Last week saw a busy couple of days for the M-People! On Thursday, for example, Ollie, Jo, and Esme were all at different events across London and Brighton. With Jo at the Workplace Wellbeing & Stress Forum, Esme at Estates Gazette Office & Workplace Summit, Ollie at the Wired Sussex Thought Leadership breakfast session, and Carole at the Fire & Safety Excellence Awards and Homes 2017 show, it was a thought-provoking, busy and insightful week for the team!
Ollie, at Wired Sussex:
Having already attended a Wired Sussex session a couple of months previously, I was very much looking forward to the presentations on “How to be a thought leader and why you should be” and the networking to follow. Lead by a panel made up of journalists, content creators and coding experts, the discussions and presentations were thought-provoking and inspiring. The stand-out quote for me, came courtesy of Andy Budd of Clearlef, stating “Thought leadership is a title given to a person by others. If you have to tell people you are a ‘thought leader’, then you’re most probably not one.” Which I found incredibly interesting and sparked a lot of other thoughts in the crowd/in my mind. It is just so true – that if you have to tell someone you are something, it’s clearly evident that you’re not.
Toby Moore of Yabba continued this point, stating, “Don’t be an authority. Become an authority.” Similarly pointing at the idea of letting a position or experience come to you naturally, without forcing it. Concluding the session, Alex Blyth of Redsetter provided sincere and detailed thoughts on the topic. Finishing with the statement that every company and person should “find what makes you different, and shout about it. Everyone has the potential to become a thought leader, but these things take time, experience and respect.”
Jo, at the Workplace Wellbeing & Stress Forum:
I attended the Workplace Wellbeing & Stress Forum hosted by Symposium at Park Plaza, Waterloo, which provided me an incredibly insightful look into the world of workplace, and the relationship between stress and wellbeing at work.
I’m glad to be able to report that yet again, it is only becoming increasingly more evident that employers are finally waking up to the importance of wellbeing in the workplace.
Attending talks on H&S at work, the challenges and successes of remote and agile working, encouraging staff to seek support for their mental health needs and much more, it’s clear that the focus is finally being placed on workplace wellbeing amongst businesses alike. The key to successful wellbeing in work is clear; having open communication. If your employees feel as if they can reach out to you, and have a safe network to fall back on, with the correct measures in place to support them, it will provide a less stressful, happier workplace for all employees.
A stand-out quote from the event for me personally supports the above point like no other, came from Andrew Curtis of Vodafone: “The holy grail of wellbeing, is communication”. “With over 3bn workers becoming increasingly unwell, research shows that wellbeing at work is becoming an increasing concern”, he continued. I, as I’m sure all others aware of mental health and employee wellbeing, am nothing short of relieved to hear of companies pushing the boundaries of the ‘norm’ to help support their staff, and I’m sure this is just the beginning of what we can achieve.
Esme, at the Estates Gazette Office & Workplaces Summit:
Estates Gazette is the go to for all things property, and their latest Office and Workplace Summit was no exception to this industry rule. After an introduction and insightful market overview, the resounding themes were that of the impact of Brexit, ongoing occupational demand and the onward march of serviced offices and co-working spaces. The main call to action was to remain flexible in this current period of uncertainty, and be ready to adapt accordingly.
Overall, it was an expertly run (and moderated, thanks to features editor Emily Wright) conference with a discerning seminar programme, and stellar speaker line up. There was an unexpectedly heavy, albeit welcome, emphasis on the physical workplace.
The resounding question still remains unanswered however: can tenants and landlords ever be partners?
Carole, at the Fire & Safety Excellence Awards / Homes 2017 show:
HOMES 2017 is the national event for senior procurement teams and decision makers for products and services in resi development and affordable housing. Held annually at Olympia, some 3,000 visitors were expected over the two days of the exhibition and conference and I was there with the lovely team from Global Guardians, where their Security Director, Stuart Woolgar, was presenting.
It was a hectic couple of days for the team; after completing the Homes show, they then all quickly headed off after a successful first day, to attend a glamorous dinner and awards evening at the Park Lane Hilton. Here, the company were finalists for Best Security Guarding Company (under 50m turnover) at the Safety & Fire Excellence Awards. Some 1000 of the British security industry’s finest were in attendance and the awards were hotly contested.
