Rebecca Kent (host): Welcome to this JLL Podcast. I’m Rebecca Kent, the host of this podcast, currently in COVID-19-induced isolation. I’ve got two guests with me now. They’re hunkering down in their homes also. Gillian Rowbotham is the human experience manager across Australasia for JLL. And Ness Stonnill, who is founder of Job Pair, and a flex work Coach. Job Pair provides coaching, training and other solutions to individuals and organisations, for flexible working for all positions and professions.
Thanks very much for joining me this morning, guys. How’s things at home?
Gill Rowbotham: Great to be here. Thanks, Bec. So far so good. I’m here now with my 5-year-old daughter so we are coworking and schooling together and so far so good.
RK: Ness what’s your work from home environment looking like?
Ness Stonnill: Thanks for having me, Bec. Similar to Gill. Working from home. I’ve had 13 years’ experience in this, so really experienced in how to do it but I think what we’re finding now in this current situation of coronavirus and social distancing, and self-isolation, is just some new challenges and having to rethink the way we work. With families now having children at home (I’ve got my young son at home and my husband is able to look after him at the moment because he’s having a break from work), this is really putting new challenges to individuals and families and organisations about how we work flexibly and work from home.
RK: Ness, presumably you’ve heard from your friends and contacts about their experiences working from home. I’m interested to hear some of the highlights, both negative and positive.
NS: I think it’s mostly positive. Everyone’s trying to make it work. For those that have worked remotely before, the adjustment is working only at home and not having the option of face-to-face meetings. So, we’re using the technology we have around us, like video conferencing, to stay connected and work productively.
For those that don’t have access to working from home, organisations are trying to look quickly at what they can do there. There’s a sense of frustration from employees that they would really like to be helping their organisations by working from home. So it’s quite mixed. But overall I think its relatively positive in terms of how quickly people have had to adjust and move to new ways of working.
RK: Gill, what about you? What are you seeing and hearing on the ground?
GR: I’ve also worked flexibly for several years now. So personally, I feel like I was well prepared for this. Overall, tech has stood up pretty well for people I’ve spoken to. Also, people are enjoying the flexibility to manage their day according to what needs to be done. So, as a priority people have really focused on work to ensure businesses can continue as usual as much as they can.
These are uncertain times so everyone really wants to step up and get things done and at the same time manage the family commitments.
On the more challenging side, it can be easy for people to lose a sense of structure to their day. So over the years I’ve found it really helpful to stay as close to my normal routine as possible. That’s what my circle of colleagues of friends are attempting to do - keeping those routines as much as possible.
I think what we’re seeing is a real shift in terms of how people are connecting. So instead of bumping into people in the office and having a chat then, people are looking at their diaries, scheduling in some time to talk, blocking out time they’re not available due to other requirements, or because they’re busy with work. I think people are really making an effort to put time in to have that face-to-face connection over video.
RK: Ness, to what extent can we describe this as flexible working? Haven’t a lot of companies already been doing this for a long time? This is flexible working in a sense isn’t it?
NS: Yes, it is. There are many businesses which have already had some form of flexible work there. What we’re seeing now is that people are getting the opportunity to work flexibly where maybe they haven’t previously. Now entire workforces are experience flexible work.
When we look at flexible work and what it is, it’s about balancing the needs of an individual and of a business to have an effective workplace. The benefits of flexible working are vast. They include increased productivity, profit, talent retention and innovation, as well as a reduction in business costs and staff turnover, and also staff absenteeism.
There are various flexible work arrangements. They include remote working – so working from home or another location, it also includes part time work, job sharing, working compressed hours, or non-traditional hours. We’re now seeing people really look at their start and finish times, and how they be more flexible than the traditional nine-to-five.
RK: T what extent are companies exploring all those options for flexible work? To what extent are they aware of them, exploring them, and putting them into practice?
NS: Bigger corporates and many other business have had flexible work strategies and policies there. In reality, whether everyone’s had access to it, and whether it is consistently applied across an organisation, is quite different.
