We’ve gathered some insights from employers about how they’re tackling the Covid-19 crisis. Here’s what they’re saying – and the next steps we’re advising they take.
The current crisis has been described as ‘full-time work meeting full-time life’; a remote working experiment that we’re all having to work through. So how are employers supporting their employees during Covid-19 – and what should they do next?
We recently co-hosted a session for Timewise Partners, in which we explored how different companies are managing the status quo, and provided a mixture of short-term practical guidance and long-term issues to consider. Here are the highlights.
Among the insights we shared with our partners were these snapshots of workplace life during Covid-19:
Our attendees shared a number of examples of good practice from their organisations. These included:
Leadership and management
Changes to processes
Information and resources
Mental health and wellbeing
Planning ahead
We also shared four core principles to help employers take the right next steps to support their employees:
(1) Think about WHAT people are doing
Assess what work needs doing, right now. Set priorities, new objectives and expectations for what needs to be done, before working out how to do it differently. Recognise the backdrop to people’s current working lives and consider the balance between the business’ needs and individuals’ needs.
(2) Think about WHERE people are working and how to support them
Consider providing enhanced broadband or a proper office chair. Create space for collaboration and engagement such as virtual team meetings and remote cafes, and check in on anyone who goes under the radar. Note what’s working and what isn’t to ensure you take the best examples with you into the long term.
(3) Think about WHEN work needs to be done and how that matches with people’s needs
Some people may be splitting childcare with a partner and so may need to have blocks of time off. Others may need to get ahead at the weekend to allow more breaks in the week. Build a framework that looks at your organisation’s needs and each individual’s needs to identify working patterns that will suit both parties.
(4) Think about HOW MUCH work needs doing and can be managed at the current time
Some employers need staff to reduce their hours to save costs; some employees need to work less to juggle their other commitments. In order to make this work, leaders need to either reduce the workload or find alternative resource. Expecting people to do the same work in less time isn’t a sustainable option.
We also shared our thoughts on the opportunities and risks coming out of Covid-19 and what employers need to do to mitigate the negatives and make the most of the positives.
As the situation continues, we’re keen to gather and share more stories about what’s working and what’s not, so more businesses are able to come out of Covid-19 into a more flexible future. If you have any insights to share, or need support from the Timewise team, do please get in touch.
Published April 2020
By Kevin Green, Interim Chair, Timewise Executive Board
It’s becoming increasingly clear that many of us will be working from home for a significant period of time. It’s also likely that many managers will be leading a completely remote team for the first time.
This situation was no doubt thrust on both parties with little time to think, talk or prepare for this new way of working. And it will call for managers to operate very differently.
We know that the way we engage and communicate with each other when people physically work together is often informal. Great managers understand their people, and can pick up on changes by observing both individual and team behaviour. However, both of these become much more challenging as people work from home or remotely.
But there is a massive, positive opportunity here. 80% of people who work remotely say that if it’s done well, their engagement and morale improves; and 62% say they feel more trusted. This is therefore an opportunity to be grasped.
Here are my six top tips to help you support and inspire your remote team.
In times of crisis and change, people look to their managers and leaders to provide clarity, support, guidance and direction. True leaders will step forward, recognising the importance of their role. And they will start by reinforcing why the work the team does is important.
The more this work is aligned to a compelling purpose, the better, as this creates meaning. Leaders who are good at this get their people excited about what they are doing and why it’s important. They need to walk the talk and be visible and available to their teams, but they also need to demonstrate energy and the ability to make tough or difficult calls.
A leader’s true values will be thoroughly tested under pressure. After all, it’s relatively easy to live your values when times are good. But when success and results hang in the balance, an authentic leader will demonstrate what they are prepared to sacrifice and the trade-offs they are willing to make. Leadership is about putting your team first and yourself second.
It’s important to set clear expectations about this new way of working. This includes your expectations of people’s availability and accountability as well as how often team and one-to-one conversations will take place.
My advice is to do generic scene-setting with the whole team so they all hear it together at the same time. Make sure there is plenty of time for questions, and remember to ask for ideas. How can we make this work together?
