In 2015 Barclays started their change program from a classic way of working to a dynamic approach. Dynamic working within Barclays has been created to help their employees achieve an optimal work/life culture. Besides this argument flexible working increases for example also productivity and staff retention. A few years later they evaluated the change process and they have some great advice and learnings for other companies that want to successfully implement a dynamic working style.
1. Create a platform for your managers by providing the right tools and information
While moving towards a flexible work style managers often feel a lot of uncertainty. They might have doubts whether they implement it in the right way and might be afraid that business will suffer. It is therefore very important to give them the right tools and information. Barclays created e.g. a dedicated Dynamic Working portal where people shared user stories and information and 4000 managers attended a Dynamic Working training. This gave them guidance and showed them the possibilities and opportunities of flexible working. As soon as your managers are on board, the adaptation of your employees gets a lot more promising. Simply because those people will spread the word and train and motivate the rest of the employees within the company.
2. Tackle the wrong assumptions around flexible working
One of Barclays' most important challenges was that there were many misconceptions about the possibilities of flexible working. It was frequently thought that flexible working was only intended for mothers with young children or that when a colleague works flexible hours, he was actually no longer motivated and involved. These are just two examples, but you will notice that there will be a lot more (incorrect) assumptions about flexible working in the office. Sometimes people might also wonder whether the office space itself is already optimally equipped for flex working. If you are able to remove the misconceptions in advance, you prevent employees from thinking that flexible working is not intended for them and you motivate them to change their way of working.
3. Show and tell: a flexible work approach can strengthen your business
Nowadays there are still many companies that fear that flexible working has a negative impact on business results. Over the past years, multiple types of research showed the opposite: when flexible working is properly implemented both the employee and the company benefit from it. At Barclays, they started to collate and share data that proves Dynamic Working is a smart business decision. It improved awareness, confidence, and uptake. Sharing this report with the leadership team helped them to make the first step. Therefore make sure to show the results, both financial and on employee level, to increase the support within the organization.
These three key challenges identified within Barclays can help you to start your change program the right way. Do you want to read more on the implementation of flexible working in your office? Continue for example with this blog about what to consider regarding office spaces when adopting a flex-office concept.
