The world of work has changed fundamentally, and quite possibly forever. Companies need to adapt, and one area that needs particular focus is how they manage their physical offices.

As the Covid-19 pandemic starts to ease into 2022 – fingers firmly crossed – companies need to manage the gradual return to work of their employees. But how do they make their people feel safe in the workplace, and how can they use the latest systems and technologies to made the workplace more efficient?

Ricoh, the Japanese multinational, has a solution: Ricoh Spaces. And in this episode of the podcast, Ricoh International CEO Mark Taylor and Ricoh South Africa CEO Jacques van Wyk unpack the big issues.

Taylor, who is no stranger to South Africa’s ICT sector – he recently emigrated to his native UK after decades in senior roles in South African banking, telecommunications and IT companies – gets the conversation going with a look at Ricoh and what it does.

He then talks about how Ricoh itself has been reconfiguring its offices and the way it manages them in the wake of Covid and the shift to a hybrid working environment. Van Wyk and Taylor unpack the trends Ricoh is seeing in South Africa and what the last 18 months have meant for productivity – and for the mental health of employees – before turning to how Ricoh Spaces has helped Ricoh adapt, and why they believe the solution can be used productively by businesses everywhere.

In essence, Ricoh Workspaces allows you to book a desk or a parking bay, for example. You can book lunch or a boardroom, check if visitors have been vaccinated, and manage the flow of both guests and employees throughout the work environment. This allows better utilisation of company assets and allows companies to plan their workspaces better...

For more, visit techcentral.co.za.