Vodafone management last week moved in to new offices at 76 Kings Park Road, West Perth.
Vodafone management last week moved in to new offices at 76 Kings Park Road, West Perth.
The offices are heavily branded with Vodafone’s signature red and white, and incorporate a range of technology befitting one of the world’s biggest telcos.
The offices were designed to en-capsulate the principles of freedom, mobility and flexibility, and are in-tended to house 16 management staff, with the view to nearly doubling staff numbers within a year.
The Perth office fit-out was the first in an overhaul of all national management offices.
Vodafone State manager Darren Hayes said he was extremely excited that the Perth office was the first of the State offices in Australia to be upgraded.
“Growth within the company is prompting the move and all State offices will be upgraded, but the Perth office is the first in Australia to embody the new culture of business,” he said. “We have always been about freedom and open-plan design, we are just getting smarter and better about how we do it.
“Using Vodafone’s technology we wanted to move away from the physical restraints of the typical office environment – we have no fixed phone lines or computer set-ups in the office, with staff all working from mobile phones and laptops.
“We like to emphasise the ‘wow’ factor. Apart from customer service, we like to follow this through into the employer-employee relationship.”
Mr Hayes said there were no set workstations in the new office, with the concept of ‘non-territorial office space’ taken from international trends.
“The work environment is free from physical barriers and staff have the freedom to do as they want,” he said. “The new office is the embodiment of Vodafone culture, enforced by design.
“We will be the talk of the town for the next six months with this new office.”
Vodafone has branding rights on the building, located on the corner of Thomas Street and Kings Park Road, and the office is divided into three main sections.
The reception is equipped with plasma screen TVs showing Vodafone pxt picture messages from around the world.
Venturing further into the office, the ‘V room’ showcases all of Vodafone’s current technology and gadgets, and existing technology not yet released in Australia.
The main office space is fitted out with open-plan desk space, quiet rooms, a cafe, bar fridge and lunch area.
Staff are free to move around and work where they please, with even their files transportable, in a custom designed ‘personal flexi pedestal’ – a red and white filing cabinet/chair/ magnetic board, and ‘personal space’ on wheels.
Mr Hayes said there was a significantly different mindset at Vodafone to workplaces where everything was systematic.
“We can arrange ourselves as we like each day, encouraging a sense of group ownership of the area,” he said. “When you empower people and give them freedom and trust, they generally respond to that.”
The office was designed by Five D, a Sydney-based company that oversees all of Vodafone’s retail and office fit-outs.
