Background: A National Financial Services Leader Reimagines Its Workplace for the Hybrid Era
Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE: NNI), a publicly traded financial services company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, operates in sectors including education finance, technology, telecommunications, and renewable energy. With over 7,000 employees and 24 office locations nationwide, Nelnet faced growing pressure to modernize its workplace strategy amid shifting employee expectations and rising real estate costs.
As hybrid work took root, Nelnet realized that its legacy model of assigned seating and static office layouts no longer aligned with how its people worked. The organization needed a platform to bring structure and strategy to flexible work—and turned to Maptician.
Challenge: From Assigned Seating to Strategic Flexibility
Before partnering with Maptician, Nelnet relied heavily on spreadsheets to manage seating assignments and track employee movements. The process was manual, time-consuming, and lacked visibility. When the pandemic hit, the company transitioned 6,500 employees to remote work in just one week—a massive effort that underscored the need for better tools.
Compounding these challenges was the need to rethink office layouts and utilization. Entire floors sat underused, and there was no easy way to understand who was in the office, when, or how space was being used. Nelnet's leadership needed a data-driven solution to modernize workplace operations and support long-term flexibility.
Solution: Purpose-Built Flexibility with Maptician
Nelnet selected Maptician to implement a smarter, tech-enabled approach to workplace management. The transformation began with the Haymarket office in Lincoln and quickly expanded. Key capabilities deployed included:
- Fully reservable desks and meeting rooms tailored to employee preferences and team needs.
- Integration with access control systems, allowing real-time visibility into badge-ins and occupancy.
- Scenario planning tools that helped Nelnet model different seating and space consolidation strategies.
- Return-to-office tools that tracked employee attendance and aligned seating policies accordingly.
- Daily reporting and dashboards to keep leadership informed on space utilization and trends.
Maptician's platform enabled Nelnet to bring clarity and control to hybrid work—turning once-chaotic office operations into a streamlined, data-informed strategy.
Results: A Smarter, More Responsive Office
The results of Nelnet’s workplace transformation were immediate and measurable:
- Increased flexibility: Employees gained autonomy over their work schedules, supported by intuitive space reservation tools.
- Real-time data on occupancy: Facilities teams could instantly understand who was in the office and how space was being used.
- Optimized real estate: With scenario planning and seat utilization insights, Nelnet reduced excess office space and avoided unnecessary real estate costs.
- Efficient return-to-office planning: Maptician’s tools helped manage phased returns, ensuring employee safety and maximizing seat allocation.
With Maptician, Nelnet built a workplace strategy rooted in data, employee experience, and operational agility.
Key Takeaways for Other Enterprises
Nelnet’s journey offers a roadmap for organizations navigating hybrid work at scale:
- Flexibility needs structure: Adopting flexible work doesn’t mean abandoning planning. A platform like Maptician brings order to the chaos.
- Data turns insights into action: Visibility into how people use space drives smarter real estate and workplace design decisions.
- Technology empowers change: When the right tools are in place, companies can adapt faster—and serve their people better.
Final Thoughts
Nelnet’s transformation demonstrates how large, complex organizations can use workplace technology to evolve with confidence. By leveraging Maptician to manage space dynamically, Nelnet replaced a rigid, outdated model with a system that adapts to the way work actually happens today.
"Maptician has been instrumental in helping us rethink how we use our office space. Their platform gives us the real-time data and flexibility we need to manage a hybrid workforce effectively. It’s not just software—it’s a critical part of how we design and execute our workplace strategy." — Terry Heimes, Chief Operating Officer, Nelnet
