ITOKI CORPORATION (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoshiro Hirai) has formed a new business partnership with Veldhoen + Company (headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands), a work style strategy consulting firm and the creator of ABW, to begin providing Activity Based Working consulting services within Japan.

Activity Based Working (ABW), "a way of working that allows people to choose how they work by trusting workers and giving them self-discretion," is rapidly gaining attention in Japan from the perspective of improving labor productivity, utilizing human resources, stimulating collaboration, and realizing workers wellbeing. Itoki has been a focus of attention in Japan. Itoki has partnered with Veldhoen + Company, the founder of ABW, which has been supporting the introduction of ABW to innovative and progressive companies in various countries for more than 30 years, and will play a central role in meeting the needs for work style reform in Japan.

The ABW consulting service that ITOKI will launch in collaboration with Veldhoen + Company has the following two features:

To realize the transformation of work styles,

(1) [Behavior] Leadership coaching and change management
(2) [IT] Virtual Environment
(3) [Office] Physical environment

We will integrate, plan, and implement these three areas necessary for work style reform. (Figure 1)

ABW considers that workers carry out various types of activities in their daily work. By supporting all of these activities with appropriate behavior, IT, and space, we can change the way we work to be more effective. (Figure 2)

This makes it possible to approach concrete changes in behavior.

Veldhoen + Company will also leverage its expertise in a four-phase consulting approach to ABW implementation:

Phase 1: Formulating a vision for the future and collecting and analyzing data on current work styles

Phase 2: Employee participation in requirement definition that integrates the three areas of behavior, IT, and office

Phase 3: Integrated program management and organizational change to realize new ways of working

Phase 4: Assess and develop the degree of transition to new ways of working

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all formula that can be applied to every organization. Each organization will carefully tailor each of these three areas to fit its activities, goals, and objectives.

ITOKI has been fully implementing the new work style "XORK Style" since October 2018, which introduces the concept of Activity Based Working, maximizing workers' discretion and allowing workers to autonomously design their own work style. The head office "ITOKI TOKYO XORK" (Nihonbashi, Tokyo) is the first workplace in Japan to adopt Activity Based Working, which was developed together with Veldhoen + Company, as a work style strategy. Not only does it practice new work styles itself, but it also provides the experience value to customers considering work style transformation, making it recognized as a partner in "work style reform."

ITOKI TOKYO XORK