As organisations seek to spur innovation and attract needed talent, they are moving their teams to creativity hubs and co-location spaces with start-ups where the culture aligns with their goals. As a result, location strategies are becoming important in how companies can compete in the digital age. Companies – and cities – need to find new ways to increase access to good candidates, which goes hand in hand with greater innovation.
The interplay amongst organisations, municipalities and individuals in creating and working in the office of the future that will ultimately usher in The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the subject of a recent Cognizant report. The research identified three key elements that can attract the right people and drive innovation: co-location, integration in (smart) cities and culture.
- Co-locate: a centrally-located headquarters is not always the best place for innovation. Being in close proximity to start-ups in creativity hubs where they can spur innovation and attract needed talent is. By incorporating these outposts of innovation, they are enabling the cross-pollination of ideas and work practices in a way that would not be possible in a traditional setup.
- Integration (in smart cities): simply moving closer to clients, partners, employees and start-ups is not sufficient. Workers need to interact with these stakeholders to gain the benefits of co-location. The right location means fruitful chance encounters, fostering interpersonal communications among a wide variety of workers, disciplines, companies and environments. The Landmark project in Burnley, Lancashire, is one such example. Recently named as one of the UK’s top 16 ‘tech towns’ by Tech Nation, Burnley is home to a number of businesses at the forefront of the digital sector. In light of this, there are plans to transform an iconic local building into a thriving, hi tech hub for digital SMEs and micro-businesses. Its aim is to become a place for innovative companies, start-ups and stakeholders to come together and interact, to make technology and new ideas come to life.
- Choose culture: to turn these interactions into something meaningful to the business, organisations need to choose a location that encourages a culture of collaboration coupled with an agile way of working and partnering. Corporate location strategy is increasingly based on desired culture instead of industrial assimilation. Companies that might have traditionally chosen London as their home are now settling in Birmingham or Manchester. What was initially an escape from an expensive area now radiates a new atmosphere attracting a different type of worker and encouraging experimentation with new ideas, employment, culture and work models.
“The benefits of fine-tuning a location strategy go beyond increased productivity and efficiency,” says Euan Davis, European Lead for Cognizant’s Centre for the Future of Work. “When properly constructed, an ecosystem that has interplay between organisations, municipalities and individuals can become an epicentre of extraordinary innovation. Whether within a city or a company, this creativity can help start-ups and established businesses alike succeed in the digital era.”
