Imagine having the opportunity to design your future workplace. What would you put into it? Colour? Convention? Creativity? Customer comfort? This is just what employees at Vodafone retail outlets got to do in the company innovative initiative “The Retail Design Challenge”.
Employees working in Vodafone’s large network of concept stores were given the opportunity to propose what the future Vodafone Shop should look like and what it should incorporate. The employees were divided into six teams and given three weeks to come up with the best proposal, putting their ideas into a 3D model. The concept behind this challenge was for Vodafone team members to come up with different ideas on how the company can deliver the best customer experience in its outlets, building on the experience of its front-liners.
The winning concept was that of the Vodafone Paola Branch – a team made up of Henriette Calleja Gafa, Sarah Jane Bugeja, Jean Camilleri, Daniela Micallef, Christabel Muscat and Tiziana Camilleri. Their ideas will now be incorporated into a new design for all Vodafone outlets. The winning design was chosen by a panel of judges from different company departments including brand, marketing and sales.
“We put our intuition and experience of product-display and point-of-sale into practice to come up with a design which we thought was visually stimulating and enticing for clients,” said Henriette Calleja Gafa, Retail and Customer Care Supervisor at the Paola outlet. “We also made sure our ideas were practical and would improve on the ways we interact with our customers. Of course, the ideas also had to be in line with Vodafone Group’s global store design guidelines. The initiative was a great idea. It was fun to work on this together and it will be ever so rewarding when our design concepts will be implemented across our stores!”
Elken Calleja, Retail Operations Senior Executive at Vodafone Malta said: “Our strategy is to empower our people. We believe that our team members who work in the retail outlets know best what can work in the stores we have across Malta and Gozo. We believe in their experience and expertise, that’s why we trust their judgment and their ideas. During this challenge we could witness the enthusiasm and creativity with which they work. This interest from their end encouraged us further to take on board the suggestions and proposals submitted so that we would be able to implement them accordingly.”
The winners were treated to an exclusive VIP night out of fine dining, complete with limo ride while all those who participated were given mementos.