New Work is currently on everyone’s lips and is seen by many as the answer to the demands of the modern working world. It is hoped that this will lead to more flexibility, fewer hierarchies and participation in decision-making. However, this requires a genuine cultural change in companies.
Many still have misconceptions about New Work. The term is often associated with trendy start-ups, where hip offices offer 10 different types of cereal and post-its are stuck to the glass walls everywhere. This cliché is long outdated. New Work is increasingly spreading throughout Germany, in companies of all sizes.
Many companies are focusing on open office concepts and workplace autonomy. This means that anyone who comes into the office sits down where a team task is currently pending and where they are needed.
Since the pandemic, home office in combination with flexible working hours has also become increasingly popular. The same applies to job sharing, where you share a management position, for example.
They are reducing hierarchies and relying on the fact that decisions that were previously made solely by the boss are now shifted to the employees. The teams work together toward a common goal and must organize themselves in this regard.
Two very radical models are holocracy and sociocracy. Here, the complete decision-making power is transferred to the group and the company is run democratically by executives. However, these models tend to be the exception.
The New Work model is spreading in more and more companies in Germany. This was the result of a survey conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering in Stuttgart on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Originally, the idea of agile working came from the IT industry, where the aim was to develop software faster. Today, agile refers to the state of constant change in the world of work.
Did you know that the term “New Work” can be traced back to the Austrian-American social philosopher Frithjof Bergmann?
It was he who worked with the unemployed in the American automotive industry in the 1980s, looking for a way for employees to find their work worthy and meaningful. As you can see, people have been working on this topic for quite a long time.
He developed a 3-pillar model in which wage work, community work and work that people really want to do complement each other. Nowadays, people have often moved away from this concept.
Introducing new structures is a good first step, but it is not enough, because the psychological empowerment of employees also plays an important role. To achieve real cultural change, it is critically important that employees feel that their work is meaningful and that they perceive themselves as self-determined, competent and influential. So it’s not enough to simply flatten hierarchies. Quite the opposite. If leadership tasks suddenly land with the team, this could quickly lead to conflicts.
In some companies (e.g., nursing homes, daycare centers, etc.), physical presence is required, making home offices and flexible working hours simply not feasible. For the trade unions, occupational health and safety also play a centrally important role, because self-determination in the New Work model must not ultimately lead to self-exploitation of employees. It is enormously important to the unions that working hours are recorded. Flexibility and freedom are all well and good, as long as the employee does not suffer in the end.
New Work is popularly used these days to “lure” new employees into the company. It makes a company much more attractive to many young people. Good pay has long ceased to be the decisive reason for applying for a job. Today, people also pay attention to the work-life balance and whether the job is meaningful. In the end, the conditions simply have to be right.
There is a lot of potential for companies in the New Work model, because it has been proven that it can lead to less depression, later retirement and innovation. And, of course, it’s also about being successful in the new world of work.
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* Source: Tagesschau
The world’s largest companies are taking different approaches when it comes to remote work. Some companies are closing offices completely, while others are trying to bring all employees back into the office. Depending on what works best for the company.
Dell Technologies, for example, has made it its mission to offer flexible options to its employees. In the end, the question for companies is how and where they can best achieve their business goals.
So why do many companies still resist working remotely?
– not conducive to company culture
– new employees may feel excluded
– working in the office is more productive than working from home
– career opportunities are significantly greater in the office
When it comes to remote working, Dell Technologies is clearly one of the pioneers of our time. For more than 12 years, they have offered their employees the flexibility to work from home, driven by the belief that work is an outcome and not tied to time and place.
The management of Dell Technology believes that such an approach can work for almost any business. They prove it themselves with their “Connected Workplace” hybrid work model, which has been positively embraced by employees, creating a healthy corporate culture. They deliberately focus on employee engagement, giving them the feeling that they are part of the company. As a result, Dell Technologies has built a diverse as well as inclusive team.
At Dell Technologies, flexibility means remaining agile, listening, learning, and adapting. Common myths of hybrid work have been debunked by employees.
One common myth is that the company culture cannot be sustained. To this end, Dell Technologies recently conducted a survey on “team member engagement” and was privileged to find that this is not true.
Dell Technologies team members (94%) saw company culture and values, as well as work flexibility, as the most important differentiators compared to other companies.
People believe that customers and innovation are the foundation of success. People want to win together as a team and achieve results with integrity. Team members’ work results were consistent regardless of work style. This is fact for team members who have been with the company for many years as well as team members hired in the last 2 years.
This result shows that as a team, you don’t necessarily have to sit and work together in a physical building for the company culture to be sustained. In the end, you are united by your shared values, strong company culture, and common purpose, not by where you work.
Another common myth about hybrid working is that new team members often feel left out because they lack proximity to the team. Dell Technologies can disprove this myth as well.
Team members who were hired in the early stages of the pandemic feel just as much a part of the team and were able to build strong relationships within the team. A higher turnover could not be found in this context. More than 90% of team members find Dell Technologies has an inclusive culture for all and feel a sense of belonging.
This is attributed to purposeful action aimed at driving inclusion and connection. To this end, resources such as special mentoring programs, numerous group opportunities and various events are used to foster and strengthen the team’s sense of community.
