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Why Flexibility is Key to Employee Retention

Why Flexibility is Key to Employee Retention

by Peter Grabuschnig | Jun 26, 2023 | Digital Transformation, International leadership development, Leadership Tips | 0 comments

Why Flexibility is Key to Employee Retention

This article presents 5 tips on how you can build a strong corporate culture within the trend of hybrid work that fosters a sense of belonging to your company.

The challenge of a hybrid work environment presents companies with the task of building and maintaining a strong corporate culture. With location-independent work, it becomes more difficult for us to foster a sense of connection and belonging to the company.

Studies have shown that companies that allow for flexibility have higher levels of employee engagement than those that do not. The trend towards a more flexible working world is likely to be unstoppable. We want to ask ourselves now how to retain employees in this new working environment.

These are five factors that will increase your employee retention in your company.

Allow for flexibility and encourage open communication

In your company, you should be willing to allow for flexibility and adapt to the changing needs of your employees. This may mean offering flexible working hours or home office and mobile working options.

Open communication is essential, especially in a hybrid working environment. You should encourage your employees to communicate openly and frequently and provide them with tools and platforms to do so.

 

Home Office

Create shared goals and values and provide opportunities for social interaction

Shared goals and values are critical for a healthy working environment. Your goals and values should be communicated to all of your employees and aligned with your company’s overall mission and vision.

Social interaction is important to create a sense of connection and belonging among your employees. In your company, you can organize virtual happy hours, team-building activities, and other virtual or in-person events to foster social interaction and build relationships among employees.

Acknowledge and celebrate successes

Recognizing and celebrating successes is important to a strong corporate culture. Companies should recognize both individual and team achievements and acknowledge employees for their hard work and contributions.

A flourishing working environment is crucial for employee retention, motivation, and performance. If you adapt to the new needs of your employees and create a hybrid working environment, you can be more successful and achieve better results within your company.

Peter Grabuschnig

Peter Grabuschnig

Trainer, Coach & MDI Partner

Peter is a partner and trainer at MDI, advising major international corporations on implementing hybrid work policies and building a hybrid work and leadership culture.

He is considered an expert in training design. With his Webinar Guru Framework he has developed a tool that helps to design training content for successful and activating virtual learning.

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Third Workplace – A Plea for More Flexibility

Third Workplace – A Plea for More Flexibility

by Aline Deporter | Sep 20, 2022 | Best Practice, Leadership Tips, MDI Inside | 0 comments

Third Workplace – A plea for more flexibility

And here I am, sitting in Croatia, on the decked patio, at the dining table with my work laptop and a sleeping cat – that came with the all-inclusive holiday home ?

Work from Anywhere

Spontaneously I decided in the morning to have a “Work from Anywhere” day instead of my current holiday day – because the weather is not looking inviting. Instead, I put my holiday day on next Monday. With bright sunshine, a day at the beach is simply more fun and the relaxation factor is much higher.

Transparent communication

Luckily, our CEO feels the same way – one WhatsApp message later, the plan is set. Partner and holiday companions have flown out, so the necessary rest is guaranteed. Let’s get started!

I immediately informed our team via Microsoft Teams message @all – about the changes in my availability. When you are not visibly on site, transparent communication is all the more important. Some team members quickly took the opportunity to clarify urgent issues with me.

About Aline

Aline joined MDI in 2020 as a Marketing Manager with over 10 years of B2B marketing experience. She is primarily responsible for the overall coordinated organisation of MDI’s advertising activities and the management of marketing projects. This includes, among others, the MDI Business Unit SDI as well as Leadership Horizon and personalist.at. Aline is a strong marketing all-rounder with a passion for leadership development, digital transformation and event organisation.

In this article, Aline shares her personal experiences and some “Third Place Working” learnings.

What do I need to work effectively from anywhere?

