Given the ever changing home vs. office landscape, in response to Covid-19, and the increasing numbers of areas within the UK that are having to go back into more strict lockdown restrictions where staff are being yet again encouraged to “work from home where possible” it places businesses in a very difficult position as all businesses want to get back to “working as normal” but with Covid-19 at the heart of decision making it’s a difficult balancing act.
We also know that there are many pros and cons to working to working from home. This is backed up by economic scientists who argue that working from home is not conducive to innovation and growth, as we need to draw on the expertise and knowledge of our peers in order to learn from them and converse articulately. So where does this leave businesses caught between the need to innovate and grow, the ability to protect office staff and to comply with government guidelines on Covid-19 working practices? This article looks at how agile office working practices can help your business respond to managing the working environment due to the impact of coronavirus by balancing having staff work within the office and/or work from home (note: normally agile working would include working from anywhere but with the impact of coronavirus this is more likely to be working from home for the moment).
What Is Agile Working?
We’ve talked about agile working before and compared it to activity based working and hot desking. In brief agile working enables staff to work from anywhere e.g. in the office, from another office, from home or even on the move e.g. on a train or airplane; as long as it still allows the employee to be productive and fully meet the goals of the business they work for.
As we yoyo from workplace to home office and back again it’s worth considering a move towards agile working and having office staff work from home, at least as an interim measure, whenever required.
Planning To Adopt Agile Working Practices?
A report by Lancaster University in 2018 called Productivity, Technology and Working Anywhere predicted that 70 percent of UK offices would be agile by the year 2020. This has not proven to be the case however with the pandemic many companies are now starting to see agile working as a possible solution to the coronavirus problem, at least in the short term.
According to The Times three quarters of Britain’s biggest employers are looking at a shift to some sort of flexible working. The article goes onto say “Some 32 of 43 respondents to a poll conducted this week either said or indicated that they were considering plans to allow staff to work from home more regularly. They include businesses listed on the FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest public companies and FTSE 250 mid-cap index.”
This is also echoed by Safety & Health Practitioner (SHP) who found that 71% of UK businesses plan to adopt more flexible and agile working practices post Covid-19 lockdown, putting an end to the traditional 9-5 working day and instead allowing employees to work remotely more often after lockdown. They go onto say that “as many as 80% of business leaders felt their employees had been either as productive or more productive while working remotely and many have realised that agile and flexible working can be incorporated into a sustainable future for businesses.” However it’s important to note that finding the balance between workplace and home is vitally important as “offices [will] still play a very important role for face-to-face meetings, collaborative working, social interaction and for those who work better in those environments.”
Agile Working – Who’s Doing It?
You’ll have noticed that many companies are trying to find a balance between office working and home working so that they are better able to maintain safe working practices during the pandemic. From banks to IT companies to healthcare providers and retailers, many have embraced remote working, at least for the short term e.g.:
- Aetna a healthcare and services provider has moved some of its staff to remote working and plans to review this at the start of 2021.
- Capital One, one of the UK’s largest banks providing financial products and services has made home working for all non-essential staff the norm until at least the end of 2020.
- Indeed the job search platform have told its 100,000 employees to work remotely until July 2021.
- Mastercard, a worldwide payment processor is enabling its employees to work from home until Covid-19 is no longer a safety concern.
- Siemens the electrical engineering and electronics business is allowing staff to work from home up to 2 – 3 days a week. Enabling flexible working and scheduling for staff in and out of the office.
- American Express is reopening its offices in phases but has extended its temporary remote working policy until June 2021 to allow staff a choice of working in the office or at home.
- Reuters the international news organisation have told staff they can work from home until January 2021.
- Amazon who employs around 92,000 staff across the world is encouraging staff who can work from home to do so until January 2021.
- Infosys an IT company who delivers services to customers across 50 countries plans on 33-50% of its workforce working from home permanently.
- Nationwide financial and insurance services provider is transitioning to a “blended” work model where some of their staff will work from home indefinitely.
Some companies are ahead of the curve and are already utilising agile working, even before coronavirus impacted working practices. Many of these companies saw agile working as a way to give staff the freedom to work from wherever best suits their needs
- British Telecom has revolutionised its working practices over the years. Their “Agile working in the digital age: a practical guide” outlines why BT think “organisations can respond and adapt quickly to emerging opportunities, connecting the right skills, teams and information as circumstances demand. Where ‘flexible working’ placed the emphasis on home and remote working, the vision for agile working is about being able to work productively and do business from anywhere.”
- Dell has been using agile working for a number of years, 2009 in fact. Around 25% of Dell’s staff work remotely. Dell sees remote working as being one of the reasons that they have higher staff retention and increased productivity. As a result of agile working the company has reported real estate savings of about $12 million per year. Dell have gone as far as publishing an Agile Working Solution Blueprint. Mohammed Chahdi, Dell’s director of global human resources who leads by example and works remotely himself has been quoted as saying that flexible work is more than just a perk. Dell sees it as good business.
