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The ‘great resignation’: opportunity or threat?

Rumours about huge numbers of people planning to quit their jobs after reassessing their work-life balance are causing panic in some quarters. Instead of reacting with a knee-jerk response, use it as an opportunity to get your organisation fit for the long term.

By Amy Butterworth, Principal Consultant, Timewise

It’s all over the press and social media, but is the ‘great resignation’ really a thing? Are employers facing a mass employee walkout, as people reassess their lives and decide to quit their jobs? And if so, what should they do to pre-empt it?

There’s certainly a feeling that the pandemic has triggered a work-life balance rethink. The ability to work from home for at least part of the week has led some employees to move away from big cities, in search of more space, or lower overheads, or both. And the much reported growth in ‘pandemic burnout’, mental health issues and work creep all appear to be taking their toll.

The data stacks up, too; according to research by Personio and Opinium, nearly 40% of employees are looking to change roles in the next 6 or 12 months, or once the economy has strengthened. And employers seem aware of the risk, with 45% of HR decision makers saying they are worried that staff will leave once the job market improves.

Grasp this opportunity to plan for the long term

It’s clear, then, that the impact of the pandemic on how we work, and the related shift in employee priorities, are set to continue. And while it would be tempting to panic, and action some short-term initiatives to try and keep hold of people, investing your energy into building a culture and behaviours that will support employee retention in the long term makes much more sense. Here are some suggestions for how to do so:

  • Involve your employees in discussions and decisions around hybrid working

If, like many organisations, you’re on the path towards a hybrid approach, it’s really important to involve your people in the process. They should be invited to feed into the scoping sessions, and to express their views on potential plans; imposing working arrangements without consultation is likely to increase the chances that employees will up and leave.

And this isn’t just an issue in relation to your current employees. Approaches to hybrid and flexible working are strong indicators of workplace cultures, and job seekers will want to understand how your organisation responded. Being seen to be collaborative, rather than imposing your preferences on the team, can only enhance your employer brand.

  • Explore your employee demographic, and identify risk spots

It’s fair to say that some areas and sectors are at greater risk from the ‘great resignation’ than others. For example, organisations with high numbers of older employees (such as the NHS) could be disproportionately hit, as they respond to Covid-19 by retiring early.

So firstly, interrogate your demographic, and identify groups that may be more at risk. Then think creatively about what you could change that might encourage them, and those coming up behind them, to stay. And looking further ahead, take the opportunity to think about how you can shape your roles to ensure that knowledge and experience are shared.

To use the older demographic as an example, that could mean looking at whether part-time could be offered as a way to ease into retirement. Or it could be exploring mentoring of junior employees as a way to share and retain more experienced colleagues’ knowledge and skills.  

  • Invest time in understanding your staff’s circumstances and potential needs

One upside of the pandemic has been that employers have had increased visibility of their people’s lives outside work, and so greater insight into what support they might need.  And the more you understand what’s going on in people’s lives, the easier it will be to identify those at risk of leaving, now and in the future.

So talk to your teams, and build ways to get these insights into your ongoing processes. Set aside time for 1-1s to discuss working patterns; both now, in relation to the return to work, but also going forwards as part of your performance review process. Build conversations about wellbeing into your team meetings, as a standing agenda item. And commit to reviewing and improving your post-Covid working approach, within and across teams.

  • Carry out a skills audit and use it to help your staff develop

Smart employers are using this period as an opportunity to put their organisation in pole position for the future of work; not just post-Covid, but in 3, or 5, or 10 years’ time. So think creatively about the different types of skills that you will need, and get ahead of the game in upskilling and reskilling your staff so they are well-placed to succeed. This will not only help you stay competitive within your field, but will also demonstrate that you value your staff and want to invest in them.

  • Use your findings to design future-fit roles

With the knowledge you gain from the above process, you can then start to design roles that will deliver, both against your operational needs and those of your employees. Remember the importance of building flexibility into these roles – it’s a high priority for millions of employees now – and don’t let the pandemic-led focus on remote working make you forget about the potential of part-time.

And make sure you’re clear about the flexibility you’re offering when recruiting; currently only around 22% of roles are advertised with flexible options, despite 87% of people wanting to work flexibly; so doing so is a great way to get an edge in the battle for talent.

If you would like support with any of the above, please do get in touch; we offer consultancy and training on all thing flex, including hybrid working strategy and implementation for leaders and managers, and flexible job design.

Life-changing events such as the pandemic will always give people cause to stop and think about how they want to live their lives. But by treating this large-scale re-evaluation as an opportunity instead of a threat, and taking actions that improve your organisation in the long term, you’ll build a stable, skilled workforce who will be more likely to stay, whatever else is going on in the world.

Published July 2021

Marmite hybrid working

By Amy Butterworth, Principal Consultant, Timewise

It’s fair to say that hybrid working is a bit of a Marmite issue. For every organisation which seems set to embrace it (including Google and Nationwide) there are others who don’t see it as viable, such as Goldman Sachs, whose CEO described working from home as ‘an aberration that we’re going to correct as quickly as possible’.

Of course it’s not unusual to find divisions between different organisations on how to approach change. But what happens if the spectrum of opinion within your leadership team includes those who love it and those who hate it? How can a compromise be achieved?

