlier in her career, she held human resources roles at MACRO, The Economist and Wiley. Her background further expands Savills change management capabilities beyond the built environment, helping clients consider workplace transformation within the broader context of organizational priorities, employee experience and other changes occurring across the business.

The firm has also expanded the leadership responsibilities of two senior Workplace Strategy professionals to support growth of the firm’s consultative practice and deepen collaboration with brokerage teams across key East Coast markets. Jamie Feuerborn has been appointed Northeast Region Lead, where she will continue to strengthen client relationships, support team development and drive growth across New York and the broader Northeast. Johanna Rodriguez has been appointed southeast region lead, where she will apply her deep market knowledge and leadership in Washington, D.C., to support clients and Savills teams while continuing to grow the practice throughout the Southeast.

The regional appointments are designed to further connect workplace strategy with change management, brokerage and other Savills consulting services capabilities. This connectivity allows teams to engage clients earlier, understand how business and workforce priorities are evolving and bring those considerations into workplace and real estate strategy from the outset.

The continued expansion of workplace strategy and change management is part of Savills broader investment in an integrated consulting services platform that advises clients throughout the real estate lifecycle — from early strategy and planning through implementation, organizational change, project delivery and relocation.