By: Anthony Lamoureux, CEO, Velocity Smart
In today’s world, the ‘work anywhere, anytime’ model is quickly establishing itself as the new normal for many businesses, as attested by some of London’s largest banks: Natwest, HSBC and JP Morgan, who have all recently moved to a hybrid working structure, encouraging their employees to work from home where possible.
Employees are keen for it to happen, with some even threatening to go elsewhere if demands for more flexible working hours and environments aren’t met.
As the economy opens up, staff are keen to retain one of the very few positive things to have arrived from the pandemic – an improvement in how and when we work.
83% of UK office workers agree that flexible working is here to stay, with many now expecting to be able to work wherever and whenever suits them best – from kitchen tables to family villas.
If implemented in the mainstream, it could lead to the end of the 9-to-5 as we know it, with employees working around their own schedule as long as the job gets done.
Of course there is scepticism from some naysayers, especially those of which have vested interests and large investments in commercial property and who may stand to lose the most from such changes.
But the hybrid model of work has the potential to become a competitive advantage for UK businesses – as long as the correct infrastructure and practices are put in place to make it work.
Supporting such a highly fluid workforce creates a brand new set of challenges never seen before. So how can businesses create and support this new ‘anywhere, anytime’ workplace?
What does work anywhere, anytime actually look like?
The crucial factor of this new working model is trust. But as we know, employees everywhere have proven they don’t need to be watched to remain productive.
It took a global pandemic forcing everyone into their homes to open the eyes of employers, but there were even some employees that were reluctant to take the plunge on remote working.
Employers feared productivity would slip, while employees didn’t want to appear lacking in dedication to their career.
Fortunately, this scenario was proven wrong on both accounts.
Productivity has at the very least maintained its level from before, if not improved in some circles, while remote working options have been instrumental in reducing the stigma and career progression issues around maternity leave.
Employees went above and beyond during this period, but the genie is out of the bottle. Having proved that trust can be repaid, employees want to extend and add to the benefits of flexible working.
What are the challenges in supporting this model?
It is no longer necessary to restrict work to between the hours of 9 and 5, or even from Monday to Friday.
There is a set amount of work to be done, or a set number of hours. Technology, trust and flexibility allows us to redress our work-life balance, increasing happiness and life-satisfaction while still delivering results.
In our recent survey on the subject of hybrid working, a priority of UK workers is being able to effectively communicate and collaborate with colleagues, with 31% saying the lack of ability whilst working from home has negatively affected productivity and motivation. It’s clear that some time in the office – plus effective IT equipment – will be essential to the effective uptake of hybrid work.
In a recent PwC survey of business leaders, the top priorities for executives around hybrid working investments were ‘tools for virtual collaboration’, ‘IT infrastructure to secure virtual connectivity’, and ‘Training for managers to manage a more virtual workforce’.
These three areas form the backbone of remote working requirements.
Collaborative project management software, such as Microsoft Teams, Monday.com and Slack have become commonly used tools in the recent technological acceleration.
But one challenge that still hasn’t seen signs of improvement is the provision of IT support, with 25% of UK remote workers insisting that poor performing or broken IT equipment caused a loss of productivity.
If help is to be delivered in a decentralised way, outside the confines of an office environment, then businesses need to consider additional innovations.
24/7 IT support is now expected as standard, as is remote software that tells owners about the health of their laptops before it reaches critical condition.
But some businesses are going one step further to support colleagues by investing in smart lockers to be placed in specific locations that offer replacement IT equipment, all backed up by the cloud.
Research shows that 86% of the UK and 91% of the USA workforce would have welcomed the option to pick up replacement equipment using a self-service system while the original was being repaired.
When something goes wrong, remote working employees need to be able to quickly and simply request replacement tech. A seamless ‘click and collect’ model, similar to what we experience in retail, could be the future of the modern workplace.
