Scottish Widows Hire Renegade Generation to Deliver Ageing Workforce Innovation Sessions
When Scottish Widows asked us to deliver an ageing workforce session at an innovation event for their top employee benefits partners we were delighted!
Titled ‘Workplace Savings Horizon 5.0’, the event was being held exclusively for Scottish Widow’s leading benefit consultants and corporate advisers. The format (and the venue, Flux Lounge, one of Europe’s most cutting edge innovation labs) had never been tried by them before, but even in unfamiliar territory the team were determined to create something different from the norm.
“A huge thank you for your energetic session. Fabulous feedback on your session from employers who said it really made them think, in fact one said it was transformational! Now you can’t get better than that :)”
Flux Lounge by Engage Works in London. © Renegade Generation
The theme was ‘Shape the Future of Workplace Savings’ and attendees were treated to a stellar keynote from Dan Makoski, Lloyds Banking Group’s new Chief Design Officer. Before joining Lloyds, Dan held senior design roles at Google and Microsoft and has started in his role at Lloyds by setting up a new Human Centered Design function. This ties in with Lloyds Banking Group’s investment of £3 billion into digital transformation to be rolled out over the next three years.
Dan Makoski, Chief Design Officer at Lloyds Banking Group delivering a keynote at Scottish Widows Workplace Savings event at Flux Lounge, London. © Renegade Generation
Dan’s session was followed by three separate workshops, each diving into different key topics related to the future of workplace savings.
As a global megatrend, an ageing population and the subsequent ageing workforce was one of those key topics. Scottish Widows approached us because they wanted fresh thinking around the impact of an ageing workforce and the future of work, and while we were able to cover this off with our thought leadership content, it was the opportunity to include a bespoke interactive workshop utilising Design Thinking and Gamestorming methodology that really got us excited.
The Challenge
We spent quite a bit of time with the Scottish Widows team to get to the heart of what they wanted to achieve. With such a broad topic area, and an abundance of exciting facilitation technology, it was doubly important that we nail this down upfront.
The timing was tight. We had 40 minutes for each session, and three sessions back-to-back. It had to be a fine balance to fit everything in, but not make it feel rushed. The last thing we wanted was a less-than-delightful experience for participants.
The audience was a super switched on group of senior workplace savings experts from leading organisations (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, Capita etc) so we knew they wouldn’t be the shy and retiring type.
The futuristic tech environment needed to be delicately incorporated in a way that enhanced the activity, and could be utilised within the time available.
The Solution
We mulled over options for a few weeks and shortlisted co-design games that lent themselves to what we were aiming to achieve. Armed with a range of options we spent time at the venue working with the Client Services Director (thanks Rich!) to craft a solution that got the best from the presentation element, the activity, and the tech - all within the allotted time.
It was vital that we understood the audience and the industry so we met with a workplace savings expert who would also be attending the event and could fast-track our knowledge in the space (thanks Alan and PS Aspire!).
Finally it was time for practice runs and a formal rehearsal with Scottish Widows employees. This was incredibly useful as it was their clients who would be attending the real event, so they were able to provide invaluable feedback.
Teams participating in our ‘Boat Race’ interactive workshop activity. © Renegade Generation
© Renegade Generation
The Outcome
Our session was made up of a quick-fire presentation followed by an interactive activity called Boat Race (based on our adaptation of Speedboat and played with physical game boards, Post-it Notes and a large touch screen).
The participants were fantastic – really engaged and maintained a high level of energy throughout each session. Their activity output was surprisingly good given the rather limited time they had for thinking, writing and presenting back to the group.
To ensure all of the groups had a chance to see what came out of the other sessions we summarised everything in a wrap up slide show housed it on a dedicated webpage so participants can share and review at any time.
“It was great to work with Renegade Generation on this thought leadership event – it was all about trying to do things differently, bring an innovative start-up culture to some of the big Workplace Savings industry issues. Renegade Generation maximised the tech on show to create a really original and engaging gamestorming workshop around savings and intergenerational workforces – great work!”
Key objectives were met and the overall feedback following the event was really positive - and we were chuffed to see Jackie Leiper (Distribution Director at Scottish Widows) say “You smashed it!” on Twitter.
A huge thank you to Robert, June, Jackie and the Scottish Widows and Lloyds Banking teams. Also to the Flux Lounge crew for all of your help leading up to and on the day - we look forward to doing it all again soon!