Embracing diversity & fostering collegiality via SAP’s new Flex-work culture
SAP is certainly no stranger to helping HR and organisations leverage tech in the workplace, and internally they are indeed walking the talk. One of the Group’s key goals is to nurture further opportunities for innovation and growth among its own talent. Margaret Chen, VP HR, SAP Greater China shares their ground-breaking workspace upgrade in Hong Kong and how this is lifting talent collegiality, creativity and innovation to new heights—cultivating a much more ‘human’ experience for the team.
There’s a palpable difference in the office atmosphere now, the new workspace has definitely given everyone more energy.
Leveraging workspace to nurture innovation & creativity
HR is, more than ever, all about the people and Chen explained, “Our top priority was the kind of experience we would like to bring to our employees and to ensure the new office fostered a sense of community.” She added, “The agility we’ve built into the multiple zones of the workplace now means that talent can come together to collaborate, brainstorm, talk about projects, have one-on-ones, small and large group meetings, and private time too, all on- demand. This is key to nurturing creativity and innovation across the organisation; the variety of workspaces provide what staff need to be creative and innovative, which is reflected across the entire organisation.” Chen added, “There’s a palpable difference in the office atmosphere now, the new workspace has definitely given everyone more energy, people have more space to walk around and different zones to enjoy.”
Inclusive work zones accommodate diverse talent
A quick tour of the SAP office reveals the wide variety of spaces on offer, a far cry from traditional work desks, the agile work zones have also been themed with a nod towards traditional Hong Kong culture. Giant floor-to-ceiling murals depicting Hong Kong scenes welcome staff and visitors alike as they enter the multiple meeting rooms—named after famous Hong Kong streets.
The largest meeting room, Hennessy, features a colossal cinema-style LED wall—great for being able to see everyone at Town Halls both at the venue and online. And it’s not all work, work, work; the centre of the office features The Bar decorated in Star-Ferry green, where staff can enjoy a tea or coffee—while the char chan teng style floor tiles add the flavour of being in a local tea shop. Those looking for a medium group gathering can sit in The Bay, which comprises a multi-tiered mini amphitheatre, with scatter cushions for a relaxed chat. For more intimate meetings, talent can sit in one of the restaurant-style 'kaa wai' booths.
With such a diversity of talent at SAP, Chen highlighted the need for inclusivity when designing workspaces. She explained, “We have created extremely diverse styles of workspaces, to meet the diverse needs of our team and so staff can choose where they want to work throughout the day. Whether they prefer a high table overlooking stunning vistas of the Happy Valley Racecourse or a private meeting in a cosy booth—we’ve got it covered. The different zones create intimate work areas for private groups and personal work, as well as open areas more conducive to casual group conversations.” She added, “We have also designed a ‘Wellness Room’ that is entirely private that can be used by nursing mums, for meditation, or simply to allow staff to press the pause button and enjoy a little privacy.”
Maximising agility & flexibility
Chen explained, “Flexibility and agility were key when it came to the design, and not only have we reinvented our workspace, we’ve also reinvented our entire work and talent strategy—centred around flexibility.” This ‘Flex-work’ strategy comprises three core elements; time, location and space:
- Flex-time—looks to provide talent flexibility with their work hours, especially during the pandemic situation, to allow them to better social distance and not have to all be in the same space at the same time.
- Flex-location—allows talent to work at home, come into the office, or a hybrid of the two.
- Flex-workspace—provides flexibility as to how talent use and interact with the different workspaces and engage with all the new elements SAP has integrated into these spaces.
This flexibility has brought numerous benefits to both staff and the organisation. Chen noted, “People tend to have different work patterns. One very positive change has been that now staff no longer need to rush to get to the office a specific time. Gone are the days of ‘I must be in by 9.00 am’. And the removal of this rush-to- work mentality has benefitted the team, giving them a lot of flexibility.”
In terms of preference for work location, Chen added, “Generally, people still prefer to physically come into the office. This trend might be a function of talent missing face-to-face interaction with each other, and also the fact that in Hong Kong, most of us are not living in huge apartments—so it’s easier to concentrate on work in the office than at home.”
Not only have we reinvented our workspace, we’ve also reinvented our entire work and talent strategy—centred around flexibility.
Leveraging technology
The new workspace has been designed around technology, rather than merely adding it in as an afterthought, making it easy for staff to come and go as they please and effortlessly transition between different work areas. All the meeting rooms are tech-ready and can be booked remotely, after which the respective room sign glows red to indicate it is booked, amber for tentatively booked—but still up for grabs, and green for available. Then when staff sit down for their meeting, they do not require a laptop, because each room has a tablet that knows who booked that room and automatically brings up online meetings for the respective teams on the giant on-wall screens.
Chen explained, “This seamless integration of technology has been key in ensuring the success of our Flex-work programme. The fact that the team may work from home or remotely from anywhere is also easily facilitated because we have all our programmes and solutions in the Cloud. This has enabled us to continue to work seamlessly, even during the pandemic.” She added, “With everything in the Cloud everyone can complete their daily work as well as larger-scale annual exercises and ‘SAP talks’—our performance conversations with each staff member. With fewer client visits and travel, during the pandemic, this has provided more opportunities for learning and development. We have actively encouraged our employees to make use of our learning platforms via the Cloud to upskill themselves, no matter where they are working from.”
By leveraging technology, Cloud-based access-anywhere solutions, providing a diversity of workspaces and its Flex-work strategy, SAP seems to have hit the nail on the head in raising the benchmark for talent collegiality, creativity and innovation. An amazing workspace, coupled with an innovative and flexible work culture, has helped foster a truly amazing team.
Learn more: www.sap.com/hk
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