Then, have a one-to-one conversation with each member of the team about their specific deliverables, what you expect of them and by when. Clarity is important, but so is giving people the space and opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and explore the issues; it avoids misunderstanding and difficulty later. So don’t rush the process.
Team communication is an important part of a leader’s role in any circumstances; but when everyone is working remotely, it becomes critical. So you need to recognise that you should spend more time talking, listening and engaging with your people –it’s important people feel connected.
First, if at all possible, use video rather than conference calls. If you can’t, use conference calls rather than the dreaded email, which has so much potential there is for misunderstanding. The opportunity to use video is a godsend in the current situation, and is so much easier today thanks to tools such as Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts.
Over 60% of communication is non-verbal, so seeing people as they talk enables you to pick up on these signs. Keep the team communicating as a whole. Continue with regular team meetings; indeed, to support this new way of working, you may want to increase their frequency –perhaps starting with twice or three times per week. This will help people get comfortable and allow them to test how it works for them.
Make sure you allow time for small talk, too; people may be feeling isolated or even lonely after several days with little social contact. A good way of doing this is to get everyone to check in (say how they feel at the moment) at the start of the meeting.
It’s also a good idea to carry on doing creative and brainstorming sessions with the team, asking for ideas or solving problems together, This will enable your team to feel connected and that they are making a collective contribution.
One-to-ones must continue and, as with general team meetings, you may want to do them a little more regularly to start with. Ask lots of questions to find out what’s going on for each individual. Share agendas in advance, and make sure you know what you’re going to be covering.
Preparation is even more important for conversations over the phone or video, as they tend to be shorter and more business-focused. Listen actively to what’s being said and try to avoid assumptions and talking over other people. Ask questions to clarify what’s meant, so you’re not talking at crossed purposes.
It’s important to foster friendships among the people that work for you. Apart from formal calls and meetings, encourage your people to have informal calls with each other to help them stay connected. We know that people feel more engaged and passionate about their work if they have workplace confidants and supporters. This may disappear during remote working if it’s not encouraged.
People go to their work friends when they need help or want to celebrate or commiserate about workplace things. In the absence of that support, work can feel lonely and isolating, and lacking attachment. However much we like what we do, we won’t be fully energised or motivated if we don’t have close and supportive relationships at work.
A study by Harvard Business Review showed that remote workers are far more likely than on-site employees to worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them and don’t fight for their priorities. Be a leader who encourages a culture of open positive friendships among co-workers — this will avoid these concerns becoming a reality.
Be responsive and available to your team. Set aside time in your calendar when you’re happy to be contacted, so your team know they can catch up with you on anything.
One thing that really makes people feel distant is the communication time-lag. If they have to wait hours for a response to something they are working on, or an idea they have, whether it’s right or wrong, people feel it’s not important to their manager.
By setting time aside where you’re available online or over the phone to provide feedback or insight instantly helps people feel recognised and listened to.
Many of the things I’ve proposed here will feel unnatural to start with. But if you persist, then there is no reason why your team shouldn’t be as productive, creative and energised as if they were on-site together. In fact, you may even find that they perform better and deliver better results working this way. From adversity comes opportunities; let’s grasp them.
Published April 2020
One of the most visible examples of the impact of coronavirus on the workplace is the growth of remote working. And as we’re flexible working specialists, you’d imagine we’d be delighted. But while it’s great to see companies adapting to the need to work together while apart, it’s time to take stock of where we are – and where we might end up. Are all the changes we’re seeing for the better – and will they last?
It’s certainly true that there are a number of positives coming out of the crisis. On a societal level, as an organisation who has been working to support work-life balance for nursing staff, we feel the outpouring of appreciation for NHS employees is long overdue. And we sincerely hope that their value, and that of other frontline workers such as teachers, retail staff, government employees and carers, who are putting themselves at risk for all our sakes, continues to be respected and rewarded once the crisis is over.
Additionally, on a practical level, this enforced experiment in remote working has overturned some long-held objections to remote working, creating real opportunities to change the narrative:
It’s our hope that, as a result, the reasons traditionally given for not allowing remote working just won’t wash. And so the debate can move on from whether it should be used to how to make it work – and the focus onto practical solutions such as job design and culture change.
