01 FLUXX EXCHANGE THE FUTURE IS HYBRID

Fluxx Thought Leadership 2020

The Future is Hybridnavigating the big decisions

for the future of work

In these entirely unprecedented times driven by Covid-19, many of the predictable patterns, models and plans for business have been thrown into deep uncertainty.

Sectors and the jobs within them will fundamentally shift, while employee needs and priorities are poised to change in significant and multifaceted ways. Businesses will

need to find objective ways to overcome challenges, use the right tools to make difficult decisions and completely reengineer their operating model in order to successfully

adapt to a blended world of work.

01.a new era of leadership.

The pandemic, along with the acceleration of digital adoption that came with it, requires a new style of leadership. Leadership that is focused on humility, adaptability, purpose and communication. Qualities such as deep domain expertise, decisiveness, authority and short-term focus are no longer at the forefront, instead the in-demand skills of the future are industry agnostic and focused on people.

Our research shows that the top priority for business leaders over the next 6-12 months is people. There is a newfound appreciation for the value of employees and an overwhelming consensus that if you get the ‘people’ side of things right, everything else will follow.

“It’s all about people. If you empower people to make decisions then good things happen. Our focus is to remove barriers in order to enable people to go away and do the best that they can do” Business Development Director, Fintech

Leaders in this new era must adopt softer skills to manage effectively. Humility. Humble leaders will use their knowledge, skills and experience to inspire followers and bring people together, aligning them to their vision. They are willing to admit mistakes, show vulnerability and learn from others. An essential quality and core ingredient for leaders in this new world. “We are seeing leaders admitting they are tired one day, or feeling vulnerable and don’t want their camera on. Trying to show that these behaviours are okay, they’re normal.” Head of Compliance, Investment Management

Adaptability. Today, it is more important than ever to be open to different ways of thinking, shifting and experimenting with different approaches as things change. The

current climate means decisions and trade offs must be made and it is likely that businesses will need to continue to respond to the changing landscape. To do this successfully flexibility and adaptability are essential.

Purpose. The key to navigating the complex world we face today, where strategy is ever changing and few decisions are definitely right or wrong, is purpose. Purpose unlocks exceptional performance, inspiring and motivating employees to come together behind a common goal. “Success is really driven when we are all behind the same goal. I want to look at how we can take what we’ve learnt from this period and apply it to the business plan going forward” Senior Comms Manager, Transport

Communication. Honest, open and transparent communication from leaders is imperative and valued by employees. Leaders must ensure they are visible, appear authentic and demonstrate that they are truly listening to their employees. Communication is so important to get right - over communicate and you confuse people, under communicate and people feel lost. “We are doing what we were doing before, but with much more openness. There are regular calls with everyone in the business, providing direct access to the leaders. And the CEO has taken time to ring people which has given a massive boost. It lets people know that the leaders are visible, that they’re listening and are interested in the workforce” Business Development Director, Fintech

Leaders must be clear about when employees are expected to be available; technology can mean an “always on” mentality that can quickly lead to burnout. This is particularly important for younger, more junior members of staff who feel less comfortable making decisions about their working day. There is a real risk that presenteeism is transforming into e-presenteeism and so it’s even more important that leaders evolve that dated mindset and move

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towards managing based on outcomes. This in turn helps to build trust and empower employees resulting in a more highly motivated workforce. It could even lead to fewer ‘people managers’ going forward as employees become more self-sufficient, able to motivate themselves in a remote world.

There is a feeling from both employees and leaders that productivity throughout lockdown has not been impacted, in fact many have found themselves and their teams are more productive. With dedicated concentration time, strict agendas leading to efficient and productive meetings, flattening hierarchy and open windows into colleagues lives there are many positives to this new way of working. And in an attempt to stay connected, new meeting rituals have emerged, increasing connection with colleagues globally.

“We launched Monday motivator which included things like how to keep connected and mentally well. We scheduled in community cafes so people could have informal coffees with colleagues from around the business. We increased the frequency of formal meetings, more one to ones, whole team meetings would happen weekly. The Senior Leadership Team meeting happens twice a week, and we became more rigorous about what was on the agenda.” Senior Comms Manager, Transport

Although these new rituals go some way towards building an effective workforce, leaders still need to grapple with challenges such as remote collaboration, team cohesiveness and replicating informal chats to name just a few. To do this, they must re-engineer fundamental rituals within the business.

