From the office to the edge, working will be different – even after Covid-19
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Due to COVID-19, today’s workplace is less about real estate and more about the working experience.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has a legacy in Ireland going back to 1971. We have evolved from a manufacturing base into a diverse organization that now boasts next generation research and development, financial services, customer services, sales and marketing.
HPE employs hundreds of staff across sites in Leixlip, Galway and Cork, but it is now likely that the office environment will never be quite the same again. Fewer workers will return permanently to full-time office work, and more will keep working from home ... or anyplace with safe, dependable, high-speed connectivity.
The reasons for this cultural change have become ever-more evident as the coronavirus crisis has lingered. As companies all over the globe are discovering, working remotely greatly increases team member satisfaction and productivity by eliminating long, costly and tiring commutes. In fact, at HPE, 72% of global team members working from home due to the pandemic felt they could work from home for the long term.
Similarly, employers are reaping the advantages of a remote workforce, too. It’s expanded the talent pool, especially when headquarters or regional offices are in smaller or less desirable locations; and in broadening access to talent, companies are opening the door to a more diverse workforce.
HPE had been studying the pros and cons of remote working well before the onset of COVID-19. As a 60,000-employee global company that helps organizations use technology and data to develop new business models, engage audiences in new ways, and increase operational performance, we have long supported companies’ quests to help their employees be more productive and have a more engaging experience, wherever they work.
At HPE, pre-COVID-19, as many as 60 percent of the workforce routinely worked from outside the office, further underscoring team members’ preference for flexible yet highly productive working conditions.
These insights led us to introduce the Edge-to-Office initiative, a new program to boldly reimagine the way we work to be more flexible, while maintaining our focus on culture, wellness, and innovation. It’s a different take on managing remote work – one designed to emphasize that team members are connected no matter where their workplace is located. It requires different ways of managing but is a method I believe other corporations could permanently adopt, too.
Tapping into a cross-functional leadership team from disciplines across the enterprise, we developed tools, resources, policies and procedures that ensure “edge” — or remote — workers have a secure and comfortable work environment. By marrying the old with the new, we are creating an innovative workplace experience, allowing employees to continue to deliver for customers and partners, wherever they are.
Here are the six elements we believe are required to make the Edge-to-Office workplace-as-anywhere experience successful for all:
The first element is … . Everyone needs the right “tools” to optimize working conditions, such as mobile laptop stands, ergonomic chairs, audio-visual upgrades and computing/printing devices.
is the second – and perhaps, most essential -- element. This requires bridging the physical and offsite workspaces with the technology required for seamless access and connectivity for a hybrid work experience.
A third element is … . Our goal is to transform traditional physical workplaces into collaborative centers that allow team members to easily interact, regardless of location. This may require upgrades to videoconferencing systems and software-based collaboration tools.
, the fourth element, ensures team members across the enterprise have unbridled access to information and programs that support mental and physical wellbeing. This is especially important for those whose lifestyles have dramatically changed by the need to work from home while caring for others, such as children engaged in distance learning or elderly parents.
The fifth element, , recognizes that socialization with colleagues and feeling a part of workplace culture are important to all workers, regardless of location. Using many of the same tools that enable remote collaboration, companies can add virtual events and social media sites for career development, volunteering and other forms of engagement.
Our final element is … . To avoid making home-based workers feel excluded from easy access to HR and IT resources, companies can implement a unified “help desk” interface or a virtual concierge to limit lengthy delays in handling service requests.
Edge-to-Office is a complete evolution as to how we think about work -- from training to practices that emphasize diversity and inclusion. By cultivating collaboration, inclusion, wellness and results, Edge-to-Office is working at HPE. Over 70 percent of our team members feel as productive – or more so – when working from home. And, relatedly, two-thirds want to spend up to 80 percent of their working time at a site away from the office.
Will work-from-home become a permanent part of the workplace experience after COVID-19? Only time will tell. But with proper planning and the commitment of leaders, the workplace experience will be better for all – from the edge to the office.
As well as transforming the workplace experience for our own team members, since the start of the pandemic HPE has been helping customers across the island of Ireland transition to new ways of working with support from our experienced consultants and market-leading technologies. We stand ready to help more Irish businesses emerge from the pandemic stronger and more connected.