Page 21 - Leading and managing people in the new normal

3 Enabling flexibility and remote working

3.1 Leading with an openness to flexibility first Key Points

3.2 Flexible work options and arrangements (section under development)

3.3 The case for remote working (section under development)
3.4 Importance of role clarity and communication (section under development) • Talk to your team about where they are at,
3.5 Safety when working remotely (section under development) their circumstances, their thoughts and
concerns about returning to workplace.
• Assess team and individual readiness.

Overview • Create a plan to manage and support your
team.

To be a progressive organisation with a vibrant and inclusive culture calls for us to constantly review the way we
work, whether it’s our processes, technology, workspaces or mindsets. Responding to the changing world of work
gives us the opportunity to create, connect and collaborate in new ways. This requires us to be flexible in our
thinking about when, where and how work gets done. It also means that our people have access to a range of the
tools they need to work flexibly – laptops, access to a smartphone, teleconferencing, video conferencing, cloud
collaboration, remote network access, support services and apps.

Time and again research has shown us the benefits of flexible working. Research by Gartner in 2020 shows that 59%
of people working remotely exceeds performance expectations compared to 54% of people who have never worked
remotely. In addition 41% of fully remote employees exhibit high enterprise contribution compared to only 24% of
never remote employees. Other benefits include improved quality of work, increased engagement, lower
absenteeism and sick leave, as well as higher retention rates. As an organisation, we have also seen an
improvement in the use of our technology and collaboration platforms such as Office 365 and Microsoft Teams.

Apart from these business benefits, employees and managers benefit from flexible and remote working too, such
as improved work-life balance, health and well-being benefits, saving time and money not commuting to the office
and less interruptions or distractions.

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