Patricia Elias is Chief People and Places Officer responsible for all aspects of human resources and workplace management for CSG.
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Right when I was getting ready to speak on a call this week, my dog started barking and would not stop. I quickly muted my call, waited for things to quiet down and hopped back on. And of course, the barking started right back up again.
In the past, many of us would have balked at any unexpected interruption into our work life. (Don’t we all remember the viral clip of a toddler walking in on a BBC interview in 2017?) But for the 1 billion-plus knowledge workers who regularly went into the office in 2019, our professional lives got the biggest interruption of all in March 2020. Almost 90% of global businesses made the switch to work from home overnight.
However, adding a work-from-home option is just the tip of the iceberg when building out a flexible work program. There’s a lot more to flexible work programs than simply buying employees a monitor and sending them on their way.
Here are three principles companies can embrace to set up their flexible work programs for success.
1. Flexible-First
You might be wondering, “How is flexible-first different from flexible work?”
Well, flexible work often focuses on the idea of flexible workplaces. You’re still expected to be at your desk at 9 a.m. and wrap up at 5 p.m., even if that desk is now at home. In fact, only 29% of organizations let employees choose when they can work.
The key difference between flexible work and flexible-first is that a flexible-first mindset embraces all aspects of flexibility: when, where and how you work. This approach lets employees better integrate work and also helps promote an inclusive work environment. A working dad can log off early to pick up kids from school, and a triathlete can work a little later after a morning run.
If you think this flexibility will negatively impact productivity, think again — over 40% of digital workers said flexible working hours helped increase their productivity.
Flexing work hours and locations isn’t a new idea — global companies have done this for decades, with workers in one region adjusting schedules to connect with global peers. But now, employees’ home office locations shouldn’t limit how they work. If an American employee wants to work in sync with co-workers in India, why not allow it?
One caveat: Flexible-first also means putting trust first. Some employers are monitoring employees down to their keystrokes, leading to stress and anxiety among their workforces. If employees don’t feel like you trust them to get their work done, flexible-first work environments will fail. But when you treat employees with respect (and like the responsible adults they are), you might just be surprised with the results you get.
2. Presence With A Purpose
A century ago, it was easy to see how productive employees were by measuring the output per labor hour. But as work shifted from the factory floor to the office, companies still relied on employees’ physical presence as proof that they were getting their work done. This is no longer the case. For example, in October 2020, Twitter said employees could work from home forever, citing the importance of offering employees flexibility. But they didn’t shutter their corporate HQ altogether — in fact, they’re actually expanding it.
Despite more employees working from home than ever, 35% miss collaborating with each other in the office. Whether your company is rolling back its real estate or adding more space, you have an opportunity to shift your office from a cube farm to a collaboration center.
That starts with defining a purpose for why employees should come into the office. What can they get there that they can’t get at home? For many, it will likely be the chance to brainstorm away from the regular distractions (like a lovable but loud dog). It also gives employees the chance to reconnect. Much like flexible-first, companies were defining presence with a purpose before the pandemic, even if they didn’t realize it (think quarterly meetings or sales kickoffs).
Employees still appreciate the office atmosphere; they just need fewer ping pong tables and more opportunities to collaborate.
3. Curated Connectedness
If you’ve been working from home since March 2020, chances are you’ve been on a group happy hour call. These approaches are admirable, but it’s safe to say we’ve all felt a little awkward. That’s because it’s hard to replicate the organic interactions we had when we were in the office.
One of the things employees miss the most is grown-up, in-person conversations. Those interactions were often one-on-one or in smaller groups: a lead developer helping a new hire fix bugs in their code, or a group of colleagues eating lunch together. But this office culture and connectedness isn’t lost forever. Because, to riff on a line from Thor: Ragnarok, culture isn’t a place — it’s a people.
For instance, at CSG last year, we kicked off a global, virtual challenge where many of our employees completed activities related to wellness, togetherness and fitness. Team captains inspired and engaged their cohorts daily, and the sidebar conversations I had with teammates sparked relationships I’m still keeping up today.
Find ways to pilot different connectedness programs like virtual lunch clubs with smaller groups to recapture a bit of that in-office organic interaction.
What’s Next For Flexible Work?
Change is hard. Admittedly, it would be a lot easier to do what we’ve always done. But we owe it to our employees to make work work better, and with flexible work programs, we can. We can change our access to talent and offer a new level of work-life integration.
We can even change the world for the better: through less time spent commuting and more time with our communities, through providing job opportunities even in the most rural areas (with an internet connection) and through offering our employees the opportunity to live the lives they imagine.
Sometimes, change can start small — like being OK with a dog barking on a call.
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