K2 are excited to announce the launch of K2 Who: a unique twist on the Human Library concept.
The Human Library movement was developed and launched in Denmark in 2000, and has now spread throughout the world, with Human Libraries popping up in all corners of the earth. The concept gets its name from the idea that people can be open books with stories to tell, available for others to borrow, in a bid to learn more about experiences and lifestyles that differ from their own.
Whilst the original movement has its roots in a desire to improve social cohesion and diversity, connection and people lie at the heart of the project, much like for K2 as an organisation.
On the why behind the development of K2 Who, Global Marketing Director, James Marshall, comments:
“We wanted to find a creative way to publicly showcase our most valuable asset: our people.
It’s our people that set us apart and bring our ‘because it’s personal’ ethos to life, by providing the all-important human touch.
Designed to bring even more personality and transparency to the K2 brand, the library will help us to provide readers with access to both in-depth subject matter knowledge and the wholly personal lived experiences of the K2 Team, in an interactive and engaging way that is unique within the relocation industry.”
The library, which is housed on the K2 global website, offers readers the opportunity to browse the full K2 Who catalogue at their leisure, or filter their search by a number of different categories, to help them more easily find someone they’re interested in hearing more about. The books featured in K2’s Human Library are K2 team members from across all locations and service areas.
Once a reader clicks through to see more about any of the featured individuals, they will find a short bio, a link to their LinkedIn profile, an overview of their key areas of expertise, a visual gallery of talking points, plus a form, giving them the ability to request a 30-minute call with the person – real K2 people, on loan to readers for a personal conversation.
So, who is it for? James explains:
“We really want to offer prospective and existing clients the opportunity to meet the people behind the business, and grant them access to our collective knowledge bank.
Whether you’re considering coming on board with K2 or already working with us, having the chance to learn more about members of the K2 Family, their passions, and interests, whilst also picking their brains about K2’s business services and key mobility topics, could lead to you learning something valuable that you can utilise in different areas of your role.
We see it as a journey of discovery, and hope that everyone who borrows a book, returns it feeling like they’ve come away with something useful and surprising.
When we deliver relocation services to assignees, we cross into their personal lives in a way that other professional services don’t, so it feels fitting that we share personal insights from our own team.
We often talk about Q (the unique set of characteristics we believe each of our people possesses) – we hope that by facilitating personal conversations and offering a platform to build connections, we can really bring this quality to life.
We have launched K2 Who with an initial collection of books, but we see this as an ongoing project, and we plan to expand the library over time. It’s a project that we hope will serve to enhance positive client partnerships, both existing and developing.”