The fact is, with the majority of employees saying they would prefer a more flexible working model, and the younger age group overwhelmingly saying it’s their preference, going back to the’ old normal’ is no longer viable. (Just take a look at what happened when Apple suggested that staff needed to start heading back into the office.)  So any organisation which wants to remain competitive, and avoid getting left behind in the battle for talent, will need to try and develop a workable solution.

We fully understand how difficult this can be, as it’s something we often come across when we’re supporting companies to develop a hybrid model. So here’s our advice on how to develop a fair, inclusive approach, which bridges the gap between your hybrid fans and foes

Set the tone for a respectful discussion

This kind of topic can create a heated response, so it’s worth framing the discussion carefully and creating space for everyone to contribute.  Make it clear from the start that there are no right or wrong answers, and all opinions are welcome. It can be helpful to share a range of approaches from different organisations to highlight that it’s a subjective issue, and that what works for one organisation may not work for another.

By allowing everyone to be heard, you’ll make it more likely that they will embrace whatever new ways of working are agreed

Explore where the differences in opinion are coming from

So often, negative attitudes are based on individual preferences. For example, someone who doesn’t like working from home is likely to want the rest of their team in the office with them, and to focus on the negative aspects of remote working. Whereas someone who has a long commute might be very keen on a model that allows them to spend more of the week at home.

Another frequent barrier is a simple fear of change; people who are used to being able to physically see their colleagues, and lead them face to face, may struggle with having to develop a more remote leadership style. There may also be a concern that a move towards a hybrid model may take the culture too far from where it is now, and morph the company into something different.

Understanding the root of people’s objections can help you find a way forward that will bring everyone with you

Decide what you want to achieve and how you’ll measure success

It’s worth remembering that hybrid working is not a goal in itself, it’s a way of achieving your goals. So work out what priorities it will help you tackle, what good hybrid working will look like, and how you will know whether you have succeeded. This could include meeting employee demand for flexibility, boosting your ability to attract new talent, reducing your office space, or cutting down on employee commutes.

By identifying common organisational goals for hybrid working, you’ll find it easier to bring people with different starting points together

Create a framework for change based on small steps

Finally, once you have identified the change you want to see within your organisation, it’s sound practice to create a framework for how it will unfold. This will help you provide solid guidelines and parameters for your employees to work within, which in turn will support employee engagement and productivity, as well as an inclusive culture based on trust.

These are the key steps to take:

  • Start by gathering your in-house data. What are your employees’ views on how they would like to work? How have things been working during and in between the various lockdowns? Basing future decisions on what you’ve learned so far is always a sensible approach.
  • Identify a set of principles which the leadership team agree upon (even if one or two are doing so with a ‘we’ll see’ attitude). These should describe the philosophy behind your approach, and what you want it to achieve for the organisation and your people.
  • Next, develop the framework detail. This is where you articulate the details of your future ways of working, including expectations and non-negotiables. At Timewise, we’ve developed a model which we use with our clients, exploring the eight key elements that support a robust approach. The decisions you make will be unique to your organisation – there is no ‘off the shelf’ solution here.
  • Finally, you need to make sure that your employees feel listened to, and understand your expectations; so a clear, inclusive communications strategy is vital. Make sure it sets out how you will upskill managers to support a hybrid team, as that will reassure all sides that you understand the challenges and are keen to help everyone overcome them.

Hybrid working, in some form or another, is very likely here to stay, and failing to move with the times could be damaging for your company. But there’s a difference between implementing short-term changes at speed and building a sustainable approach that brings everyone with you; and the latter is much more likely to win over those who are instinctively against it, and set you up for success in the future of work.

If you need any help with facilitating discussion among your leadership team, creating a framework for change or training leaders and managers, we can help; feel free to get in touch.

Published June 2021

HYBRID WORKING

In Part 1 of our corporate insights into hybrid working, we shared the highlights of our recent roundtable for Timewise Partners, at which we explored how two organisations are approaching the principles and design of sustainable hybrid practices.

But of course, the work doesn’t stop once these have been agreed; it’s equally critical to understand how to implement the changes, and to do so in a way that is both fair and inclusive. This second part explains how our two organisations are approaching these issues, and shares their answers to some specific questions from attendees about making hybrid a reality.

How can companies equip managers and teams to deliver hybrid well?

Our speakers agreed that it was important that all members of a team are clear about what their responsibilities are, and how they will collaborate to make it a success. They also noted that line managers need specific training on how to manage, connect and develop a team which is not together all the time. Their advice for leaders and managers includes:

  • Ask teams how they want to work. One speaker mentioned a toolkit which included a flow chart which helped employees plan their week and decide where best to locate themselves based on the work they had to do.
  • Create checklists to define team ethos and day-to-day ways of working such as having regular stand up meetings, bringing people together for workshops and one 2 ones.
  • Consider the best way to use the tech. Some companies are even investing in VR headsets to help everyone feel in the same space.
  • Think about how to manage meetings when half the team are in and half out. Many organisations are asking everyone to join meetings virtually, even if they are in the office, to avoid those who are physically present from dominating.
  • Explore the best way to configure the office, including spaces and opportunities for collaboration and bonding.
  • Find ways to facilitate remote connection. Set up virtual ‘working rooms’ that team members can drop in and out of to chat and bounce ideas around.
  • Implement ways to help teams collaborate informally with other parts of your organisation. One speaker mentioned a platform used within their London office which connects random people every six weeks for a coffee.
  • Provide advice and guidance on how to stay healthy, such as encouraging people get up from their desks and log off at the end of the day when working from home.

