Watch Talent Locker's James Saunders speaking at the 2021 Workplace Trends Conference, giving an insight into the current workplace industry recruitment market:
A note from James:
"It's fabulous to finally be attending events in person again and to see so many workplace faces in one place, which has been a big challenge over the last 18-months!
"This is now my 5th visit to Workplace Trends over the past five years or so. It's refreshing to see just how many great candidate and client relationships have sprouted directly from meeting at this conference."
Here are my personal highlights from the event:
Kirk Vallis gave a powerful talk on the importance of allowing creativity into work and how just being busy isn't always the best thing.
If you're feeling overloaded, it's important to ask yourself: is it better to do one thing well or two things poorly? It's not always that simple, but when you're under pressure, being able to step back and prioritise the tasks that really need to be completed is a great skill to have.
Kirk also had some great brain teasers. Try one out if you fancy a challenge - how many different uses of a paperclip can you think of? I was really scraping the barrel by the end!
Dhanishanta Patel provided some great insight into how different generations tend to work. I loved her point about Gen Z being the ones who want to pick up the phone rather than get bogged down in emails. Dhanishanta owned the stage and is a shining light for Generation Z! The future of workplace is in good hands.
Whilst, as the conference name suggests, we may be in a 'new world of work', the same old problems still exist. Poor posture and bad ergonomics aren't going anywhere fast, and homeworking offers a whole new challenge, with many employees picking a laptop on the sofa over a traditional desk. The workplace is always evolving. As workplace professionals, we're used to adapting. So, in this new world of work, how do we ensure that employees home environments meet the high standards we'd apply to company offices?
My main takeaway from this conference, especially after hearing from Tetra Pak and Vodafone, is that we need to stop talking about "the need for change" - it's already happened! Now is the time to start turning the radical changes enforced by covid-19 into opportunities to deliver great workplace experiences.
It was an absolute pleasure to attend another Workplace Trends conference and be surrounded by so many thought leaders from our industry. Even the WiFi dropping out couldn't stop them from collaborating on ideas that will future-proof organisations globally. I can't wait to see these ideas become a reality!
Check out our Workplace Salary Guide to see real job descriptions and salaries for “consultancy” or “supplier side” roles at estate consultancies, architecture and design practices, and independent workplace consultancies.