There is a feeling from both employees and leaders that throughout lockdown productivity has not been impacted...

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“The informal interactions are missing. You have to formalise bouncing ideas off people. A lot of people you bump into can just throw some ideas around but now you have to plan a meeting. That formalisation takes the edge away, it works better in an informal discussion.” Director of Strategic Relationships, Engineering

cohesiveness is a concern.

And according to OWL Labs 2019 it’s the 2nd biggest worry about remote working.

Offices provide culture, community and connection. Without spontaneous conversations that happen in a co-located office, it’s hard to keep on top of what each team member is doing. Transparency is essential to avoid employees being left in the dark; whilst project management tools make it easy to keep the entire team up to date. Business leaders must also find ways to ensure team and business cohesiveness through rituals that help foster togetherness in order for the business to remain effective. Faced with challenges never before experienced and a recession worse than that of 2008, leaders in this new era must adopt a new style of leadership. Increased transparency and authenticity is essential - whilst technology is

playing a role to facilitate this, providing a window into colleagues lives, breaking down barriers, flattening hierarchy and adding a much needed human touch, there is still more that needs to be done. Leaders must find new ways to help employees effectively collaborate in a remote world, introduce new rituals and look to recreate spontaneity and informality - something truly missed by all. And whilst employees experience greater autonomy, it is important to embed a culture of communication and connection in order to maintain cohesiveness. Navigating businesses through the pandemic is not an easy task but leaders who embrace flexibility, openness and this new world of work will be the ones to successfully come out the other side.

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effective collaboration is a real struggle.

Leaders must find the right tools and techniques for their business to creatively collaborate and brainstorm. New technologies make real-time remote collaboration possible and very effective, from Microsoft Teams, to Google docs and more advanced platforms such as Miro, a virtual whiteboard. Workshops are a great format for team building, sense-making, problem solving, coming up with new ideas and designing experiments and can be delivered just as effectively online. The key is to plan the right format, identify the best tool for the job, make it fun, keep it short and facilitate, facilitate, facilitate.

The lack of informal chats is missed, both from a social and work perspective.

Without the office as a central hub, ‘watercooler’ moments are lost and there is a risk businesses could lose out on ‘idea mitosis’, the natural product of humans working near other humans. Employees often come up with new creations following a conversation over coffee or a quick catch-up walking to a meeting. Long-term virtual work setups could eventually lead to a decline in new ideas. In order to replicate these moments new rituals must emerge. From ‘community cafes’ to ‘zoom roulettes’, carving out time as a business to chat to colleagues about anything and everything is so important. These small pockets of time encourage spontaneous conversations, going some way to recreate the informality missed from the physical interaction.

THE FUTURE IS HYBRID

technology is...providing a window into colleagues lives, breaking down barriers, flattening hierarchy and adding a much needed human touch.

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Using online whiteboard tool Miro for remote collaboration

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02.reimagining the employee experience.

Employee experience is more important than ever, playing on the minds of many leaders as we start to transition through the pandemic, and look out to the other side. Up until recently, companies have sought to differentiate themselves by investing in great employee experiences - think nap pods, “bring your dog to work day” and free lunch. But without a physical office space the employee experience needs to be re-imagined and reset. There is now an opportunity to create a more meaningful and lasting emotional connection between the employee and their employer.

Globally there are big concerns about the mental and physical wellbeing of employees as sustained homeworking continues, and our research shows the same.

Zoom fatigue is real and there is a genuine worry about employee burnout. Microsoft measured brainwave activity in 12 people doing video meetings and found, “brainwave markers associated with overwork and stress are significantly higher in video meetings than non-meeting work, like writing emails.” It found 30/40 minutes is the limit for good concentration over video; and in a day of back to back meetings a stressed state begins after 2 hours. Giving employees freedom to take breaks, turn off their camera and work flexible hours will help feed into a more positive employee experience. Plus, 41% of global knowledge workers say control over their work-life balance has the most positive impact on their ability to innovate and problem-solve (Google Cloud Future Productivity).

