In a series of interviews with Spectrum Workplace, companies consider the changing requirements of both the business and the employee.
The interviews have been brought together as a report and published by DECISION magazine and then as a digital book.

Interview with RICHARD WARLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR CENTURYLINK TECHNOLOGY

It’s so easy to get engrossed in work and not really move from the desk for hours and that’s something that bothers Richard Warley. The more that people move around, the more they interact and work together and come up with ideas and the better for the business believes the MD of data centre, hosting and cloud company CenturyLink Technology.

“Aesthetics are important. They tell you a lot about what the company thinks about people. It’s difficult to distinguish the workplace from what it says about the culture of the business. We are all uplifted by a terrific building”

And by an uplifting approach to how collaboration can become an intrinsic part of a company’s culture. Warley says CenturyLink Technology allows everyone the opportunity to devote two working days a year to charity, and they form teams which get together to do projects. “We are a service business so people naturally are predisposed to helping other people,” he says. “Team-based exercises like this give a clear sense of
achievement.

This is where breakout areas, games rooms and restaurants come in, explains Warley. “If you look at the Scandinavian approach, they provide workplaces with communal areas, formal conference rooms, areas to write, meditate or pray. You need these different spaces for people to perform effectively as individuals and collaborate as teams.