Is work fluid love made visible?

Maybe we could try to be more empathetic to each other. Would that make us perform better?

On the latter part of Worktech 2015, Kelly gave an inspiring show on the vibe at the workplace. She discussed the importance of hospitality, heart, soul and healthiness in the workplace culture. Commencing with a dancing session and a yoga show-off, she ensured everybody believed that yoga and mindfulness exercises are coming to the workplace. Kylie Bishop continued with focus on the health issues in her presentation of the user-engaging thrive journey they made in designing and relocating their Medibank staff into a brand new building. A more scientific approach to health was provided by David Dunstan who provided reliable evidence on the striking affects sitting has in triggering sicknesses and even death.

Is empathetic community facilitation the future of facilities management? Community and engagement were discussed by the last four presenters: Dermot Egan, Frank Rexach, Caroline McLaren and David Firth. All had the similar kind of main message: community is the core of any working environment and all we can do is to empower that core through facilitation and support. Caroline McLaren asked by the end of her Liberated work talk whether we would be willing to pay for our work day arguing that we are moving from workplace services towards workplace experiences. David Firth ended the conference in clichy but important words: “Work is love made visible. And in case no one has yet said it to you today, I love you.”

Are we really shifting from hard real estate to soft community business? All the presenters emphasized the empathetic and soft side of the traditionally hard engineering-based real estate and building industry. The decision power in the demand side of the coin seems to be extensively shifting to the individuals, who can find the services that match the demands of the personal networks they work in. The Hollywood model of working will enable individuals to shop between the jobs and fulfill their own demands on the go, which is why companies need to be alert and prepare themselves for fluid mobility, both in terms of real estate and staff.

If the presenters are to be believed in order for a company to succeed, an increasing emphasis should be put on community engagement and wellbeing of the workforce. Combined with the low vacancy and utilization rates of the current premises, does this mean a straight transformation of chunk of the facilities budget to human resources?