Creating a brilliant hybrid experience for employees will be critical in maintaining engagement and productivity levels. And with 50% of HR and Business leaders ranking employee experience as their number one initiative in 2020, the future of work is truly the future of

worker wellbeing (2020 HR Sentiment Survey). Research continues to show that people do their best work when they have convenient, easy access to collective knowledge; and the right tools and information they need to do their jobs.

...30/40 minutes is the limit for good concentration over video...a stressed state begins after 2 hours.

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Lots of the Fluxx team at Heartbeat, a weekly full team virtual meet upTo make sure they do, businesses must

spend time and money developing new skills. According to the McKinsey Future of Work report, by 2030, more than 10 million UK workers might be under-skilled in digital, decision-making, communication and leadership. Companies will need to craft their talent strategies with the same degree of care and attention as their business strategies.

Through our own research we’re seeing clear opportunities emerging for businesses to help their employees.

People need help to recreate the office environment at home. “I get distracted very easily - especially when there is nobody else around to pressure me into working harder.” Audit Manager, Not-for-profit

New skills are required in this digital environment. “You definitely need to adapt your communication for a digital world. And you need good facilitators online, it’s hard to include everyone and manage different personalities through a screen.” Product Manager, Fashion Communication styles must evolve. “Sometimes I do feel like I’m talking into an abyss. Never felt that before when talking to a new group of people. You can’t read body language at all” Customer Services, Finance

Employees would like to keep the perceived feeling of control.“People are working longer at home, but they’re getting a stronger work and home balance. People are starting earlier, finishing later but breaking the day up to make it more palatable for themselves. I really hope people are able to maintain that.” Business Development Director, Fintech

L’Oréal and ING are two standout examples of businesses that have successfully created compelling employee experiences. L’Oréal has introduced a branded learning initiative Learning Never Stops, which encourages and promotes all types of learning. The topics address distinct needs of L’Oréal employees and include successful strategies for remote working, remote team management, stress management, and employee wellbeing. ING recently appointed a Head of Employee Experience who set out to understand the key experiences that affect employee engagement, collect data to measure this and re-design the touch points and moments that are broken for employees. Employee satisfaction has increased by 20% and manager satisfaction by 30%. A continuous listening programme has been implemented to help identify moments of truth and typical pain points that can be fixed to improve the overall employee experience.

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Businesses must ensure the basics are taken care of (equipment, an ergonomic space, freedom to take breaks and access to decision-makers) along with fostering the right mindset and skills to collaborate in new ways. But if both things require investment, how much money will businesses be able to set aside given the pressures to reduce costs as we head into a global recession? The answer: they should invest plenty. Lack of engagement cost companies an estimated $7 trillion in lost productivity in 2017, reinforcing the importance of investing in your people (Google Cloud Future Productivity).

Some large companies are even appointing people into specific roles to look at how to solve the challenges faced from this new world of work.

“This crisis has challenged us to reimagine how, when and where work gets done. We need to thoughtfully determine how our organization will evolve and address the needs of a distributed workforce because this touches on every aspect of our values, culture and business strategy.” Workplace Strategy Director, FMCG

People are more engaged and committed when they are allowed to work in a way that suits them. The challenge is finding a balance. Everyone is human, everyone is individual, so leaders must balance what’s right for the business alongside what’s right for everyone’s individual newfound sense of flexibility. Unfortunately one-size-fits-nobody and leaders need to find a way to deliver an employee-centric hybrid experience whilst maintaining engagement and productivity to ensure continued business effectiveness.

03.short-term decisions with long-term consequences.

Companies have successfully moved to remote working, and many may want to take advantage of this permanently, questioning the need for expensive physical spaces, particularly if lease agreements are coming to an end. Fujitsu have already announced a 50% cut in real estate and Google, Facebook and Twitter have all said staff can remote work permanently. But have they considered the trade-offs and long-term implications? Employee wellbeing, technology, kit, which roles can be performed long-term at home and which not, and even automation. Decisions about office space will have repercussions on everything from business effectiveness to productivity, from health and safety of employees to regulation and governance. There is absolutely an opportunity here for businesses to reduce costs, but there is also a once in a lifetime chance to relook at the entire operating model, more radically than ever before. The digital acceleration created by Covid-19 could lead to the automation of some roles and processes. And the surprisingly successful global ‘remote work experiment’ means businesses also need to think about how they want to work in the future - and the amount and type of space needed to do it.