How can leaders ensure that their approach is fair and inclusive?

Our speakers also highlighted the challenges that hybrid working can create regarding inclusivity and fairness. There was a consensus that these should not prevent companies adopting a hybrid model, but that they do need to be addressed if the model is to succeed. Insights shared with attendees include:

  • Mind the influence gap; avoid a disparity of access to managers and leaders between an office based ‘in-crowd’ and their more remote-based peers, by creating protocols around when and how often people attend the office. Failure to do so will disproportionately affect women, carers and people with health issues.
  • Think specifically about how to support people for whom virtual interaction is not preferable; for some with disabilities, for example, too many Zooms can create problems. Create guides for the full spectrum of communication channels and remind team members to use a mix. Bring back the old-school phone call, and empower people to block out Zoom-free time in their calendars.
  • Be mindful about how formal virtual meetings are run, so that everyone’s voices are heard. Create protocols around participants introducing themselves before they speak. Assign responsibility for bringing in people who are not contributing. Circulate an agenda with clearly assigned roles in advance and follow up in timely manner with notes and actions in case anything gets missed.
  • Get creative and consider wellbeing opportunities for more informal interactions such as walking meetings, or offer wellness classes or psychotherapist sessions so people can unwind and download.
  • Think about how to schedule client meetings or other social and learning events to include parents and carers, for example avoiding evenings where possible.
  • Engineer opportunities for ‘community collisions’, where colleagues can bump into each other informally, within the working week.
  • Ask employees what is working for them and share their ideas across the organisation.

What else should be considered?

Our speakers also shared a few of the other issues that they have started to consider as part of their hybrid working implementation. Their snapshots include:

  • There is a need to put extra time and thought into induction processes for new starters, to ensure the relationships and trust that are made easier with physical proximity aren’t being overlooked. This might include facilitating 121 conversations with their key stakeholders; scheduling regular check-ins with their line managers; creating an expectation around open and frank feedback. Start from a position of trust, with a ‘trust now, confirm later’ mindset.
  • Not everyone will immediately buy into the concept of hybrid working, so it’s important to work to bring more cynical or traditional managers on board. Talk to managers in their language and find ways to tie in the move towards hybrid with the ongoing success of the business. Find champions at management level and use them to talk to their peers; use case studies, featuring real life examples of how it has worked elsewhere in the business or externally.
  • While some leaders are concerned that a hybrid model means a double investment in tech, this doesn’t have to be the case. Many hybrid workers use the same laptop at home and in the office, sometimes with monitors and keyboards; with increased agile working becoming the norm, it’s worth some investment to get ahead of the curve.

Instead of looking at it from a purely cost perspective, consider re-framing the question around the types of work people will do in different spaces, then set up the office space to facilitate more collaborative work, networking and making connections. Priming employees to think in these ways about where they do particular pieces of work will help get the best from both.

And the last word goes to one of our speakers, with a final, spot-on principle: “If you rush and stumble into this, it will go badly wrong very quickly.” If you need help getting it right, take a look at our hybrid working workshops, or get in touch to find out more about our bespoke consultancy services.

Published May 2021

By Melissa Jamieson, CEO, Timewise

The pandemic-driven focus on flexible and hybrid working is undoubtedly a good thing. Perceived barriers to the concept of flexibility have come crashing down in many organisations; evidence from the CIPD suggests that productivity and wellbeing have improved in many cases. And while we mustn’t ignore the huge challenges created by lockdown, particularly for those juggling family life and work, the overall sense is that many workplaces are undergoing serious transformation.

Indeed, there is no shortage of examples of organisations announcing big changes, from law firm A&O’s news that 40% of their work will be done remotely post-pandemic, to PwC’s ‘Deal’, which includes the freedom for employees to adapt their start and finish times or other parts of their working pattern. Nationwide, BP, Aviva, Vodafone… the list goes on.

But so far, within all the news about post-pandemic changes, there has been little, if anything, about part-time. So while organisations are widening their employees’ ability to work where and when they choose, they are not offering the same opportunities regarding the third pillar of flexible working: how much people work.

Why it’s a problem if part-time gets forgotten

The immediate question, of course, is does this matter? If hybrid working is popular with employees, and employers are gearing up to deliver it, do we need to worry about part-time?

In fact, it’s a real issue, with a range of consequences:

  • For many members of key groups, such as parents, carers and those with health issues, part-time is the only way to balance work with the rest of their lives. If the only flexibility available is remote working and adjusted start and finish times, they may drop out of the workforce completely. These groups have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic, and need to be included in the recovery.
  • Whilst this is a societal issue, it is also a business one. Most companies have active D&I programmes, but if these aren’t underpinned by a commitment to flexible working that includes part-time, they will struggle to be fully inclusive. This will not only have a negative impact on their gender pay gap, but is also likely to impact their employer brand.
  • Furthermore, if companies don’t offer part-time roles, at all levels, they will struggle to attract, progress and keep people who want or need to work in this way. The knock-on effect of this is one we see played out frequently at senior levels, where a company’s board is too homogenous. This in turn can create an unrepresentative leadership team, which risks being guilty of groupthink and out of touch with what its employees want.
  • The same issue also applies to aligning with customers; as noted in a McKinsey report on diversity, “It makes sense that a diverse and inclusive employee base – with a range of approaches and perspectives – would be more competitive in a globalised economy.” Successful companies represent their customers, sharing their perspectives and understanding their needs.
  • It’s also worth remembering that the pandemic has encouraged many people to re-evaluate their priorities and work-life balance; there is also a growing number of younger employees who are seeking to work less, to free up time to pursue passion projects. In the war on talent, employers who offer part-time opportunities will have the pick of the crop.
  • And at a wider level, for certain sectors (such as retail and hospitality), or certain roles (such as those on the frontline) remote working is simply not an option. As my colleague Emma Stewart has noted, if part-time is not considered or championed in these areas, we risk developing a two-tier workforce, split into flex haves and have-nots.