However, there are also some ways in which the impact of coronavirus is more negative. For example:
And of course, we also need to beware the assumption that this is a temporary response to Covid-19, and that everything will go back to normal once the restrictions are lifted. Despite the pitfalls outlined above, I very much hope that isn’t the case.
Indeed, I’d argue that there is no normal to go back to. I believe that some of the more positive experiences caused by the impact of the coronavirus – avoiding the commute, spending more time with family and being able to work at times that suit us – will encourage employees to push for greater flexible working. And forward-looking employers will need to incorporate it as part of their offer.
If that’s the case, what should employers do to set the right tone, right now? Here are three good ways to start:
Here at Timewise, we’re already exploring the best way to turn the impact of coronavirus into a positive force for change. We’re creating a programme of webinars, training sessions, toolkits and advice for employers, with two core aims:
It’s a challenging time right now; no question. But it’s also an opportunity to change workplaces for the better, for good. If you’d like to know more about the programme we’re building, or need support with any of the issues I’ve noted here, do please get in touch.
Published April 2020
By Muriel Tersago, Principal Consultant, Timewise
Following government restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus, employers in all sectors are working through the implications for their business and their employees. There’s a lot of useful advice out there on topics such as supporting employees to work from home or how to run virtual meetings. But one group which is easy to overlook is older workers, typically defined as those over 50.
There are a number of reasons why this demographic need bespoke support, and a number of steps you can take as an employer to provide it, both in the current crisis and beyond. Here we set out the key points for you to think about.
In the short term, employers need to make sure that their older workers are being considered in any strategic or operational decisions that are made:
(1) Recognise the particular circumstances of this group
While many older workers are in good health, some do develop health conditions as they age, which might make them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They may also have caring responsibilities for high-risk elderly relatives. Critically, they may be unwilling to ask for help.
Suggested actions:
Line managers should proactively seek one-to-ones with older reports to discuss their needs and concerns, and explore adapting their work to fit.
HR could set up company-wide social networks for older workers, and sign-post to websites offering advice and information on relevant issues.
(2) Consider how employee contract decisions affect this group
Many employers are facing difficult decisions around reducing staff hours and redundancies. They are also having to understand and share information about the government’s financial support packages.
Some older workers, who are approaching retirement, may need to think carefully about how any changes to their working hours and employee status could impact their pensions, and other employee benefits such as healthcare cover.
Suggested actions:
It may take HR teams time to work through the implications of these issues and for leaders to decide on their preferred course of action. So, in addition to issuing a general holding statement, it is worth reassuring older workers that you understand their specific concerns.
(3) Be proactive about providing tech support
Although older workers are likely to be comfortable with the technology they use at work, some may be less familiar with the platforms and apps that support remote working.
Suggested actions:
Don’t assume that everyone is up to speed with existing or new technology. Provide clear and friendly one-page guidance documents before using a new platform, encourage people to practise, and invite questions.
How-to tips are often best provided by peers within a team, rather than a more formal conversation with the IT helpdesk. Consider setting up IT buddies, or appointing a ‘tech guru’ in the team who can help others.
(4) Seek their input on remote and flexible working
Flexible working can be used very successfully to help older workers ease into retirement. The changes brought about by the coronavirus mean we are all working differently and there is an opportunity to understand and share learnings from different groups, including older workers.
Suggested actions:
As a minimum, line managers should be checking in with all colleagues about how they are adjusting to any new patterns on a day-to-day level.
The next step is to take a more strategic look at its impact on individual roles, to evaluate what is working well and what could be done better. Exploring this specifically with older workers could help HR create a flexible pathway into retirement.
(5) Encourage staff to use downtime for personal or career planning
On a similar note, it could be worth encouraging older workers to use any downtime to reflect on their next steps, both inside and outside of work. The change of pace and environment offers an unusual opportunity for people to consider their options as they start looking towards retirement.
Suggested actions:
HR could provide guidelines and tools for individuals. The Centre for Ageing Better has developed a midlife MOT framework which provides a structure and ideas on what to consider.
HR or training departments may also want to alert employees to any training opportunities which are available.
