LIKE everyone else, I'm glad to see a lot of the restrictions put in place to limit the spread of Covid-19 now being eased and a bit more freedom returning to daily life. It feels like it’s been a long time coming!
It didn’t take long after the latest guidance was issued for stories to emerge about major employers in a range of sectors issuing demands that staff who had been working at home now return to the office – and others seeing the opportunity to generate some interest by trumpeting their remote working credentials.
This debate has raged in a thousand think-pieces over the last two years, and usually the authors of those articles fall firmly into one camp or the other depending on their own experience.
The point that is often missed in many of those articles is that we all have a different experience of work and it wasn’t until change was forced upon us in 2020 and 2021 that many people had the chance to find out that they were actually more effective, productive, creative or satisfied in the job in a different set up.
In 2021 our team at Bazaarvoice in Belfast grew to more than 100 people and we took up residence in a brilliant new office in Lanyon Plaza. While you might think this would mean we want more people coming into central Belfast every day, the direction we’ve given the team is to work appropriately.
Pre-pandemic, we offered full flexibility in our hybrid working approach and this hasn't changed. Our office is open to those who wish to use the facilities, and while some are coming in five-days-a-week, some have yet to ever come in and everyone else is somewhere in between. It is a completely personal choice.
The organisation trusts each of our people to figure out what works best for them on any given day and our teams understand that for each other. All we ask for in return is for our teams to communicate clearly with each other.
While it’s obviously not possible in every sector, as a knowledge economy business it was an easy transition for us go fully remote and then back to this hybrid approach, as technology enables us to function no matter where we are.
I agree to some extent with the view that being in the office enables a different type of collaborative work, which definitely has its place, but it is more important that the individual involved thinks it is best for them.
I’m not sure our view – directing employees to do whatever suits them best – is a common approach. A lot of other employers in our sector are operating hybrid systems that include mandatory minimum days in the office per week or per month, which is not our expectation.
The argument for doing more time in the office is often that if you’re not there and seen by senior management it can hold you back from progressing. We’re taking a different stance and ensuring our leadership teams are educated enough by the organisation and by each other that presenteeism is not used as a factor when it comes to the professional development of our people.
Culture to us is the sum of the behaviours of all of us, so our approach is discussed with our people from the first interaction, into the recruitment process and through to the one-to-one conversations that ensure we are listening to our teams. We understand that we are all part of an ever-changing situation so we approach all individuals with the level of empathy that we expect to receive back.
Our policy on hybrid working is an extension of this ethos and I think that’s why our team has responded positively to it. It will be interesting to see how the debate on the future of work develops in Belfast and around the world as we progress through 2022.
:: Laura Lunn is capability lead (product development) at Bazaarvoice