Now more than ever, we need to focus on part-time

Left unchecked, then, this lack of focus on part-time roles will have an impact on workplace issues such as diversity and the gender pay gap, as well as societal ones including in-work poverty and social inequality.

But we’re not suggesting that hybrid working should be put on the back burner; we’re all for it, and are helping many organisations get it right. We’re simply saying that part-time is an equally valid arrangement, which should be included in any re-evaluation of the workplace. In the wake of the pandemic, in which the groups that traditionally need part-time the most have been the hardest hit, considering the future of work at a strategic level within your business is more important than ever.

So, for companies who recognise the importance of including or increasing part-time opportunities alongside full-time flex, what are the next steps? Here are some starting points for leaders and HR teams:

  • Lead from the top. Change the conversation so that part-time isn’t seen as part committed. Share stories of people who are making a success of working part-time. Ideally, have part-time role models on your board or at senior levels.
  • Facilitate part-time job design and support line managers. Don’t just assume you can lop a day off the working week and expect the same outputs. Upskill managers to understand how to design properly part-time jobs, and manage teams with a mix of part-time and full-time employees. We can help.
  • Make part-time roles available at all levels. This will allow talented employees who need to work part-time to stay and progress, bringing their skills, experience and mindsets with them.
  • Openly advertise jobs as part-time. A study by Zurich found that job adverts which used gender neutral language, and openly mentioned flexibility, attracted 20% more women (as well as more men). If a role can be done part-time, say so, as explicitly as you can.

We’re facing a fantastic opportunity here to rework the way we recruit and employ people, for the better. But let’s make sure that this transformation is future-proof and inclusive, by putting part-time front and centre.

Published April 2021

Hybrid working advice

If there is one topic that is occupying the headspace of business leaders and their HR teams more than any other right now, it’s hybrid working. Most companies are grappling with how they will transition out of the pandemic, seeking to build on what has worked well and overcome the issues they have encountered.

And while there seems to be a general agreement that hybrid working IS the way forward for most corporate companies, and that it will create a huge number of opportunities for companies and their employees, implementation feels complex. As one of our clients has noted, in some ways having everyone working from home is easier to manage; it’s developing the next step, and making it stick, which will be a real challenge.

With this in mind, I recently co-hosted a roundtable for Timewise Partners, in which we explored the topic, supported by two of our longstanding corporate partners, who shared their hybrid working advice and insights with us. Here, in Part 1 of the highlights, we look at their approach to creating the principles on which to build a successful model.

What are the principles that leaders should adhere to?

Our speakers began by noting that while the change we are going through is unprecedented in modern times, many haven’t grasped just how fundamentally it is altering workplace norms. They also spoke of the need for organisations to agree principles for development before looking into implementation.  

All agreed on the importance of allowing all members of the organisation to have input into any changes, asking what they have missed during lockdown, and what they want to build into any new ways of working. One cited a survey of 23,000 UK staff which has pointed towards a model of 2-3 days in the main office per week, with the remainder spread across client sites, at home or remotely.

Among the principles discussed were:

  • Accept that the process will require thoughtfulness and mindfulness about what to do as a leader and as organisations.
  • “This will involve lots of conversations which people are not having at the moment as they are just trying to survive.’’
  • Make sure that any team charged with exploring future ways of working is populated with a range of dynamic employees at different levels. “Put your best people on it”.
  • Encourage leadership teams to be proactive and positive about the process. They need to be at the heart of driving change and to role model whatever good practices are agreed.
  • Look at the issue in the widest sense possible before narrowing down to specifics; for example, discussing what is going on globally and societally as well as for your organisation and your clients.
  • Explore whether moving to a hybrid model will require changes to your business model – consider your client base, your service scope and your client/team interactions.
  • Ensure that any changes work for individuals, clients and the team, as well as the business.
  • Underpin everything with trust and communication.
  • “Make it a no-regrets recovery, turning a year of disruption into a catalyst for positive change”

How can leaders empower teams to create a model which suits their needs?

Our speakers then explored the best way to develop a model which is in line what teams need to succeed on a day-to-day basis.

One of our partners explained their pre-pandemic approach, which was based on employees having autonomy around how, where and when they worked. Their view was that hybrid working is an extension of this autonomy, but that teams need support and leadership to help them develop an inclusive environment in which they can continue to collaborate.