It will be important to handle this issue sensitively, however, so older workers don’t fear they will be first in line for redundancy consultations.
It’s widely accepted that society will be different after coronavirus has passed. This will be reflected both in the workplace as a whole, and for specific groups of employees.
Here are five issues, which will impact older workers, to consider when you begin your post-pandemic planning.
It is also important to remember that, as Patrick Thomson from the Centre for Ageing Better recently noted, there are many over-50s working on the frontline right now, for whom remote working is not a possibility. These include care workers and NHS and retail employees, as well as people working in local government and education, who are keeping things running for the rest of us.
And when we exit this crisis, we need to ensure that we value these roles properly, and enable the older workers who are delivering them to have some say over how flexibly they work. It will be our duty to protect their well-being and living standards in future, as they are protecting us now.
If you would like support or information on any of the topics covered above, please contact Timewise or the Centre for Ageing Better.
Timewise and the Centre for Ageing Better ran an 18-month programme with employers including Guys’ and St Thomas’ Trust, and Legal & General, exploring how to support over-50s to access the benefits of flexible working. The full report was published in 2020
Published April 2020
Conference and video calls have long been used to bring people from different offices, companies and even countries together. But with many full teams now working remotely, they are the only option for managers who want to have a meeting with their people. And that means it’s more important than ever to get them right. Here are eight principles to help you improve virtual meetings.
If you’re planning a meeting for team members who are used to being together, you need to give them the chance to catch up before you start the more formal meeting. Include it on the agenda, and make sure whoever is chairing the meeting draws a line under the chat when it’s time to get down to business.
We would also recommend setting up some specific social sessions for your team; here at Timewise, we have a daily Zoom coffee morning for anyone who is free to log in.
There are a number of reasons why video works better than audio for virtual meetings. It’s more like the real thing, and is definitely better in terms of natural conversation and team bonding. It also makes it easier to pick up on non-verbal clues that you would be able to spot in person, and to avoid people talking over each other.
And on a practical level, it helps put people in work mode, both mentally and physically (though some people may still choose to only be smart from the waist up).
There are so many platforms you can use for virtual meetings (unsurprisingly, they are experiencing a boom right now.) At Timewise, we tend to use Zoom; other options include Skype, WebEx, Google Hangouts and GoTo Meeting.
Whichever you choose, make sure everyone in the team is trained in how to use it before you meet, to avoid wasting half your available time faffing around with the tech.
It’s important that people take virtual meetings as seriously as they would face-to-face ones – and the best way to achieve this is to be clear about what you expect. For example, you might want to agree some practical points, such as that using laptops or phones for unrelated messaging is a no-no, or that headphones should be used for call clarity. You might also want to consider some wider principles, such as that everyone has to contribute, or that staying silent means you agree with what has been concluded.
It’s all too easy for virtual meetings to drift if someone isn’t keeping them on track. So have a clear structure in place, and give someone responsibility for chairing and keeping discussion focused.
As a rough guide, we’d recommend around 45 minutes for a productive session, including time at the end for wrapping up and agreeing next steps. This doesn’t have to include any social time you have decided to include to kick things off.
It can be difficult enough getting people to take their turn in a face-to-face meeting and it’s definitely hard to manage on a video call. You’ll need to identify a way to facilitate this, otherwise the meeting will become a cacophony of opinions.
Most platforms will have a function to support you; on Zoom, for example, there is a hand-raising option which allows the meeting chair to organise who responds and in what order.
Another thing to be mindful of is that introverted members of your team may more easily slip under the radar than they would face-to-face. If it’s your meeting, it’s up to you to make sure everyone is contributing.
So if your quieter team members don’t offer their opinions, make sure you actively seek them out, or ask if they have anything to add.
Finally, however clearly you may all have agreed any next steps, it’s worth putting them in writing. It’s easier for points to get missed when you’re meeting virtually and the tech can sometimes let you down.
By circulating a brief summary of what has been agreed and allocated next steps, you can be sure your virtual meeting has been time well spent.
For more advice on how to manage a virtual team, take a look at our practical guidelines for successful remote working.
Published March 2020
The word unprecedented is being overused right now, but it’s fair to say that things are changing at an unrecognisable pace.
