Telstra today cut the ribbon on its revamped Sydney headquarters, part of a $112 million refurbishment effort to remodel the centre into a "state-of-the-art customer technology hub".
Telstra's 400 George St headquarters has been redesigned around the customer in order to create a "digitally intimate experience", CEO David Thodey said, and now boasts a 'discovery store' and collaborative ground floor reception area for staff and Telstra users.
“Our customers are telling us that they appreciate our more personalised approach to service. We also know they like to touch and experience things in a store and they also like the choice, speed and convenience of digital channels," he said in a statement.
“This store delivers all of that, in an environment where the physical and digital worlds come together and customers can move seamlessly between them."
Telstra has taken out three extra floors in the building and will refurbish all its levels with physical and collaboration technologies enabling staff to choose from several physical workspace options.
It will extend its trial of activity-based working - which has been piloted within Telstra's comms team - to encompass the entire building.
In its foyer, Telstra is offering customers access to its 'sandbox' - kiosks allowing users to compare various handsets and a 'connected life' space where customers can look at options for using Telstra technology to improve day to day life, among other features.
For businesses, the Telstra headquarters offers a dedicated section and staff to explain Telstra's business offerings.
Innovate or become a 'dinosaur'
Speaking at Telstra’s Digital Summit in Sydney earlier today, Thodey said the carrier needed to undergo a major cultural overhaul or risk becoming “another dinosaur”.
Becoming digital was no longer optional for companies and the carrier was no exception, he said.
“I think about the way we’re reinventing ourselves because the one thing I know is that if we stay the way used to be or we are today we will be irrelevant. We must find new ways to do things everyday,” Thodey said.
Thodey signalled that the carrier was also attempting a major internal cultural transformation, borrowing principles from challengers and start-ups that could potentially disrupt its business operations.
He said he was happy with carrier’s progress with its digital first strategy so far, which has allowed it to digitise 50 percent of all transactions.
However, on its own, this was not enough to meet the company’s overall vision.
“You see, if we don’t change the culture and the very way we operate, we will never be successful,” he said.
“We’re novices in this but we just feel it passionately that we have to continue to change and to move forward”.
He said Telstra was attempting to stick to its customer-centric company strategy to prevent it from looking outside-in rather than inside-out.
“Organisations and humanity and society have this ability to turn inwards and only know that reality”.