WeWork Pyrmont
Bob Fox connects with Louise Watts of Transition Hub to learn more about how she uses space to support her business goals and her thoughts on returning to work post-COVID-19.
Bob Fox: Tell us a little bit about Transition Hub and the work that you do.
Louise Watts: Transition Hub is an innovative way for organizations to engage their in-house talent to upskill their workforce. It’s an exciting, inspiring and scalable model for people to reimagine their future. We also train expert coaches to host Transition Hubs in WeWork locations globally. After 20 years of success, developing global professional development programs for organizations, this is our answer to transition workforces into the future of work.
We’ve been able to scale our work globally by working in the client space training their future leaders as ‘champions’ to host our global development professional programs. Champion weeks are personal development accelerators which prepare talented leaders with the coaching and facilitation skills to take their people forward.
Our team of founding coaches come from a range of creative backgrounds, many from the performing arts, so we truly understand what it is like to work as an ensemble team of experts. Today, the Transition Hub ethos builds on that, bringing a scalable way for organizations to upskill their people, through in-house career and skills workshops. When people understand how they can use their strengths to help others, it is absolutely transformational.
Bob Fox: When did you identify the need for Transition Hub?
Louise Watts: Back in 2016, we began to think deeply about the future of work and how so many in the workforce would need to reimagine their future, either by choice or because their role would be automated. We knew we had the foundational methodology that could be applied seamlessly to people preparing to upskill to move forward.
The next step was to find an inspirational space for people to step out of their usual environment and spend a week as part of a diverse cohort. Bringing people into the future of work through upskilling and humanizing roles, requires a plan of global dimensions (McKinsey suggested bigger than the Marshall Plan after WWII) and we needed a global brand partner to become the home of Transition Hubs.
In 2017, I approached WeWork just as they were starting to expand their reach into many countries. WeWork had come into Australia in 2016 and we had been watching the global build out. A good connection lead me to the executive team in New York and we agreed that WeWork could become the global home for Transition Hubs. The WeWork team in Australia, led by Balder Tol, showcased an incredible series of pilots with us. From day one, Balder saw the Transition Hub vision and the need for people to reimagine their future in an inspiring, community focused environment.
Today, as the whole world moves through the unforeseen transition caused by COVID-19, large numbers of staff are working from home whilst others navigate back to the office. This period has served to highlight the importance of Transition Hub to bring people together to reconnect, engage and have meaningful career conversations that lead into curated upskilling.
Bob Fox: It sounds like you have people that are distributed all around the world. How many employees do you have and is there a central location that everybody works out of?
Louise Watts: So far, we have accredited 70 coaches to deliver Transition Hub in Australia and we’ve begun conversations with coaches in five or six different countries. The next step is to train coaches in every major city to host Transition Hub at WeWork locations. Additionally, we are now training future leaders to host Transition Hub within their own organizations. By offering the in-house model, organizations can engage their people and play their part in the global upskilling plan. Organizations like Degreed are bringing fantastic skills to organizations, and we are developing the human advocacy required to guide people towards those skills.
Transition Hub accredited coaches are often specialist practitioners who run their own coaching practices in their home cities. It is our pleasure to bring them together to work as ensemble teams after training them in the Transition Hub methodology. Within our framework we have five specialist coach roles and the team work together to deliver immersive five-day programs, which become a springboard for ongoing learning. On every program we have a personal brand coach, a communication coach, a performance coach, a health and well-being coach, and a career coach.
Bob Fox: It sounds like they’re all professionals in their own right – Is there a culture that exists among the coach group?
Louise Watts: Yes, our High Performance Coaching team have been working together now for 20 years now and they absolutely set the standard for teamwork and professionalism. Coming from the performing arts, there is a culture that’s instilled in you, ‘the show must go on’ – and you truly understand the meaning of resilience and transition. One day you are the soloist, and the next, you are part of the corps de ballet. It’s a great metaphor for life, and the future of work. The culture and spirit we bring to Transition Hub coaches is one of professional generosity. We select coaches to become part of Transition Hub for their genuine care and concern for others’ well-being and development.