The speakers then discussed whether it is better to have a company-wide vision for hybrid working, which teams are expected to work to, or to empower individual teams to find their best way forward. Their insights included:

  • A firm-wide approach should be created, which sets out what successful hybrid working should look like.
  • This could include some core parameters, such as requiring leaders to role model the change, or having a minimum coverage of managers in the office in any one day.
  • Teams can then work together to create their day-to-day arrangements within those parameters, such as how to organise their home vs office time and how to split their work into collaborative and solo tasks.
  • This will involve creating principles about who is in the office when, and looking at the tasks that need to be done and where they are best undertaken. It will require training in skills such as job design and remote team management.
  • “In-person collaboration is difficult to replicate, particularly when you are trying to be creative.’’
  • Managers should be encouraged to be open and transparent about the logistics, such as why people might be needed in the office on certain days. They will also need to role model the practices agreed by the team, such as working from home part of the time.
  • They should also think through how to support new starters, who will need to be onboarded extra carefully within a hybrid model.
  • Additionally, they will need to consider how best to develop junior members of staff who are seeking to carve out their career, and need opportunities to learn from their more experienced teammates.
  • Line managers may need to be in the office more frequently in the early days to facilitate these points.

Take a look at Part 2 of the highlights from this session, which will focus on how to equip your employees to succeed within a hybrid model, and to ensure that it is fair and inclusive.

In the meantime, if you need more hybrid working advice, take a look at our hybrid working workshops, or get in touch to find out more about our bespoke consultancy services.

Published April 2021

By Melissa Buntine, Principal Consultant

2020 really was a remarkable year, which saw more change in the context of how work is done than the last few decades. More people worked from home than ever before, with many long-held objections disappearing overnight as organisations were forced to adapt to a remote working model.

And while no one would suggest that the circumstances were ideal – an emergency response to a global crisis is not the best way to implement new working practices – there is no question that it has caused a rethink in how people work. In particular, it has created and accelerated a move towards a hybrid model. We’re facing an opportunity to create an exciting new way of working – but we need to get it right.

I recently co-hosted a session for a group of local authorities, in which we explored the risks and opportunities around hybrid working, and heard insights from three Timewise Accredited Partners about how they are approaching it. Here are the highlights.

Opportunities created by hybrid working

Our attendees noted a number of benefits that hybrid working can bring, when implemented carefully:

  • The ability to support people to work in the right place for the right task.
  • Improved perception of your organisation by staff, potential recruits and stakeholders.
  • Increased potential for talent attraction and retention by offering the flexibility people want.
  • An uplift in staff wellbeing by giving people more freedom to adapt work around their lives.
  • The chance to revaluate real estate requirements and rethink what the office is used for.

Potential risks of a hybrid model

However, as the pandemic showed, there are some potential issues that local authorities need to avoid when designing and delivering hybrid working:

  • A blurring of the edges between the start and finish of the day, with some people working 1-2 hours more per day during lockdown.
  • Not all roles within local authorities can be made flexible in the same way, which makes fairness and consistency harder to achieve.
  • The potential for a split between flex haves and have-nots, and an influence gap between those who are in the office more frequently and those who are more often at home.
  • The risk of remote working being seen as the only way to flex, at the expense of part-time and other non-remote patterns.

Examples of good practice

Our speakers also explored some of the issues in more detail, suggesting solutions based on their own experience:

Ways to avoid a two-tier workforce

‘’There is flex in every role and it is about control and input. You may not be able to offer everyone home working, but you can still offer additional support.’’

  • Make inclusive leadership a priority , considering the impact of workplace changes on different groups, and on people with different responsibilities. This is more important than ever against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter and the varying impact of Covid-19.
  • Look at your employees’ roles, and seek to allocate increased flexibility for all, even if home working is not possible.
  • Put in place a system for two-way communication to bridge the gap between managers and those on the frontline.
  • Use technology in an inclusive way. For example, if some meeting attendees are not physically present, encourage all participants to join remotely, to avoid those in the room getting more airtime.

Educating and empowering middle management

‘’We are designing and delivering a new way of working that is not based on HR coming up with what is best, but on a future designed by staff for staff.’’ 

  • While leadership buy-in is vital, that of line managers is also pivotal, as they will be implementing plans and working with those who are at the frontline of service delivery.
  • Encourage this by setting up informal forums or manager-led events to understand their challenges, get their input into the best ways to engage with their services and employees, and work through solutions.
  • Provide training on how to manage remote and hybrid teams, such as how to deliver effective remote check-ins, and how to communicate with hybrid teams.
  • Offer coaching and 121 support where needed.
  • Create a Manager’s Charter setting out expectations of how managers should support their teams, with a focus on regular communication.

‘’Encourage great managers to codify what they do well and pass it across in peer to peer learning.”

Using communication to support hybrid working

  • Effective comms is a critical part of engaging staff at all levels and winning hearts and minds.
  • Intertwining OD with internal comms and employee experience teams can support a coherent strategy.
  • Using pulse surveys can help leaders understand the employee experience and explore what they need.
  • Case studies, including from senior leaders, are a powerful way of showing what is acceptable and possible.
  • Create and communicate a focus on wellbeing to support staff during a time of transition; examples include regular well-being bulletins, podcasts, webinars and having well-being hubs and champions.
  • Think about client communication too, and match the format to the individual; for example, autistic clients may actually prefer remote meetings.

Using office and home space more effectively

‘’Transitioning back to where we were before is a wasted opportunity.’’

