The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce event, held at George Mason University’s Arlington campus, included Dave Pace, CEO of Jamba Juice, based in Frisco, TX; Lorna Donatone, CEO of Geographic Regions and Region Chair for SODEXO North America, based in Gaithersburg, MD; Roderick (Rocky) Mitchell, Executive Vice President, Global Fixed Assets of Pentagon Federal Credit Union, based in Tysons, VA; and Kevin Virostek, Managing Partner, EY, based in Tysons, VA.
Moderated by Work Design’s publisher, Bob Fox, the conversation kicked off by acknowledging that each organization had either relocated or changed-up their workplace within the past year. Jamba Juice relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to Frisco, Texas; PenFed from Alexandria, VA to Tysons, VA; EY relocated to a different location in the Tysons, VA area; and the Support Services division of SODEXO consolidated and relocated in the Buffalo, NY area. The panel then offered their perspectives on the changes and challenges, both physical and organizational, presented to them as leaders, and to their entire organizations.
Setting the tone and context, Bob set forth with multiple, yet connected questions centered on how the nature of work is changing in a competitive and disruptive business environment. How does workplace fit into that equation and facilitate changes? How does your space help drive your business? Is your space an extension of your leadership? If so, how?
Our panel shared their ideas about the workplace and how it can be an effective tool to drive change and move business forward. In turn, the participants highlighted some of the changes recently made in their organizations and how that changed their work environment personally and corporately. Each situation was unique to the organization but the parallels among all four participants and how they interpreted those changes and the effect on them, personally, and across their organization were most interesting. Summarized here, are the highlights of this lively conversation.