In the two weeks since we posted our advice on setting up remote working, the workplace landscape has totally transformed. With schools and offices closed, and anyone who can do so working from home, organisations of all shapes and sizes are having to get used to remote working as a long-term reality.
For employers, many of whom may have had to hastily put some kind of remote working in place, the next step is to think strategically about how to make it work well in practice. From understanding what your employees’ current issues might be, to thinking through how to communicate with a remote team, here are our guidelines for making remote working a success during Covid-19.
Aside from making sure your IT systems are working seamlessly, the most critical success factor for remote working is communication. As you can’t physically read people’s moods, grab someone for an informal catch-up, or pull everyone together for a briefing, you need to create remote opportunities to do so.
How to address this:
It’s not business as usual right now, so it can’t be delivery as usual either. And while working from home can be highly productive in normal circumstances, that’s may not be the case for some of your employees right now.
The practical impact of school closures is that many remote employees have their children at home. They may not have a dedicated work desk, and may be juggling space and broadband capacity with their partner. So it’s important that leaders and managers understand the constraints their people are working under – and review priorities and objectives accordingly.
How to address this:
It goes without saying that stress is a real issue at the moment; it also takes more effort to keep an eye on staff wellbeing when everyone is working remotely. So it’s vital to put structures in place to make sure everyone is OK, and create guidelines to help them take care of themselves.
How to address this:
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be offering further advice and tools to help you manage the new workplace order. In the meantime, if you need any support from us, do get in touch.
Published March 2020
From the very beginnings of Timewise and its predecessor, Women Like Us, we have been driven by a clear social mission. It’s this: to ensure that everyone can find the flexibility they need in their careers, without reducing their value in the workplace.
Why does this matter? Because some groups of people, such as parents and carers, older workers or those with mental or physical health issues, struggle to work full-time. And unfortunately, there are still far fewer part-time and flexible roles available than people who want them. So while this is a business issue – with the ability to impact on strategic imperatives such as talent attraction and retention – it’s also a social one.
As the impact of the coronavirus continues to spread, companies are having to adapt to frequently changing guidelines. But one initial strategy is now pretty much standard practice among office-based businesses: moving to remote working.
As companies like Twitter realised early on, this allows you to protect your staff from potential infection, and minimise the spread of the virus, without affecting their ability to work. (It also offers a number of other business advantages, which we’ll explain at the end of this article.)
However, if you want to do it well, you need to have some core principles in place right from the start. Here are five things to think about when setting up remote working.
Remote working works best when managers value outputs more than inputs, and trust their employees to do their jobs when out of sight. So give your team the tools and priorities they need to do their job from home, then trust them to get on with it. If you don’t, that’s an HR issue, not a flexible working one.
A significant barrier to remote working is not having access to the right files and systems. You need to develop a solution that replicates their office desktop at home, whether on a company laptop or their home computer – and have the right IT support at the end of a phone.
Clearly, some tasks are more suited to remote working than others. So if you’re using it as a short-term solution to the coronavirus, it’s worth working out which of your priorities can be tackled most successfully at this time – and making sure your team are aware of what they are.
From Skype calls and Google hangouts to Slack and social media, there are a large number of tech solutions to enable you and your team to communicate with each other. In one company in Hong Kong which has moved to remote working due to coronavirus, teams have set up What’s App groups to mirror the informal office chat they’re missing out on.
When people are working from their kitchen tables, it’s all too easy for them to get caught up in a piece of work and let it spread into the evening. Support your employees’ work-life balance by encouraging them to formally switch off at the end of their working day.
By Emma Stewart MBE, Co-Founder, Timewise
There’s a month to go until the 2020 gender pay gap reporting deadline – and it would be good if we could see a shift in the right direction. It’s a very complex issue, and closing the gap is a complex process, so we weren’t totally surprised when last year’s figures indicated that it was barely budging. But surely, in the third year of reporting, we might expect to see more concrete change?
The problem is that the roots of the gender pay gap lie in age-old structures and systems that are still the norm in many workplaces – and in many families. Clearly, these kinds of barriers take time to overcome. But time isn’t enough; practical changes are needed too, which is why companies are being urged to include gender pay gap action plans as part of this year’s reporting.