  • Even if people are working in the office less frequently, they will still seek peer support and need spaces for collaboration.
  • Use the space you have more creatively, creating areas that suit specific purposes. Examples include community spaces for staff to meet clients and residents, and satellite drop-in spaces for ad-hoc use.
  • Don’t wait until staff are back in the office to get started – identify spaces that can be used differently now, and talk to teams before they return, to avoid old spaces being reoccupied.
  • Make sure those who are working from home have the tools they need to work efficiently – from providing tech training, and creating an agile working hub on your intranet, to funding the purchase of chairs, desks and monitors.

To finish, here are some final words of advice from our Partners for other local authorities:

“Experiment. Get senior managers on board, then involve people in testing and trying things out, rather than just implementing top-down change without collaboration.”

“Remember to mentor key groups (such as BAME employees or those with health conditions) to support inclusivity, and to understand and close any gaps in provision or experience.”

“Enable consistency by providing extra support to teams which are less adept at flexible working.”

If you would like to know more about becoming a Timewise Partner, please contact melissa.buntine@timewise.co.uk.

Published May 2021

By Emma Stewart, Co-Founder, Timewise

It’s simple maths, really. If you’re an office-based organisation, and the majority of your employees are going to be spending two or three days working remotely, you probably won’t need the same amount of space going forwards as you did before the pandemic.

Certainly, an Institute of Directors survey suggests that this is likely to be the direction of travel, with more than half considering cutting back on their office space as staff move more permanently to new ways of working. However, if leaders are assuming that they’ll just stagger people’s in-office days to reduce their square footage and operational costs, and otherwise carry on as before, that’s a real wasted opportunity.

Instead, companies need to use this shift in working practices to consider three questions. Firstly, what could we gain as an organisation from radically rethinking how we use our office space?  Secondly, what would be the right changes to make, for our people and our organisation?  And thirdly, how should we approach the process?

The wider benefits of a real-estate rethink

At a macro level, there are a number of opportunities created by this shift in workplace use, outside of simple cost savings. One idea that’s being frequently mentioned is to move from one centralised office to more, smaller regional ones; for example, as the CEO of Coinbase puts it, “One floor of office space in 10 cities, rather than 10 floors of office space in one city.”  

Decentralising in some way would allow employers to gain access to a wider talent pool, and a greater diversity of background, experience and opinion, than if they remained based in one of the big cities. And it would potentially allow people who can’t afford the high cost of living centrally to have access to more, better jobs.

From a societal perspective, given the concerns about the effect of the pandemic on high street retailers, and fears of ‘ghost towns’ developing, an increase in the number of localised offices or hubs could also help with town centre regeneration. And of course, there are both environmental and individual gains from minimising commuting, from a decrease in pollution to the impact on people’s mental and physical health.

Reinventing the office for a post-Covid world

So, what would these new-style offices be for – and what should be done elsewhere? The pandemic has highlighted the suitability of home working for certain tasks; writing a report, finessing a presentation, or tackling a complex spreadsheet can be tricky to complete in a chat-filled open plan office. And some meetings are highly effective by Zoom or Teams; chaired properly, with a carefully curated invite list, they can be more efficient than a face-to-face equivalent.

Equally, there remain some circumstances in which face-to-face is best, with the most obvious being tasks that require creativity and collaboration. However, although these require people to be in the same place, they’re not best suited to a traditional, cubicle-based layout.

So ideally, instead of simply tweaking their existing real estate for their new ways of working, leaders should start with a blank sheet, thinking about what the new office should be for, before creating spaces to match. And that means thinking about job design.

Using job design to explore what happens where and when

Before getting excited by floor plans and paint colours, leaders need to invest time and thought into how their employees’ roles break down, work out what can and should be done where and when, and then base any new plans on these redesigned specs. That means considering issues relating to both tasks and people, such as:

  • Which tasks can be done remotely, and which are better face to face?
  • How is team communication and interaction best delivered?
  • What proportion of each role is collaborative, and what proportion individual? How can informal collaboration be supported?
  • What is the best way to manage employee lifecycle events such as performance management, training and development and onboarding?
  • What are the demographics of each team? What are their needs in terms of workplace facilities?

Our suggestion would be to start by focusing on tasks, and then take people’s needs into account. It’s also important to consider the wider challenges around hybrid working, to ensure that any new model is both fair and inclusive. And as a side note, it’s worth remembering that there are tax implications for hybrid workplaces in certain circumstances.

Structural change takes time – so why wait?

A number of companies have already spoken openly about their plans to significantly change the purpose of their workplaces. Aviva is planning to close three offices (but not withdraw from any locations, or lose headcount) and “invest in our sites to provide a more vibrant, inspiring and flexible workspace for our people”.

And Vodafone has gone on the record to say that, while they will retain a presence in London, they can also “see the power of a distributed model, with hub offices elsewhere in the country, to help drive diversity and inclusion, reaching out to undiscovered talents nationally.”

They’re right to have got started; well-executed change of this scale won’t evolve or ‘just happen’; it takes time and investment to get right. We can help; if your organisation doesn’t have the right skills and experience in job design, or you’re not sure where to start, do get in touch.

Published April 2021

If there’s one phrase I’m hearing more than any other right now (apart from “You’re on mute”), it’s ‘hybrid working’. In meetings, in articles, in podcasts, everyone is talking about it; it seems it’s one of the main strategic priorities of 2021.

But despite all the discussion, not everyone seems to agree on exactly what it means – or understand how to do it well. So, here’s the Timewise lowdown on what it is, why it matters and how to make it work.

