Property giant Land Securities came up with an interesting way of revitalising its annual staff conference, putting colleagues in the presenting role throughout a packed day at Glow, Bluewater.
TED Talks were the inspiration behind the change, which favoured short, snappy presentations that were highly relevant to the 600-strong staff in attendance.
People from all levels – from portfolio managers to finance staff – took the brave step to get on stage, tell their stories and stress the importance of sharing ideas across the company.
Anticipating change was a timely key theme, working out how to make the most of a social landscape that continues to change at a rapid rate.
Life expectancy in Britain is almost 30 years higher than a century ago, and that means the way we live, work and play is going to transform at a greater speed than ever before.
Rather than be scared of driverless cars and a rapidly expanding population, Land Securities is ready to embrace change. We can all apply the same principle to our industries and day-to-day jobs.
In business terms, chief executive Robert Noel used Kodak as a prominent example.
He said: “Kodak was one of the world’s largest companies in the 1970s, but four years ago they went bankrupt.
“First, they stuck doggedly to film as the world moved to digital cameras. They then stuck doggedly to print as the world moved to photo sharing.
“What makes the case of Kodak all the more tragic is that Kodak themselves invented the digital camera in 1975, but they left it in the cupboard until it was too late.”
Change is something we may not like and can be scary, but to ignore it is not really an option.