There’s been a bit of a gap in how you bring flexible work to practice. And that’s why Job Pair exists. We’re all about providing real solutions for people to be able to work flexibly in all sorts of positions and professions. That includes training, coaching and other solutions.
What we’re finding here is that actually everyone is having access to work-from-home strategies - organisations are having their entire workforces working from home.
And now, particularly with home schooling starting, and self-isolation, and families at home, we’re going to see the broader definition of flexible working in play for individuals and their families. They’ll be looking at hours of work, the structure of their day, and how they flex their time between work and life.
RK: What are some off the challenges and barriers in place for business to completely take on flexible working? That is, as you say, being able to work remotely, work various hours, and being able to job share. Ness, what are you finding are the biggest barriers?
NS: Where it hasn’t been broadly applied … so let’s just take for example an organisation has a flexible work strategy and the marketing team has been able to work from home but the legal team hasn’t. Why did that happen? Often it’s the case of the manager’s or human resources manager’s position on flexible work - their belief, experiences and desire to do it. This is why having strategies in place to roll it out, and the tools and technology to do it, is really important.
Flexible work has traditionally been made available to women with children. But what we’re seeing now is it’s being made available to everyone. Australian laws have provisions for flexible work. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, it does actually say employees have a right to request flexible work. But, that’s mainly applied to employees who are carers, or have a disability, or who are aged over 55.
Research shows flexible work is important to everyone. Sixty percent of men want to work flexibly; 70 percent of women; and 70 percent of younger people want to, too. I would say those statistics have increased in recent weeks.
I think what we’re seeing is it is such a great opportunity that so many people now are getting to experience flexible work and the benefits of integrating work, life, family and other responsibilities.
RK: Gill, we talked about trying to keep connections with your colleagues and friends while working from home. What are the implications of losing those watercooler moments or impromptu meetings on the staircase? Isolation and loneliness have been terms used frequently during this period we call the greatest work from home experience ever.
GR: You’re right, Bec. I think a lot of workplaces are designed to bring people together, to create opportunities, ideate, problem solve and get the job done. It is important to set up the right formal and informal channels for teams to connect over this period. The longer-term challenge, will be the social challenge. There is a comfort and identity that people feel when they work in an office. There’s a lot of research that demonstrates a positive link between connecting online and via social media and increased feelings of social isolation and loneliness - particularly among people in their early-to-mid 20s. And the elderly, too, who are more socially isolated due to mobility and other factors.
So I think it’s really important to make the effort to connect - as a leader, but also as any person within an organisation conducting working-from-home. Make the effort to schedule in time. Have impromptu catch-ups when you can. Really importantly, turn your camera on. Having a face-to-face conversation with someone will break down the barrier somewhat. Look at what tools are available and set that up and connect.
Equally, Also taking the time to listen. Listen to what people are saying around you. So often we’re very quick to provide a view on things and push information out. We certainly want to hear from leaders but we also want to hear from people and understand what their needs are and the status of things. When you have that connection, and can connect on an ongoing bases, we can really understand how to provide support to each other.
RK: Ness, at some point this crisis is all going to be over. Hopefully it’s not too far away. Is there a risk that many of us will creep back into our hold habits of nine-to-five working, jumping on the train, the tram, the bus? Am I being cynical? What do you foresee as the outcome?
NS: I think this is going to change the way we work forever. Entire workforces are having access to this, and experiencing flexible work. I think we’re going to find the only way is forward from here. And greater flexibility and diversity and inclusion will be happening as a result.
Businesses, individuals, and families are really having to adapt, innovate an rethink the way we work. I really think what we’re seeing here is that everyone from CEOs, down to juniors, are getting to experience flexible work. It doesn’t matter what demographic group you are, what age you are, whether you have children or not, everyone’s working remotely and flexibly and making the virtual workplace work for us.
RK: it will be fascinating to see how that all pans out. I hope everyone’s work from home experiment is going smoothly, but some great tips here for both employers and employees. So thank you and all the best.
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