What hybrid working involves

Hybrid working has always existed, but its prevalence has been turbocharged by the pandemic and subsequent remote working experiment. There isn’t yet a definitive definition, but at its core, it’s an arrangement in which an individual, team or organisation work part of their time at the workplace and part remotely.

In the brief periods in 2020 when office workers were allowed back into the workplace, the need for social distancing meant that most only went in for part of their working week. As a result, many employees experienced a hybrid pattern for the first time – and the evidence suggests they’re keen to stick with it.

At its best, hybrid working is about matching the task to the location, and doing the right work in the right place; there are numerous examples of people saying they work more productively on certain tasks from home. And from an employer’s perspective, there are many positives too.

The business benefits of hybrid working

Hybrid working, like flexible working in general, offers huge benefits for employers who take it seriously and deliver it well. These benefits are well-established by now, but here’s a recap of the main ones:

  • Employees want it – so offering it will help you attract and keep a more diverse pool of good ones. And doing so publicly will boost your corporate image, clearly signalling that you have a flexible culture built on trust.
  • The reasons why they want it are beneficial to you too – if a hybrid pattern makes employees feel happier, healthier, more productive, less stressed and more in control of their lives, they’re more likely to deliver.
  • Fewer people in the office at once means less space is needed – cutting down on real estate, utility bills and other associated costs. It’s a chance to rethink how you use the space you have and get the best from it.

Thanks to the leaps that have been made in technology, it’s possible to be present in, and contribute to, most meetings, even when you’re elsewhere. And for those of us who have long been interested in flexible working, it’s worth noting that the focus on hybrid working, and the changes as a result, are hugely beneficial for part-time employees, as well as full-time hybrid ones.

Issues to watch out for

However, while the benefits are clear, hybrid working isn’t risk-free. Here are some of the issues you need to consider:

  • Fairness: Will you be able to offer a hybrid arrangement to everyone in your team or organisation? If you don’t think you can, what will the impact be?
  • Inclusivity: Unevenly implemented hybrid working and behavioural bias can lead to an influence gap between an office-based ‘in-crowd’, and their more remote-based peers. This could have a knock-on effect on diversity and inclusion with more women, or carers, or people with health issues, or introverts, opting to work from home. How will you make sure their voices are heard?
  • Collaboration and innovation: Zoom calls aren’t the best forum for creativity and there are some tasks that work better when people are sharing a desk, rather than a screen. And sometimes new ideas pop up from an impromptu conversation around the coffee machine. How will you facilitate formal and informal collaboration if people aren’t in the office together?
  • Inequality: Not everyone has space for a home office or super-fast broadband; for employees living in flatshares, for example, homeworking might not be productive at all. How will you support these teammates to do their best work if you expect them to be homebased for part of the week?

How to get it right

What these issues clearly show is that this isn’t something you can leave to chance. Just telling your people they can split their week between home and the office and then crossing your fingers and hoping it will work itself out won’t wash.

Instead, you need to work to develop a hybrid culture, in which:

  • Leaders, managers and HR understand the risks related to a two-tier workforce, split into those who come in and those who stay out, and take steps to avoid it.
  • Leaders set the tone from the top that wherever you are working, your input is valued, and commit to role-modelling hybrid working themselves.
  • HR teams and managers skill up on hybrid job design, and take a team-based approach to deciding which parts of roles should be done where, when and by whom.
  • Managers are trained to support and communicate with people they don’t see on a daily basis, to trust their team to deliver out of sight, and to create and agree opportunities for collaboration.
  • Key elements of the employee lifecycle, such as recruitment, onboarding, training and performance management, are reworked and reframed to match a hybrid model.
  • Employees are given the support (financial, technological, manager access) they need to work well remotely, and are valued for their outputs, not their inputs.
  • And there is a company-wide understanding of the different dynamics that exist within teams and the need to avoid gaps being increased by structural inequalities.

Already, different organisations are finding new ways to tackle this; for example, in some workplaces all meetings take place digitally, so that those at home have equal representation to those in the office. And some leaders are taking this as an opportunity to completely rethink what their HQ is used for, such as remodelling the office as a place for relationship building and collaboration rather than producing work.

There’s a lot to think about, certainly – but if, as seems likely, hybrid working is the future, it’s worth investing the time and training to get it right. We can help; as well as running a series of workshops on all elements of flexible and hybrid working, we have also created a new Flex Positive Programme, to help employers design and develop future-fit workplaces. If you’d like to know more, please get in touch.

Published June 2021

As 2020 crawls to a close, one thing is certain; the workplace will never be the same again. It’s pretty clear that a degree of remote working is here to stay; a survey by the IOD suggested that 74% of firms are planning to maintain the increase in home working. And at the time of writing, the Prime Minister has told all workers in England to work from home if possible until April 2021.

Clearly, there are many upsides to remote working; from the time gained by skipping the commute and the related positive impact to mental health, to a general perception that it makes it easier to balance work and life. And the growing acceptability of hybrid working set-ups, where you work in the best place for the job in hand and the needs of your team, is a real step forward.

But it’s also important to recognise that the remote working we’re seeing right now isn’t normal; it’s universal, and enforced, without reference to whether it’s the best way to tackle that day’s or week’s workload. So it’s not surprising that, in our conversations with businesses, we’re hearing lots of examples of how it isn’t working as it should.

