The 2019 workplace innovation forum kicked off to a great start with Perry Timm’s, a self-proclaimed professor and, unconventional careerist, who at the heart of it, wants to inspire and enlighten people and allow them to take control of their own working destiny. So how can you do this? You tell a story about Marvin Gaye.
Perry Timm’s and Marvin Gaye
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“When Marvin entered the music industry, his energy and his purpose was to become the Black Frank Sinatra. But the record company had other ideas, they wanted a pop star, someone to appeal to the all the white teenagers. So, the record company, changed Marvin’s energy, they changed his purpose, simply by changing all the scores one octave higher, which made it impossible to essentially ‘croon’.
By the 1970’s he was a well renowned artist, and together with a member of the four tops, he wrote a protest song, the record company disagreed, so Marvin went on strike. History now tells us; he was able to record that song. The song was “What’s Going On”, but what we see here is an artist stretched by his employer to create the energy that got him to be successful. Marvin then knew he could be successful in the way he wanted to be, so he redesigned his own working future.”
Workspaces should inspire and enlighten, the four design elements to help you achieve this are; a workspace built for freedom, it should support people, there should be an increase in the level of ownership and people should be able to work at pace.
Perry’s challenge to those in HR and those in design is how can we create the circumstances in our workspaces that let people do what Marvin Gaye did; take control of their workspace and fulfil their real destiny.
Immersive, Interactive and Digital – 15 minutes with Nic Pyke
Nic Pyke from Oktra is an award-winning designer and architect, who shared with us his vision the workplace of the future.
“Change is accelerating and becoming faster, and this is being enabled by technology. Getting the technology right coupled with smart and creative design is imperative to workforce happiness, productivity and wellbeing. I often find when people come together, then creativity gains energy, and businesses should want to capture that energy.
Workspace design is exciting because it influences and improves so many people’s lives – Nic Pyke, Oktra
The modern workplace has now become the battle ground for attracting and retaining talent, these are not conversations I was having with my customers 5-10 years ago, these are now their main requirements for office design. And our challenge is to ensure workspace design, should adapt and change with trends and with people. If the space is designed correctly, then the people in it will connect and immerse themselves into your brand.”
We mustn’t forget your workforce want to be able to connect the workplace to their own passions.
Women talk Tech: The Merging of Technology and Culture in the Workplace
This panel was always going to be a highlight, and it didn’t disappoint, with 40 minutes of extraordinary and inspiring thoughts from experts across a wide range of industries. Camila Byk, Alison Girdiefski, Hema Bakhshi, Simone Fenton-Jarvis and Vivian Chong gave us insights for the workplace which incorporated technology, culture, diversity and design. With a vast number of takeaways, we’ve collated the top 15 quotes from the panel:
“When you understand people, you can create a workplace that actually speaks to those individuals” Hema Bakhshi, Chief Workplace Officer, Adoptt, discussing how design and change management should work together.
“If there’s no space to go to, then there’s no collaboration” Vivien Chong, Associate Partner, Workplace Strategy & Change Management EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield, sharing her views on workplace design and collaboration.
“If you haven’t got the communication channels right in your business now, then it doesn’t matter about making a great new funky office environment, with the latest coffee machine.” Alison Girdiefski, Workplace Change Management Expert, joining the conversation on change management.
“Be curious and be brave enough to try things differently” Hema Bakhshi, Chief Workplace Officer, Adoptt, when asked what her one piece of advice would be to employers.
“Not every corporate problem is related to technology or space” Vivien Chong, Associate Partner, Workplace Strategy & Change Management EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield referring to the workplace as a whole.
“People in the right environment will connect” Camila Byk, Editor, Podium.me, shares her thoughts on how people of all generations are able to work effectively together.
“Why are we going to the extremes with all these crazy workplace designs, when we haven’t even got the basics right.” Simone Fenton-Jarvis, Workplace Consultancy Development Director, Ricoh, points out how some businesses focus too much energy on a funky or fancy workplace without having the basic elements in place.
“Work is no longer a place you go to, it’s something that you do” Hema Bakhshi, Chief Workplace Officer, Adoptt views on the workplace as an entirety.
“Listen to people and let them achieve their goals by working the way they want to work” Simone Fenton-Jarvis, Workplace Consultancy Development Director, Ricoh, when asked what her one piece of advice would be to employers.
“You can create an environment to enable creativity to happen, but you can’t measure creativity in a linear manner” – Vivien Chong, Associate Partner, Workplace Strategy & Change Management EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield, discussing how some roles within the workplace aren’t always measurable, and design needs to incorporate all employees.
“The 4-day week day week: if it’s right for people, then how can it not be right for the business” Simone Fenton-Jarvis, Workplace Consultancy Development Director, Ricoh shares her thoughts on the concept of businesses introducing a four-day week. The studio audience where able to join the conversation and participate in a live twitter poll, see the results on twitter here.
“Technology can connect you with the best talent” Hema Bakhshi, Chief Workplace Officer, Adoptt, responding to an audience question on the hot topic of talent attraction and attention.
“Be really focused on what your company is, what is your reason for existing” Vivien Chong, Associate Partner, Workplace Strategy & Change Management EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield, when asked what her one piece of advice would be to employers.
“There is nothing stopping us from working anywhere, technology has enabled a diverse workforce because there are no barriers.” Camila Byk, Editor, Podium.me, discussing how technology is a major driver when it comes to talent attraction and attention.
“Give ownership back to your people, it’s their workspace, they know what they want” Alison Girdiefski, Workplace Change Management Expert, when asked what her one piece of advice would be to employers.