imc around the world: Why personal encounters and intercultural exchange are crucial for new work
A very special journey on the occasion of our 25-year anniversary
Rewriting the way we learn for 25 years – A milestone in the history of imc and a reason to celebrate properly. However, we wanted to celebrate more than just our success. We wanted to leverage this occasion to unite our team across the world. Realising our new work model, what we care about the most is our employees.
Bringing the positive brand vibes from our headquarters to all our locations and bringing our employees together is not an easy feat, given that some teams are thousands of miles apart. We still embarked on this journey regardless and realised one thing above all: personal encounters, positive feelings and emotions are crucial for New Work.
Come and experience some of the highlights with us! Join our journey from Saarbrücken through Australia to Singapore.
Remote work is not the be all and end all
“100% flexible but not 100% remote.” We declared this our motto at the beginning of the year when our hybrid model was launched. While we pride ourselves in the flexibility we offer to work from home, we still value the connection to the office and to our company highly. Thus, the invitation to our company’s anniversary is a welcome occasion to look back at these past 25 years together and celebrate them.
For our European teams, our headquarters in Saarbrücken were an ideal destination, offering a perfect place for exchange, networking and celebrations. Especially after the corona pandemic, we wanted to seize this opportunity to bring many of our teams together again. For many employees, it was the first time they met (again) after more than two years.
They were beyond excited. Being able to meet colleagues from other locations in person literally caused euphoria. “What a party!” Alison West, Strategic Pre-Sales Consultant, exclaimed. “We were looking forward to this event, and it did not disappoint. Being able to put a face to the names we were very familiar with lifted the atmosphere to new heights. It was very noticeable how much everyone appreciated the opportunity to spend time together. I’m already looking forward to the next event.”
At the end of the day, the overriding conclusion was: Remote work makes many things easier, but personal encounters are invaluable.
Good vibes only – Welcome down under
During our visit of our Melbourne location, we could not help but acknowledge just how important it is to come together on site, spend breaks together and hold in-person meetings in the conference room. Sven R. Becker, Member of the Executive Board, and Kerstin Steffen, Director Brand Strategy, personally embarked on a journey down under with the mission to spark intercultural exchange. The result? Two weeks packed with a wealth of experiences: personal encounters, inspiring discussions, intercultural exchange, workshops and team building.
With so many positives, it was not easy picking out the highlights. While the office redesign was incredibly exciting, the Team Day created around the company anniversary lifted spirits to new heights.
Jordan Wolley, Pre-Sales Consultant, shares the team’s take on the visit: “Sven and Kerstin joining our team in Australia gave us a huge energy boost! Taking on board the knowledge and the experiences they shared, we are determined to show the world what imc Australia is all about and the role we play in bringing the best learning technologies in the world to our market. I can’t wait for our next opportunity to work together!”
Intercultural exchange is crucial for new work
Overflowing with positive energy and inspired by new ideas and learning experiences, Kerstin and Sven left for the next stop of their journey: Singapore. At our Asian location, the visit focused on branding, team building, networking and cultural exchange.
After the visit, Sven R. Becker concluded: “While travelling to the different locations we were reminded that maintaining intercultural contacts is of great importance to us as an international organisation. When it comes down to it, that’s exactly what we are: we share the same desires and goals.”
Kerstin Steffen adds with emphasis: “Organisational development and especially new work also require intercultural skills, as well as respect for people and their culture. That is why the exchange between our countries was particularly important. It is fundamental for our business success. We must leverage our diversity and find common ground to achieve the best results possible.”
Now, the success story does not end there. Further activities have already been planned in Singapore to enable even more successful collaboration as a team. We can’t wait to tell you more about it!
Our conclusion: Personal encounters and positive emotions are invaluable
Our visit to Singapore marks the end of our tour of the imc locations for this year. What did we get out of it? We utilised these past weeks and months to go beyond celebrating our 25-year company history with our teams across the world – we built bridges together.
The insights we gained will be collated and analysed to help us realise positive changes. “From a personal and cultural perspective, this journey was immensely enriching,” Kerstin Steffen sums up the visits to Melbourne and Singapore. “Digitalisation is a great enabler for many things in our global environment. It virtually removes boundaries between countries and time zones. Yet, when changes are implemented – as is the case with new work – personal encounters, positive feelings and emotions are crucial for active change design. This is why I am extremely grateful that the local teams were open to this exchange. We learned a lot from each other.”
While imc is looking back on a fabulous and exciting journey, there is still a lot to do. We are now embarking on the next 25 years of our success story with great inspiration, new ideas and huge motivation.
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Contact person
I' ve been working as a permanent member of the imc Marketing & Communication Team since 2021. The mix of creative content creation, social media and online marketing activities excites me the most about my job.
My goal is to inspire people with creative and innovative content and to make the imc brand more tangible.
My passion besides my job? Travelling a lot and discovering the world. I am always happy to receive feedback or suggestions at [email protected]!