I’d argue that if these action plans don’t refer to flexible working, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on. As we’ve explained elsewhere, of the four underlying reasons behind the gender pay gap, three can be tackled by flexible working. The lack of women in senior roles, the gendered allocation of caring responsibilities, and the over-representation of women in poorly paid and part-time roles, in low-paid sectors, can all be addressed by more, better part-time and flexible jobs.
We’re not alone in this view, either; the CIPD’s 2020 guide to gender pay gap reporting agrees that flexible working is an integral part of action planning. And the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee is on the record as saying that “Flexible working for all lies at the heart of addressing the gender pay gap.”
So it’s not a nice to have or an optional extra; companies who are serious about closing their gap need to take flexible working seriously. And because this kind of change won’t happen overnight, that work needs to start now.
On a positive note, it does feel that the penny has dropped, and that companies are increasingly aware of the role that flex can play in tackling the gender pay gap. We’re encouraged by the number of organisations who are coming to us for help with creating and implementing flexible working action plans.
But we’re also very clear that having a policy isn’t enough. Being ‘open to flexible working’, or ‘willing to discuss flexible working’ won’t really cut it, unless these statements are underpinned by a robust roadmap. One that includes building a leadership-driven flexible culture, designing properly flexible jobs that suit the business and its employees, and training HR and line managers on how to recruit and manage them.
And doing so won’t just help close your gender pay gap. By taking action on flexible working, you’ll address other business imperatives such as inclusion, talent attraction and retention, and maximising performance. You’ll also boost your employer reputation, which is critical in this era of skills shortages.
So if you’re working on your gender pay gap action plan right now, here are two things you can do. Firstly, make a commitment to addressing or improving flexible working and flexible recruitment. And secondly, come and talk to us about how to do it. We’d be happy to be referenced as part of your plan, if you’re keen to roll up your sleeves and work with us.
I can’t wait to see a real shift in the gender pay gap numbers. Let’s start working towards that right now.
Published March 2020
The news that there are now over 1 million part-time employees at senior or management level is definitely worth celebrating. It’s not just a big number, it’s an indication of a real shift in attitudes and culture. Especially compared to the bad old days, when this kind of flexing only really went on under the radar.
It was the secrecy attached to part-time leadership that led to the launch of the Timewise Power 50 in 2012. We knew people were doing it, but they were doing so very quietly, so we set out to create some noise. And now, eight years on, many senior part-timers are loud and proud.
So is our work done? Should we raise a glass to what we’ve achieved, and move on? You won’t be surprised to hear that my answer is no.
While it’s great that so many senior part-time requests have been accommodated, what happens when the individuals involved want to find their next promotion? The data suggests they are likely to struggle; as we revealed in this year’s Flexible Jobs Index, only 15% of jobs are currently advertised as having any flexibility at all.
What this means is that these senior flexers are in danger of having no flexible next step, or having to trade their hard-won flexibility away to keep climbing. It’s almost like a game of musical chairs; sure, you can grab your bit of flex, but you won’t necessarily get to keep it if you go for a promotion.
If we’re going to keep moving forwards, we can’t just settle for helping people find a way to make their current job flexible. We also want them to be able to take their arrangement to the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that. And that means we need to make flexible recruitment into the next big thing.
How? Well, experience has shown us that what gets measured gets changed. For example, a focus on the gender split at board level has resulted in women holding one third of board roles at FTSE 100 companies. And following the legislation requiring companies to track their gender pay gap, things are starting to move in this area too.
It’s reasonable to assume, then, that a similar requirement for companies to track flexible hires and promotions would help speed up the pace of change. And while this would need to be tackled at governmental level, we all have a part to play.
So if you’re hiring flexibly already, that’s brilliant. Keep doing it, and do it more. Shout about it on your website and highlight it when you’re briefing recruitment agencies. Be upfront on your ads that you’re happy to discuss flexible options (having first made sure the roles you’re offering can work on that basis).
If you’re not, it’s definitely time to get started – and we can help. Do get in touch with the team, so we can support you as you take your next step.
Published February 2020
