Alumni Lounge: Erste Campus - the new way of working

Architecture influences work methods

Although the Erste Campus is huge, you don’t necessarily feel that. "Previously, one department was scattered over several floors. Today, we meet in the home base, "says Peter Weiss, Head of the Campus User Program. Home bases are the junctions of the new world of work. The focus is on seating and meeting tables, meeting points and a coffee shop. Here, communication has a much greater significance than desks. The illuminated facts are clear: new working methods can only be created if one creates the spatial prerequisites.

Work where I want, when I want

Erste Group recognized at an early stage that the technological revolution has an impact not only on customers, but also on the employees and their way of working. "Traditional offices with fixed work areas are no longer there," Weiss concludes. All employees are equipped with a laptop and mobile phone and can choose where they work best.

Change for employees and executive staff

Investing in technology alone is not enough. There are trust-based working hours on campus, during which the employees can largely freely allocate their working hours. "An important cornerstone here is to promote the employees' own responsibility. Otherwise, this doesn’t work," says Ursula Kuntner, of DNA-PeopleStream. The greater the freedom to manage your own tasks, the more important it becomes to organize yourself and your time.

On the other hand, executives must set clear tasks so that each individual can work in a results-oriented manner. Management quality has also been given a new variable. Since employees are less present and thus less "visible," a false impression can easily arise. "The willingness to trust employees is an imperative prerequisite for leadership in this environment to succeed," explains Kuntner.

Take a look at some photos from the MBA Alumni Lounge: