Last Sunday I almost fell of my chair when I saw Bas van der Veldt (CEO at AFAS Software) guide the camera of Dutch newscast Nieuwsuur through the new headoffice his company has built in Leusden. Bas was rightly very proud to show the breath-taking theatre, the sports court (with a glass floor display), the webcast studio (with a green screen wall) and several other amazing meeting spaces in- and outside the AFAS Experience Center.
The past few years we at DDG have frequently shared our observation that events are essential for large organizations to build a positive group culture. Not just ‘us against the rest’ but mainly a family feeling. An inclusive spirit that embraces outside suppliers, developers, flex workers, distributors, clients, users and even neighbours.
AFAS planned its new headquarters probably a few years ago, but it looks very post-corona. The new next will be an era where our work is transmitted from the cloud, so office hours can be limited to what is really necessary for the team. For the family! Part of that shared-time will be spent in meetings face to face, but why not also share time sporting, discussing, dining, laughing…
Office Occupation
The Sunday newscast Nieuwsuur that I mentioned before also shared some research into future office occupation at larger Dutch companies. Turns out most expect that office time (work away from home) will be reduced to two or three days a week. The other working hours can be spent at home or basically anywhere.
As a result office occupation will be reduced dramatically.
- 30% Accenture
- 50% CapGemini
- 30-40% AEGON Nederland
- 30% Arcadis
- 15% Essent
- 10-20% PostNL
These are about the same percentages that we observed in our SmartCom Summit last summer when we asked our online participants how much time office workers would spend under their employers roof in a post-corona era. Smart-at-Work is a central theme in our next SmartCom Summit this spring.