How businesses are meeting the challenge of the workplace ‘new normal’

Organisations continue to grapple with the new normal for working arrangements in the wake of the pandemic. Some are moving to a fixed hybrid solution. Others are settling on more fluid arrangements. Some are happy with full remote, while others still are contemplating a full return to work.

The question common to all employers is how best to proceed.

Firstly, accept that there has been a major mindset change, says Jeff Greene, partner in law firm William Fry’s Employment and Benefits Group.

Where some employees in the past may have hoped for a degree of remote or flexible work, they now expect it.

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“That can be difficult for some managers to accept, as they spent their own working lives full-time in the workplace,” says Greene. “However, job applicants are now querying the prospective employer’s policy on working arrangements in the same breath as salary and benefits. Employees not offered remote or flexible work in their own workplaces are eyeing up opportunities in competitors that do. The war for talent is real, and rather than pumping up salaries and benefits to unsustainable levels, offering some form of remote or flexible working is a less expensive way of attracting or retaining talent.”

Currently the employer has the discretion to determine whether it offers remote or flexible working, or a combination of both. To succeed, Greene suggests they ask themselves a few questions.

Can the work realistically be done remotely or outside ‘normal hours’ without an impact on productivity or service?

Will the culture of the organisation be affected? Can new employees integrate satisfactorily? Can junior employees progress at the same speed without the ‘learning osmosis’ from in-person senior colleagues?

Are the new challenges surmountable or worth the cost, for example ensuring the health and safety of the employee at their ‘home workplace’? “To answer these queries, the majority of employers in our experience have found the balance to be three days in the workplace with an option of two at home,” says Greene.

Legislation giving employees the right to request remote work is currently being drafted. “Employers can gain brownie points with staff by putting their own policies in place now,” continues Greene. “It is another inexpensive win, while waiting runs the risk of a further loss in morale with employees feeling the employer only put the policy in place because the law required it.”

Without a doubt the pandemic has shifted the way we work and live, agrees Chris Collins, country president for Schneider Electric Ireland.

“As we move towards the new normal organisations should ensure that their people are enabled and empowered to perform at their best while effectively managing a work-life balance – something that greater flexibility can help with,” says Collins.

Schneider Electric Ireland has a ‘people first’ strategy, which stands on four pillars. “Firstly we have ‘leadership’, which is about how we can transform our leaders to stay effective in a hybrid working situation,” explains Collins. “In the UK and Ireland we have a leadership pulse community. This seeks to support our leaders and allow them to be the best leaders they can for their people in line with our leadership expectations. It looks at how we can drive more collaboration across territory while working in a hybrid situation and how we treat and trust each other.”

“Next, we have ‘talent’, this looks at how we can still attract, grow and build our talent in a hybrid working situation versus the needs of a business.”

The third pillar is about looking at the organisation in terms of how it can be more agile and meet the needs of this global hub workplace of the future while still fitting in with the culture it wants to create.

“The fourth aspect to consider is about people excellence,” says Collins. “This looks at our employee value proposition and considers how we can bring that to life in terms of all the different experiences an employee has during their time at a company, especially when they may not be based in an office five days a week.”

There is no one-size-fits-all. “My overarching view is that there is a divergence in the market into hybrid and remote, with a smaller minority of talent happy to return full-time to the office,” says Una Rorke, director of business partnering and change at Three Ireland.

“I believe organisations need to be really comfortable with their ‘why’. It is perfectly okay for each organisation to build its own unique workplace value proposition or hybrid value proposition, and share with potential talent and current employees,” says Rorke.

“Leaders play a key role and, in parallel, have their own change journey to navigate new ways of working while simultaneously managing a hybrid workforce effectively. They are the most critical people in ensuring hybrid is embedded successfully while ensuring a positive employee experience. This is new for every organisation so it’s okay to test, learn and pivot until you find what works.”

Three Ireland is continuing to embed its own hybrid working system. “As an organisation we are focusing on understanding how to amplify our culture in this new context,” says Rorke. “It has been a year since we committed to our hybrid model, adjusting our contractual terms and conditions to reflect office and home working - with 2-3 days in the office - model for our headquarter in Dublin, which allows employees the choice of which days to attend the office and work from home.”

“We offer a modified weekly hybrid model for our customer service centre in Limerick, with a week on-site and a week at home rotation, for our customer care employees. The change in terms and conditions was a very strong commitment to our employees and business that gave everyone some much needed clarity and stability after a very ambiguous and unsettling period.”

Not only is every organisation different, but the landscape is different too. New ways of working need to “bend and flex” to meet the needs of the individual organisation, she says. “Every organisation will have its unique hybrid or workplace signature, and then we all need to keep an open mind on how it may evolve further,” adds Rorke.