This doesn’t mean that home and hybrid working arrangements should be phased out once the pandemic is over. Employees want to keep them, and they can be a useful part of any organisation’s flexible toolkit. But simply replicating office-based practices isn’t enough. As with any flexible role, these arrangements need to be designed properly, and managers need to be skilled up to support the people who are using them.

From Zoom fatigue to lack of workspace – when homeworking is harder

The concept of Zoom fatigue – the exhaustion felt by people as a result of online meeting overload – was much discussed at the beginning of the pandemic. Some employees, particularly younger ones and those living alone, have wrestled with a lack of proper workspace, with some even reporting feeling judged by their home environments. The blurring of boundaries is also a recognised problem. And smart decision-making and creativity have both been noted as being negatively affected when whole teams work permanently from home.

Additionally, there is a growing sense that, without careful oversight, the move to a hybrid set-up, with some in the office and others at home, may lead to women and ethnic minorities being excluded from key decisions and limiting the diversity of opinions which are heard. Or that the extroverts in a team will choose to go in, and the introverts to stay at home, affecting their visibility and progression path, and encouraging groupthink.

Well-trained managers understand the challenges and how to fix them

These are tough issues to work around – but if we just roll over and accept them as the price we pay for more flex, we risk rowing back on all the progress that’s been made. Instead, we need to tackle them – and the best way to do so is by making sure line managers and other leaders are properly skilled up.

Well-trained, properly skilled managers know that they need to trust their remote employees, rather than force them to stay logged in to Zoom all day so they can keep an eye on them. They understand that having an 8.30 meeting every day to check that everyone is working can be counterproductive. They appreciate that, when physical interaction isn’t possible, other ways of connecting teams have to be found.  And they realise that, in an era of job uncertainty, employees need to be encouraged to switch off, not left to put in ever longer hours for fear of being let go.

Design and management of flexible teams are skills that need to be taught

To succeed, managers need to know how to design flexible roles – whether part-time, remote, or a combination of the two. They need to understand how to manage flexible employees, and how to ensure that hybrid-working teams are still able to work productively together. But these aren’t skills that people can just pick up. They need to be taught; and that’s where we come in.

Training managers to build and develop successful flexible teams has long been a core part of our work here at Timewise. And now, from our work with clients and other organisations during the pandemic, we have gained a unique set of insights that are specifically relevant to building these skills in the current circumstances.

We can support employers in a range of ways; from workshops and training sessions to participation in our new Flex Positive Programme. So if you, like us, believe that this is a critical time for developing the leadership skills that will make a success of flexible and hybrid working, feel free to get in touch to see how we can help.

Published December 2020

flexible working programme

How has your organisation responded to the pandemic?  It’s likely that you’ve had to adapt at speed to managing a dispersed team, with increases in home-working and changes to working hours.

So, have you reassessed your approach for the long term, and developed a robust strategy that supports service delivery?

With employees overwhelmingly wanting to retain the flexibility they’ve gained this year (and proven can work effectively), Timewise believes a ‘Flex Positive’ approach is needed.

Flexible working strategies need to reflect the way we work now

The fact is, the world of work has fundamentally changed – and there is no going back. 13 million people intend to ask to hang on to some of their flexibility permanently. Some are even planning to move further away from cities on the basis that they won’t need to commute to the office as frequently. As a result, many executive boards are having serious conversations about their workplace infrastructure, and rethinking their real estate strategy.

Additionally, the pandemic has triggered a growing realisation that the inclusion and wellbeing of key groups needs to sit at the heart of workplace strategies. It has highlighted, for example, that people with caring responsibilities or health issues face extra challenges, and need different support to do their best work.

But although an increasing number of employers recognise this, there is a disconnect between their perception and that of their employees. A recent survey indicated that, while 74% of employers feel they are helping their employees learn the skills they need to work in a new way, only 32% of employees agree.

Clearly, then, there are challenges ahead for employers who want to adapt smoothly and sustainably to new ways of working. We believe these challenges call for a fresh approach to creating and embedding an achievable flexible culture that fits your business needs. And thanks to our years of specialism in this area, combined with the unique insights we’ve gained over the past six months about how our clients are tackling the situation, we’re ideally placed to support your thinking.

Our Flex Positive programme will help you get future-fit

Over the past 15 years, we have worked with hundreds of employers, helping them develop two-way flexible working solutions that deliver on business challenges whilst supporting employees. Our client list ranges from SMEs and public sector organisations to FTSE 100 companies, who have seen for themselves that flexible working can support talent attraction and retention, diversity and inclusion, and productivity. They’ve also benefitted from helping their employees improve their work-life balance and wellbeing, and developed a branding edge by being known as flexible employers.

Post-Covid, these elements are more important than ever; and our Flex Positive programme brings them all together to ensure you’re up to speed. We’ll take you through a clear, step-by-step process, providing you with the tools and frameworks you need to develop and improve sustainable flexible working plans and practices. The programme will provide clarity, and give your team the confidence to prepare well for whatever the future may bring.

It’s time to get real about flexible working – or get left behind

As we all learn to adapt to new ways of working, there will be winners and losers, and the organisations that take a proactive approach to flexible working will be best placed to succeed. We’re here to help you get it right.

To find out more, fill in the enquiry form below, or email info@timewise.co.uk.

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