A fundamental rethink in how we view the world of work

The lifting of Covid-19 restrictions may not have resulted in the great resignation many feared but it has certainly led to a great re-evaluation, according to EY head of people consulting, Laura Flynn. “Huge swathes of the workforce are re-evaluating what they expect from employers in the new world of work,” she says.

Flynn will join key HR leaders from the worlds of business and academia at the Talent Summit on March 24^th in the Convention Centre, Dublin, to discuss new ways to compete to retain and recruit talent, and re-organise our workforce, workplace and working patterns.

“There is a fundamental rethink of the whole employer-employee relationship,” she adds. “Expectations have changed, and employers need to respond, but there’s not a simple or straightforward answer. The balance of power has shifted for now, and organisations need to adapt for survival. Initially, there was a sense that people would have to come back into the office because they were contractually obliged to do so. But employees feel that they have proved they can work productively when working from home, and their employers need to rethink how they will create a compelling reason to come together in an office environment. Many organisations will see this as an opportunity and will provide high levels of flexibility. For those who do not, it is likely that people will vote with their feet.”

The initial debate which centred on the impact on office space requirements was misplaced, according to her colleague Tim Bergin, who is head of innovation for people consulting with EY. “Hybrid working started as a discussion about real estate but it’s much broader than that,” he says. “It’s about the overall value proposition for employees. The focus is now on people experience rather than employee experience, in recognition of the difficulty in drawing clean lines between home life and work life. It's now important for organisations to consider how they create a value proposition that facilitates the balance that we have all come to expect, whether working from home or from the office.”

He points out that the traditional, static nine-to-five model has changed with the shift to hybrid models.

“People are logging on before the school run and then making work calls on the way back. They are going for a morning run and then working in a café on the way home. One of the things we have focused on in EY and with our clients is the experience people have through their whole journey with an organisation. Before people even join, it starts with consideration of the employer and its reputation, its brand, what it is known for. It is important for employers to create a brand and experience that aligns with the lifestyle that prospective talent aspire to have, delivering better outcomes for the business, for people and for customers.”

That’s even more important in the hybrid working environment, Flynn adds. “When candidates ask about an employer’s hybrid working policy, a vague answer is worse than the wrong answer. The most attractive employers to work for are those that offer flexible working arrangements, and importantly that allow employees have a say in how that flexibility will work for them.”

“Flexible working policies are becoming part of the talent battle,” says Bergin.

Interviews can’t be a one-way experience, he points out, they are an opportunity for the candidate to learn more about the employer. Decisions are being made based on how effectively organisations can describe the experience and culture that they are trying to create. This creates a psychological contract which must be delivered on when people join, making the onboarding experience more important than ever. “

Employers need to rethink how they will create a compelling reason to come together in an office environment

“How do you bring people in and inculcate them into your culture? What learning and development supports do you provide? How do you enable people to develop not just in the context of their current role? A LinkedIn profile is now an employee’s personal brand, and people are increasingly placing a big focus on qualifications and certificates now. EY has launched a digital MBA that allows people to acquire learning and qualifications by completing badges online. It turns the traditional model upside down. You don’t have to take a year out to do it full time in college.”

Flynn also points to an unexpected downside of hybrid working. While productivity gains were achieved from remote working partly as a result of people not having to deal with tiring daily commutes, hybrid working with its constant switching between home and office can reintroduce those stresses and compromise productivity.

And where people work from home all the time, they may be at risk of losing out to proximity bias where the people in the office, working close to managers and leaders, may benefit from opportunities unconsciously afforded to them. This can lead to people gravitating towards office working even when it is not the optimal solution for them.

It's not about a set number of days in the office. It's about a flexible model based on principles and guidelines

Flynn believes organisations need to offer flexibility rather than a fixed hybrid model. “Organisations have to be really thoughtful in their approach to hybrid working. Why are you asking people to come into the office? The reason has to be human connection and collaboration. There may not be a benefit to coming into the office if their colleagues are not going to be there.”

Mindsets need to shift in flexible working world. “It’s based on trust,” says Flynn. “Employees want flexibility, but they have to deliver the goods. It’s all about outcomes and outputs rather than presenteeism. A huge amount needs to be done to support managers to operate in the new world of work.”

Flexible models are principles based rather than rules based, says Bergin. “It’s not about a set number of days in the office. It’s about a flexible model based on principles and guidelines. That’s emerging as the prevalent approach, and we are seeing organisations which had previously opted for a set number of days in the office rowing back from that.”

The flexible model sees teams having much greater autonomy. “Everyone delivers outcomes as part of their role, and we do that most often as part of a team. We have to ask how we come together as a team and when. Some things might be done better together in person and some parts might be more suited to working at home. It is the team’s responsibility to decide on that. It’s not the job of HR. Accountability is dispersed across the organisation. That collective responsibility to change how we work is really transformational.”

To enable this transformation, HR and management approaches are key. “Their roles are now much more about empowering people,” says Flynn. “To do this, they have to listen to what their employees are telling them they need to do their best work, and then tailor the people experience to deliver against this. This will help them to realise the collective potential and ensure hybrid working works effectively for all.”

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