Seduce or bond? When the alms are large, even the saint distrusts… the tactic of having a space to disconnect, play some games and work does not prosper over time, because the real kids are looking for the egg, not the shell. The pandemic and the mandatory nature of working at home was the final blow that ended up changing forever the labor pact that had already been completely broken. Today we are going through a paradigm shift, a transformation. The values and culture of organizations and companies are being updated.
The digital natives saw with great regret their parents giving themselves fully to companies and work projects almost without criticism, without review and that even though they were doing well, they were not happy. And those companies, even with royal returns, did not return such a commitment, they were not up to that commitment. This image once again leaves these kids without a job horizon, without an imagination. This reinforces the feeling of isolation and disconnection, which is logically very frustrating.
How we set up our post-pandemic office: a strategic bunker. Being in a strategy company we study and discuss deeply what a strategy should be like. post-pandemic office. Although we increased productivity during the pandemic, there was something that we were not giving, especially to the newer ones.
Without being there, without meeting each other, without being able to go through together and hand in hand all the beautiful and wonderful challenges generated by an agenda as complex as the one we have, with clients who call us for situations that are difficult to resolve, we saw that the necessary fire was being lost. .
This is the central point, how to sustain the fire? How to get people to come eagerly? In an office where you think, study, structure, analyze data, receive clients, build instruments to gather information, debate and project, you need that continuous passion.
The most senior workers always maintained these known values very high. For the younger ones, and more so for those who entered the path, we felt that we needed something more that we were not giving them. Something that they were not receiving and that we were not offering.
We went out to look for where to build the office, but we couldn’t find the place. And…a crazy idea occurred to me, which was either very good or very bad, there was no middle ground. What if I set up the office in the house where my four children grew up? Would it be in that house where we could build a new company model…?
The cuisine of culture. And in that wonderful house we began to plan and assemble this new space that had to account for the new and defined functions. There were some central elements: there had to be fires and to roast (it is a lifelong ritual in all our offices for 40 years) even the cross.
But there had to be something more. For this entire group of people who were going through moments of loneliness, of existential anguish, the space to get together to eat had to be a great differential. We understood that whoever managed that space would be in a relevant position.
We went to look almost like a kind of casting for the person who was going to do the cross roasts. The person who was going to cook for the people, who was going to take care of them, making sure the kids were comfortable, content and happy. And one day, Marcos, Marquitos, magically appeared. He is the soul of the office, he is the connective tissue, he is the joy in attention.
We were few and the grandmother gave birth: to make room even for the unthinkable. We also understood that we had to build many very different spaces. Where to contain the different perspectives and thus integrate the different so that various logics coexist fluidly.
It had to have the possibility of different areas: collective and individual, the chance to cut into one’s own and have a meet. Lots of air, lots of space, green, wood, windows and a subtle in/out where they meet. It had to be transparent, but sheltered.
It had to be a place where people come with great joy.
Unity table to feed the work appetite. In addition, there is a significant point that it is the first time in history that 4 or 5 generations coexist in the same workspace. This mixture has never happened before, it is a new fact. At the same time, the direction of the company begins to be debated in terms of verticality. This is also why we put in the super work table. It is where the entire company, without differences or positions, sits.
It was non-negotiable to build a space so that they would want to come and stay. And it also works for customers to come in and catch the vibe of the company. People come in and understand, there is some synthesis of our culture in the house.
The office as a builder of culture. The outside and the inside, the home and the work, the public and the private, the intimate and the shared mesh differently today. Therefore, amalgamation, openness, the ability to be more than one thing at the same time were horizons for designing our future company.
It is very powerful and container, offering a space that is above all safe and also versatile, which even invites you to ranch.
Already established in the office two years ago, we feel and verify the importance of having a common space. In the tremendous tension that divides the world between virtual and in-person work, we built a bridge, an articulable and articulating home.
We’ll see how it goes, time and dynamics fluctuate, so this is a current state of affairs, which will obviously continue.
*Fernando Moiguer is CEO of Moiguer Strategy Consulting. Professor UBA and University of San Andrés.
by Fernando Moiguer