- Another company leading the agile working charge is Unilever. Unilever sees agile working as “driving a cultural transformation”. Unilever’s working practices state: work anytime and anywhere as long as business needs are met, performance is determined by results, not ‘time and attendance’ and interestingly managers are assessed on how well they support staff who are “Agile Working”. They believe that technology makes working boundaries irrelevant, anytime, anywhere.
- Articulate, a marketing company sees agile working as a way to “conquer” distance which is required when its employees span eight cities and four countries. Articulate use a range of HR tools, video conferencing and social media to maintain good communication and keep their business running effectively and efficiently.
- Mindtools a company who are here to “help you to learn essential management, leadership, and personal effectiveness skills” have instigated a “Results-Only Work Environment” a concept developed by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, which melds well with agile working. Rather than measuring an employee’s working hours, Mindtools look purely at performance and results.
The Pros and Cons of Agile Working
Of course agile working, like any other type of working comes with a variety of pros and cons. It’s worth considering how agile working might impact or improve your businesses productivity alongside how it can help you make the appropriate adjustments to your workspace to make it “Covid-19 secure”.
Pros
- Social distancing. Although not usually quoted as being a “pro” of agile working, today, in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak agile working can be a big advantage in ensuring your business can stay open and still abide by UK government’s rules to make your workspace “Covid-secure”.
- Mobility and flexibility. Agile working allows your business and employees to be flexible in where they work and their working hours. Staff can work from anywhere even moving around (although with Covid-19 it’s more likely that staff will be working from home).
- Reduced costs. Many companies find themselves with under-utilised office space or workstations. By having agile working businesses can free up office space for other work activities and where Covid-19 is concerned it can allow businesses to layout their office to allow for social distancing.
- Innovation. It’s thought that by allowing agile working creativity and innovation will increase as staff will be working in an environment that more conducive to innovative and divergent thinking.
- Improved productivity. When staff can work when they want, as long as they are fulfilling their work hours, they are more likely to be motivated to work. Research by BSP World reported that 67% of agile businesses found there was a boost in their productivity, as much as 20% in some cases.
- Reduce your carbon footprint. If you know in advance that agile working is the way you want to go when you’re planning your next office refurbishment you can look to design a smarter, greener office space which can incorporate technology to help you improve sustainability thereby reducing your carbon footprint.
- Attract the best staff. In the list of those companies which are utilising agile working through coronavirus and those who have embraced the idea agile working is seen as a way to attract and retain the best staff. Employees see agile working as a major plus and very often list this as one of the things they look for when applying for a job.
Cons
- Initial costs. As with every new venture there is likely to be some additional costs in making sure that staff have the right office setup and technology to enable them to work agilely.
- Unhappy employees. Not all staff will be happy with an agile flexible working arrangement and some may find it hard to be productive and it may affect their mental health if they have to work remotely and alone. It’s therefore important to make sure that you ascertain who would be happy agile working and those who’d prefer to continue working from the office.
- Unhappy managers. Agile working requires managers to monitor from a distance which many mangers may find difficult to do or to adapt to. It’s vital that managers and staff have the right tools to enable them to continue working and managing as they did before if in a different way.
- A change in culture. Agile working requires staff to adapt and change to a new way of working. Sometimes this can prove difficult for some members of staff and managers (see above). This may require time and discussion with staff to ensure they get the most from the new way of working.
- Issues with “territory”. With agile working staff may still come into the office so it’s important that flexible seating arrangements are made to avoid territorial desk disputes.
- Barriers to interaction. Remote working makes it more difficult to interact with colleagues and to have the off the cuff, unplanned brainstorming sessions or water cooler moments that come with working in the office. The right technology can help with this but may never be a like for like substitute.
- Risk of isolation. Working alone can lead to feelings of isolation if not managed. It’s interesting to note that a United Nations report “Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work” found that 41% of remote workers reported high stress levels, compared to just 25% of office workers. However a more recent survey found that during the coronavirus lockdown 1 in 4 UK workers found their mental health improved . Although agile working isn’t just about working alone or at home, during coronavirus when many staff will be working from home alone, it’s important to be aware of your staff’s mental health and well-being and to ensure they have the support required if they start to suffer from working remotely.
What Do You Need To Do To Be Agile?
If you’re thinking of becoming agile it’s important to find and work with a professional office refurbishment company who can look at your current office layout and look to make the most of your current space with agile working in mind. They can also look to future-proof your office space by looking at your business goals and marrying them up with the latest design trends, developments and advancements in office refurbishment.
JBH Refurbishments have been in business for over 30 years delivering turnkey office design, commercial office refurbishments and office fit out solutions for businesses and organisations throughout London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and the wider South East. You can get in touch via our contact form or calling us on 0333 207 0339.