  • A good internet connection (this is probably not a big surprise). It’s best to clarify the internet performance again by phone or email directly before you go on holiday
  • Shade when working outdoors. That way the laptop screen is not blinding
  • An extension cable (sounds trivial, but this way you can really work from anywhere)
  • If you have the possibility of renting a holiday home/hotel room with a furnished workstation or at least a PC screen, it’s even better
  • Think of enough screen breaks
  • A certain time structure and work packages with breaks
  • Water, coffee, refreshments of choice

Get to know your own working style

Personally, fewer distractions are better for me. By that I mean children, family, friends, etc. In other words, people who are not working with me at the same time. Because I am definitely a “people person”. If other people who are not working talk to me frequently, I get distracted more quickly.

So my tip here would be: get to know your own working style. I am very creative, for example, in moving forms of transport (plane, train, bus, car, etc.) or when things are happening passively around me (coffee, park, waiting room, etc.).

It shouldn’t be too quiet for me. I love music in the background and vary the style of music according to the motivation I need (chill out always works, classical music helps me to concentrate, 90s songs motivate me and encourage me to sing along loudly).

It’s also good to have several seating options so that you can remain at least somewhat ergonomic. A pool to cool down and get some exercise in between is of course a big plus. But a yoga mat or a short walk will also do.

Pro Tip – Coworking Spaces:

If there is little/no opportunity to work quietly or more ergonomically, look for co-working spaces (with daily or weekly rates) in your area. There are now an increasing number of them. Apart from the better quality of work, you can network during breaks and make new, exciting contacts.

In my area, currently Pula, there is for example the Club Kotac with free admission, air conditioned, fast internet (30/20 Mbit/s), 10-18h Mon – Fri. A great alternative!

Currently, however, I don’t want to abandon the cat, so I’ll stay ? .

There are already some search tools to help you with your quest here:

  • coworker.com
  • coworkbooking.com
  • heydesk.com
  • instantoffices.com
  • desksnear.me
  • coworkingnomads.com

Flexibility as a motivating factor for work?

Employer Attractiveness – Trends and Tendencies

By coincidence, the new issue of Personalmanager is lying next to me at the moment. The main theme of the issue is “Employer Attractiveness”.

So, what makes an employer attractive to me?

I don’t have to think about that at all: definitely high flexibility, personal responsibility, fair compensation as well as opportunities for further development, the team and the common purpose. If you look at the latest surveys on this topic, then I am not alone in this.

Needs of Gen Z & Millenials

Deloitte surveyed 23,000 Gen Z’s and Millennials about their workplace experience. The strongest topics communicated were purpose & financial security. Due to the current global situation, both generations are worried and uncertain. This has an impact on loyalty. Almost 40% (Generation Z) want to leave their job in the next 2 years.

As an employer, you should take a closer look here. Flexible working hours & locations, purpose as well as fair remuneration should be at the top of the list of must-haves.

The Hybrid Work Concept

We at MDI have been embracing the hybrid work concept, also known as the synchronous hybrid model, for some time now. Our team likes to work this way and, according to a study by Cisco, it is also very popular with other employees.

Specifically, this means a mixture of office, home office and third workplace (on the road). MDI’s hybrid work concept currently includes 60% office, 40% home office and 3 weeks third workplace (e.g. workation). I combine one week of this with a week’s holiday in Croatia, for example. The other two weeks will be spent by two other MDI colleagues and me in Greece (Rhodes). This strengthens team bonds and increases the motivation to work on location.

Open and authentic corporate culture

Of course, the respective work concept has to fit the company. The larger, the more organisationally complex.

The right way will look different for every organisation. However, I think it is important to have a clear, open and authentic corporate culture.

Potential new employees should know exactly which working concept applies and which working modalities have to be dealt with. That way, they can get a clear picture of the future work in advance. As a company, this can also reduce the fluctuation rate.

Trust & Flexibility –
Third Workplace – A plea for more flexibility

I nevertheless plead (where possible) for more flexibility. As an organisation and/or leader, have the courage to trust – because flexibility boosts mutual trust.

In my opinion, employees should be given the highest possible flexibility in order to even be able to fulfil their role as a strong and reliable member of the team.

