Creating Workplace Environments For Great Company Cultures, with Sophie Foster -
Sophie Foster, Workplace Consultant of TSK Group joins Bold Founder Caleb Parker for the third episode of Season 6 to discuss designing and building amazing workplaces for some of the biggest brands in the UK.
They discuss workplace psychology and how spaces can help get the best out of people, how to promote behaviour change particularly for those who are change resistant, and workplace design can facilitate all of these processes.
Sophie shares her insights on the best hybrid workspaces she has seen and how building spaces with inclusivity in mind helps to create a company culture where people feel they belong.
Connect with Sophie Foster on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiefostertsk/
Connect with Caleb Parker on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebparker/
If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email podcast@workbold.co
Value Bombs:
- Psychology plays a massive part in a lot of the work that I do at TSK. Often the biggest element of psychology is organisational change – Sophie
- When our clients go through a workplace transformation project, it's often because there are big drivers for change, such as mergers, acquisitions, business restructuring, technology improvements, or generally just culture change. Often, they need a workplace to be able to not just support this change, but also act as a catalyst for it. - Sophie
- It's my job to be able to help support the end users of the space the mindset shift to enable them to use that new workplace efficiently. - Sophie
- What we're seeing now is that the office needs to have more of a purpose than it did before. There has to be a reason for people to come to the office. - Sophie
- You might be in a 10 year lease, but you can't build out a space to last 10 years. - Caleb
- A lot of people now have the view that their home life has had to adapt to work, and now work should have to adapt to people's home lives. - Sophie
- If people want to be working in a new way, in a hybrid way, they really need to be thinking about investment in terms of people, place and technology. - Sophie
- We need to invest in facilitating the right culture for our business and picking the place and the experience based on that, starting with culture first is the most important thing. - Caleb
- I think a lot of organisations historically have just used wellbeing as a bit of a tick box and a bit of a perk. - Sophie
Resources:
Shout Outs:
About Our Guests:
Sophie Foster
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiefostertsk/
Sophie Foster is a Workplace Consultant at TSK Group, who design and build amazing workplaces for some of the world's biggest brands across the UK and Ireland, including Kellogg's, WeWork, Adidas, Money Supermarket, Flutter Entertainment and Bold. Sophie specialises in delivering people-centred workplace change solutions.
Combining her experience of working with leading brands and her knowledge of psychology, wellness, and healthy buildings, Sophie takes pride in producing positive client experiences. Her role at TSK is to engage with organisations, gather, analyse, and interpret data and recommend a suitable workplace change strategy that is aligned with business objectives. She then supports in translating workplace strategy into design and champions the change journey through end-user engagement.
One of her skills is challenging perspectives to achieve the best outcomes for her clients and their people. And her main passion is creating human-centred environments that improve health, promote inclusivity and positively impact communities and the environment.
About Our Host:
Caleb Parker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebparker/
Caleb Parker is an American entrepreneur in London, and Founder of Bold (acquired by Newable/NewFlex in 2019).
He believes in "challenging the status quo" and is a champion for entrepreneurial and innovative thinking.
Caleb has served as founder, Board member, advisor, investor and consultant to numerous startups and small businesses, and has a keen focus on innovation and technology, with interests in the MICE market, Space-as-a-Service, and the future of work.
Caleb has been a guest lecturer, speaker, and moderator for topics such as entrepreneurship, the sharing economy, the future of work and commercial real estate at academic institutions and large corporations. He regularly takes the stage at numerous trade conferences as keynote speaker, MC, host or facilitator.
Earlier in his career, Caleb was named one of Savannah, Georgia's “40 under 40” business leaders" in 2006 after launching two successful small businesses in the city's booming hospitality industry. A year later he moved to Washington, DC to join the The Regus Group DC management team. In 2009, Caleb co-founded a flexible workspace consulting firm where he brokered flexible workspace and advised businesses on agile working strategies.
Caleb is one of the first licensed commercial real estate agents to speak on the flexible working trends and the rise of flexible workspace, and has been quoted in numerous publications.
Timestamps
[00:00] Caleb introduces podcast episode and gives an overview of what to expect in the episode
[03:10] Interview starts
[06:32] Sophie explains how psychology plays a part in workplace behaviour
[09:42] Sophie talks about how the office needs to have more purpose than before, and what that purpose might be. Sophie explains their process and how TSK determine how to create the right spaces for clients
[12:29] Sophie talks about trends that they are seeing post pandemic
[15:10] Sophie talks about the repurposing of space, and the investment required post pandemic in people, space and technology.
[18:09] Sophie gives examples of her favourite hybrid workplaces, Flutter and BLM Law.
[25:05] Sophie talks about how to encourage inclusivity through the working culture and environment.
[28:28] Sophie gives her thoughts on wellbeing in the workplace and how landlords and building owner –operators can consider strategies to support improved wellbeing for tenants and users.
[30:48] Caleb asks quickfire round questions.
Sponsors
Headline Sponsor: TSK
TSK creates inspiring workplaces for some of the world’s biggest brands across the UK and Ireland, They’ve been working for 25 years to deliver the best employee experiences and the vision of their clients. Not only do they create great places to work, TSK share workplace content every week from the latest data to inspiring spaces they’ve designed and built. You can read their latest insights at www.tskgroup.co.uk or check out their LinkedIn and Instagram pages to become a follower, fan and friend.
Fortune Favours the Bold
Bold merges property management & Space-as-a-Service to drive asset value and help office customers grow faster. Now part of NewFlex (www.workbold.co)
Future Proof Your Portfolio with NewFlex
NewFlex delivers and manages a range of branded solutions for every type of building, in every type of location, for every type of occupier. Including the flexibility to develop your own brand. All enabled by flexible management contracts where we are invested in making money for you. (www.newflex.com)
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A Podcast Company is the leading podcast production company for brands, organizations, institutions, individuals, and entrepreneurs. Our team sets you up with the right equipment, training, and guidance to ensure you sound amazing. (https://www.apodcastcompany.com)
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