[Photos] DKSH Malaysia's new centre leverages an open-atrium concept to reduce silos

DKSH's new IT headquarters and Corporate Shared Services Center (CSSC) at Menara KEN TTDI in Kuala Lumpur, which opened in January this year, boasts state-of-the-art technology such as QR code scanning to check meeting room availability; mobile apps; chatbots; and RFID-enabled office access tags.

It also includes a collaborative working space and flexible work arrangements, all built to accommodate the growing needs of today’s employees in many ways. On this, Logaranjani Kumaraveloo, Director, Group People & Organisation Partnering, DKSH, told Human Resources: "In line with DKSH’s employer value proposition, 'Drive growth. Be the difference', we believe that building a strong, collaborative and technology-driven space can help to foster a truly engaging and sustainable working culture which enhances innovative solutions.

Michael Hutab, Chief Information Officer, DKSH, shares more about the idea behind the space in this exclusive:

Q What spurred your company’s decision to create this office concept?

As a leading market expansion services provider, we keep ahead of the competition curve to continuously provide cutting-edge services and set new industry standards. DKSH Corporate Shared Services Center (CSSC) was established in 2003 in Malaysia and has occupied its premise in Teknologi Park Malaysia since. We recognised that it was time for an upgrade to enable us to serve our business partners even better. Building a more collaborative, resourceful and considerate working environment is just one way of our continuous effort to keep our employees inspired and energised.

- Michael Hutab, Chief Information Officer, DKSH

Q How does creating an innovative and interactive workplace help with the company culture?

"Open atrium" is always our symbol for achieving our goal of reducing silos and enhancing interactions, while offering the possibility to oversee the entire organisation from a central point. In fact, our new working environment promotes open communication and an even-level way of working, as there are no manager rooms, and hot desk seating is practiced amongst everyone.

We believe this environment encourages employees to "Drive growth. Be the difference", which is in line with DKSH’s employer value proposition. Employees are free to share ideas without any boundaries in an open working environment, with lots of transparency and freedom. From the minute people walk in our office, we want them to feel that this is the working place with a unique culture that they want to be part of.

Q Does having an engaging office space help improve productivity, and why?

Absolutely, as we strongly believe that collaboration nurtures productivity. Working in this new office space helps our people to interact, collaborate more and, most importantly, to grow as a team. Not to mention the new workplace also offers greater convenience and efficiency to our employees by providing state-of-the-art technology, such as QR scan to check for the availability of meeting rooms, employee-centric mobile apps, chatbots and RFID on office access tags.

Q What advice would you give other companies that are planning on redecorating their offices?

People are the greatest asset of an organisation. Therefore, building a collaborative working environment, equipped with employee-centric technology, is a crucial responsibility of a company – for recruiting and retaining the best fitting talent.

Photos / provided