From my own experience, I can report that this increases motivation and loyalty immensely. And sometimes all it takes is a simple WhatsApp message …

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The effects of home office

The effects of home office

by Dr. Kilian Wawoe | Apr 14, 2022 | Digital Transformation, Leadership in the digital transformation | 0 comments

An Interview on the effects of home office with Dr. Kilian Wawoe

Dr. Kilian Wawoe investigated the consequences of the increasing numbers of home office days for people and companies and the effects of home office.  During lockdown, he found more than 600 articles about working from home, talked with hundreds of people about their experiences with home office, took questionnaires from thousands of workers and worked with dozens of companies on a new form of collaboration that he calls “corporate brain.“

What are the implications of the increasing number of home office days for companies?

We are in a unique situation – the entire world is participating in the largest “experiment” in the history of labour. The lessons we can learn from the lockdowns are that we can quite easily work from home, which means

  • less commuting
  • producing less pollution
  • experiencing less stress
  • seeing increased productivity

What are the consequences of home office days for employees and the team?

The problem is that the impact of Home Office varies greatly from person to person. As a result, many companies are leaving the choice up to their employees. This is risky because employees come to the office to meet their colleagues and learn.

The future of work is therefore not about the individual, but actually about the group.

Should there be a home office obligation in order to work efficiently and sustainably?

We have to be careful with efficiency in the workplace. Many workers report that they are more productive in the home office, but work is also about imparting and teaching knowledge. That may not be efficient, but very important. We need to think about commitments, but in a different direction: The obligation for employees to come back to the office. Some of the employees state that they don’t want to work in the office at all, or only a little. But companies need these individuals to be part of the group, nonetheless.

What is the best solution for the increasing employees’ desire for home office days?

I advise companies to have an open discussion with their employees about the future of work. But please be careful: There is one group whose time during the pandemic was particularly difficult. We should make sure that these employees are heard. Many people want to protect their “rights they acquired during the pandemic”. Managers need to protect those interests of the group.

How many days of home office a week/month has been shown to be the “gold standard”?

“With the knowledge you gained from the Corona crisis, how many times would you want to go to the office?” This question is so obvious that it is asked in almost every organization. However, there are three mistakes.

Work is not about “you.” but about “we.” Work is a team sport that is about working together. It’s not about “how often,” it’s about “what” you come to the office for.

When we come to work and isolate ourselves all day, what do we then bring to the group? It’s not about ‘wanting’, it’s about what we want to ‘do’ in the office.

The question is: “What are we going to do with the knowledge that we have gained during the pandemic to make the team work (remotely)?” Because the office is a place to connect, coach and collide.

What do you think will happen after the Corona pandemic? 

First, we need to develop a vision for human resources.  

  • How are we going to make sure the right things are happening in the workplace? 
  • For example, how do we make sure that new employees can actually learn the job? 
  • How do we make sure that there is a culture of integration, even for those who don’t like to work from home? 
  • Also, how do we avoid unnecessary travel? 

Clearly, it is difficult to find a common denominator for these very different projects or to make a statement about the results if the evaluations have not yet taken place. Nevertheless the results are based on the theory, the interviews, the questionnaire interviews, the questionnaire surveys, the focus groups, discussions with experts and the initial projects.

I think that my approaches can contribute to the following:  

  • Improved employee performance 
  • Better functioning teams 
  • More involvement of young and vulnerable employees 
  • Improved job satisfaction 
  • Better health 
  • Less stress and burnout 
  • Less pressure on the environment 
  • Never again sitting in an overcrowded train or bus 
  • And never, ever being stuck in a traffic jam again 

Ultimately, however, we need leaders who make decisions. And if certain people don’t like the new way of working, companies should not be afraid to part with them as well. Because the pandemic has taught us unique lessons and we should all take the time to learn them. 

Dr. Kilian Wawoe

Dr. Kilian Wawoe

Assistant Professor Human Resources Management

Dr. Killial Wawoe worked in various positions in HR in the Netherlands, Belgium, Monaco and India.

Currently he is active as a lecturer for Human Resources Management at the VU University of Amsterdam.

www.humanresearch.nl 

 

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