What would Li & Fung look like if we were to build it today? This was the question senior management were increasingly asking as rapid industry changes shifted the company from a sourcing model to that of an innovative supply chain.

Those senior managers recognised that wider strategic objectives needed to be achieved through a new space, and the question of how to do it was front of mind.

The key driver towards a new approach to the company’s workspace was the answer to that question: a need for an open office environment that could promote collaboration and innovation in response to the new requirements of the business.

In 2015, Li & Fung had the opportunity to experiment with their first open office concept, a learning experience, as well as the original blue-print for what came to be known as the ‘Ways of Working’ initiative, now known, simply and effectively, as WoW.

“WoW has given us the opportunity to develop a curious corporate mind-set and culture as it requires open communication at visual, verbal and digital levels,” said Sandeep Chinthireddy from the Li & Fung WoW Program Office at the company’s Hong Kong headquarters.

“The original question sparked a series of changes that have enabled us to use the change of to simultaneously transform people and how they work within their new environment.”

Above: Li & Fung

Three years on, the form and functionality of Li & Fung’s global workspaces has changed radically. The two key principles that underpin WoW – no private offices, and all space being shared space – have re-set the link between worker and workspace. The workplace has transformed, but so too, importantly, has behaviour and working culture within the organisation.

Transforming workplace culture requires a large amount of cultural empathy in a company with some 17,000 staff in 230 offices across 40 markets. It requires not only being able to change the spaces themselves but also to express the local culture and determine how that expression will impact the day-to-day functionality of employees collaborating across offices that are often oceans apart.

According to Mr Chinthireddy, giving local workforces the opportunity to put their own ‘local’ stamp on their workspace took the edge off the necessary prescription laid out in two WoW Playbooks produced to fortify the initiative.

The early implementation of WoW in core markets that included New Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul saw these facets being introduced, engendering a greater sense of pride in and ownership of the workspace.

Although empirical evidence is hard to identify, Mr Chinthireddy says increased worker satisfaction has been observed, which is having a positive effect on the attraction and retention of talent.

However, transforming the culture of a 112-yearold company is not an overnight initiative. It takes time for people to adapt to a new working environment and the workstyles it encourages, and simple things such as terminology can slow progress.

For instance, as Mr Chinthireddy notes, calling communal space ‘breakout zones’ rather than ‘collaborative space’ initially had a detrimental effect in some local offices. Employees, who were used to working in their own private spaces away from colleagues, viewed ‘break-out zones’ as non-working space. It took time for that semantic hurdle to be cleared, and the areas to be seen as integral to increased collaboration.

However, the hurdles have led to lessons in how to implement and manage change in a company that is no longer afraid of becoming obsolete.

“Despite the initial natural discontent of losing personal space, the vast majority of our colleagues have welcomed the tradeup to an environment that is more conducive to their working-day,” says Mr Chinthireddy, “and have noticed a rise in faster decision-making and productivity as a result of the increased collaboration.”

And now that the spaces have had a chance to settle and breathe, it is evident that the new lighter, open and modern environments have also been an integral part of encouraging colleagues across Li & Fung to adapt to these new ways of working.

Transparency and speed of communication across the organisation and teams, crucial in the management of an ever more complex supply chain has increased markedly.

A new way of working now characterises Li & Fung, facilitated by a transition from closed to open office designs. This is a source of great encouragement as the WoW initiative rolls-out beyond Asia-Pacific, with upcoming implementation in London, Manchester and New York.

But it is a source of even greater strategic importance, as this notable company continues to adapt to evolving market conditions. In trading spaces, and breaking down the silos, Li & Fung’s workforce now has greater capacity to win the battle.

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