Although employees enjoy their newfound freedom and flexibility working from home, our research shows they still desire a space where they can congregate and feel a sense of belonging. This is supported by a JLL survey of 3,000 office users which found that 58% of workers missed office life, with people aged 35 and under showing the strongest desire to return. Human interaction and socialising with colleagues were the most missed element, at 44%, followed by collective face-to-face work at 29%. This suggests that there is an opportunity to reimagine the purpose of the office as a social

hub, focusing on cultivating the right environment for collaboration and creativity, leaving the desk-work for the home. Now is the time for businesses to build strong remote-working practices that integrate seamlessly with systems and processes and transform the office from a place, to an experience.

But this is about more than just where we work, it’s about how a business operates. It’s about re-engineering the operating model to successfully navigate the changing landscape and build a future for the business. To do this there are key questions that need to be answered and decisions that businesses will need to make, but with an acute understanding of the potential consequences and implications for the longer-term. It’s important to acknowledge that this is easier said than done. It’s unchartered territory and we don’t yet know all the answers.

What we do know is that there are a set of common business goals that we have identified through our research. Goals that businesses must strive for:

• Cost efficiency and business effectiveness

• Wellbeing, health and safety• Engaged and productive

employees• Effective collaboration• Speedy decision-making• Right level of governance

(particularly in regulated environments)

In order to achieve these goals and help define the future strategy of the workplace, it’s important to consider 5 aspects. These should help to influence and guide thinking, ensuring leaders are asking the right questions at the right time.

... there is also a once in a lifetime chance to relook at the entire operating model, more radically than ever before.

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Customer.Businesses must ensure they design for rapidly changing needs and create adaptability

Skills.Both leaders and employees will need new capabilities alongside enhancing existing ones

Rituals.Businesses must rethink key processes, meetings and ways of working to remain effective

Environment. The design of physical spaces, the amount of them and the practical things employees will need to ensure productivity need to be considered

Social Capital.Leaders must maintain employee engagement, avoid burnout and look after health and wellbeing

Businesses face a unique opportunity in this moment to embrace a new blended world of work, transforming operating models in line with this way of working. What is imperative is that leaders assess the longer-term consequences of their short-term decisions at regular intervals. Whilst the world is in such a state of flux, frequent reviews will be required to set guiding principles and help shape the strategy of the future of work.

Practicing work-life balance in the garden

A BIT ABout fluxx

Fluxx is the UK’s leading independent Innovation Company. For the last 9 years, we’ve been supporting clients to accelerate growth and sustain change; helping big companies be purposeful, build internal innovation capability and develop new products and services at pace.

Get in touch, embrace@fluxx.uk.com

Leaders today must adopt new skills and refocus their effort on employee experience.

"There is potential for a seismic change in how businesses choose to operate going forward, reinventing and redefining “work” in the new world. Organisations that seize this opportunity to change will outpace their peers, differentiating themselves in the market, gaining competitive advantage and building a truly employee-centric experience. Leaders today must adopt new skills and refocus their efforts on employee experience. And in this new world where companies are cutting fixed costs and long leases, the ‘sharing economy’ continues to rise, and technology and cloud computing is so easily accessible we will see the growth of ‘space as a service’, totally reimagining the office environment. However it is important not to forget the customer. Businesses, understandably, have become incredibly introspective over the past few months, and their biggest problem today is how they bring people back to work. It’s amazing that people have risen up the business agenda but what’s important is that it is not at the expense of businesses focusing on the customer. There is little point in reengineering the business, if it isn’t in service for your customer. Businesses must ensure they don’t lose sight of who the consumer is, and continue to design for their rapidly changing needs. After all, every employee working from home is also a customer living with a strange new life they never thought they’d lead.

About the author

Natalia Walters is a strategic consultant at Fluxx who has done extensive research on the post-Covid future of work landscape and played a key role in designing Fluxx’s ATOM framework, created specifically to support businesses through navigating the big decisions for their workplaces. To find out more email Natalia at natalia.walters@fluxx.uk.com