There is also a global interactive event series called “The Great Reconnect” to intentionally engage team members and showcase the various resources that bring the employee philosophy to life.
A third common myth is that team members have greater learning and career opportunities in the office. Dell Technologies team members (90%) say that every employee has the opportunity to grow and learn new skills. This is true for employees who work remotely as well as those who work in the office.
There would be no significant differences in performance, engagement or rewards between remote or office locations. This is also the view of team members themselves, who do not feel that office-based employees are favored over those who work remotely.
With a high-performing culture at Dell Technologies and a wide range of on-demand virtual learning solutions, individual team members can be targeted to help them achieve their career goals, regardless of where they work.
Dell University’s mission is to help team members develop skills for the future, transform agility and build leaders. Even during the pandemic, Dell continued to innovate, deliver products and introduce new offerings to customers – under exceptionally difficult circumstances.
Offering flexibility through hybrid work models is working very well, at least for Dell Technologies. The focus is on performance, balance, connection and inclusion. They strive for excellence and say about themselves “We are satisfied, but never satisfied.” There is pride, but they remain humble and strive to continuously improve hybrid work.
The future of work is looked forward to with optimism and confidence. In this regard, great emphasis continues to be placed on creativity and inspiration for implementation. At Dell Technologies, they also try to continue to focus on preserving and strengthening the very special corporate culture and the strong track record of the last 38 years (!).
Dell Technologies is committed to help every team member do his/her best, regardless of where he/she works from. They believe other companies should do exactly the same, especially given the ever-increasing need for top talent. Hybrid work models allow employers to recruit and hire from anywhere in the world, which is a huge advantage for the company as well as the employees.
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* Source: Dell Technologies
The Otto Group (Bonprix, Hermes Fulfilment, OTTO and Otto Group Holding amongst others) has decided to lower the room temperatures in many of its office buildings to 15 degrees, in some cases even to 6 degrees. This measure is intended to save energy and to enable as many employees as possible to work from their home offices.
In an ordinance, the German government has lowered the minimum temperatures for private companies until end of February 2023. Offices in which mainly physically light and sedentary work is done will only have a minimum temperature of 19 degrees instead of the previous 20 degrees.
The step announced by the Otto Group at the beginning of October is all the more drastic. Of course, the provisions of labor law also apply to the Otto Group, so that lowering the room temperature to 15 degrees would not be possible if people had to work in it.
Employees should therefore work from the home office if possible. However, there will still be a few heated areas to allow occasional work in the office building. The two canteens and the fitness center will also remain open to employees.
This is to ensure that mutual exchange, networking and hybrid working will continue to be possible. According to the Otto Group, one positive consequence of saving energy is that new constellations can form among the employees.
And yet the Otto Group points out that there is of course no home office obligation and that employees are free to decide whether they want to work from home or in the office. Heated rooms are still available. Only the temperature in the rooms that are used less will be lowered.
The switch to mobile working will result in “relevant additional costs” for the company. The switch to district heating is also associated with high costs. The gas-fired combined heat and power plant on the site in Hamburg will be shut down.
The company is also doing away with some of its illuminated advertising. The illuminated signs at 60 Hermes sites will be switched off. At Group subsidiaries, the hot water in the restrooms will be dispensed and coffee machines, refrigerators and dishwashers will be switched off. Lighting is deliberately dimmed. Through these targeted measures, they want to “actively contribute to saving energy”.
The Otto Group’s goal is to reduce the consumption of electricity, gas and district heating in Germany by 15-20%. The measures have already been in place since the beginning of October and are to remain in place until end of March 2023.
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* Source: t3n
The new “Hybrid Working” company agreement has been in force at Audi’s Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites since October 1. In the future, this will enable employees to freely choose their place of work. However, there is no intention to completely forego presence. In this way, work in production is also to become more flexible.
The aim of the new company agreement is to give employees more flexibility by allowing them to choose where they work. There would probably be no fixed days of presence. Audi is deliberately focusing on desk sharing, the redesign of office space and financial support for ergonomic equipment in the home office. The aim is to achieve a better balance between mobile and face-to-face work.
In the future, employees will discuss with their managers which days they will come into the office and which days they will work from home, “provided this is compatible with their work tasks,” says Audi. However, there will be no rigid guidelines in this regard. Quite the opposite. Instead, the company wants to let employees decide for themselves which working model is right for them, based on their respective life situations.
The previous “Mobile Working” company agreement has now been replaced by the new “Hybrid Working” company agreement. According to Audi, the experience has been positive.
Xavier Ros (Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources and Organization at Audi): “The new company agreement is a consistent step toward a hybrid working environment and at the same time an expression of a corporate culture that is characterized by personal responsibility and trust, which we will continue to consistently promote in the future.”
The situation is somewhat different for production employees who cannot work from home. Here, better room concepts, new catering offers and more flexible working models are being planned to improve working conditions. Audi received support here from the University of St. Gallen, which surveyed 1,500 employees from over 100 different departments.
Nevertheless, Audi does not want to completely dispense with the office presence of employees, as personal contact strengthens the feeling of togetherness. “Innovative ideas are created in a joint exchange,” Audi says.
To make this possible, the technical and spatial conditions are now being created at the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites, in the form of project corners, meeting rooms, creative spaces and lounges, among other things. The focus here is on communication, networking and collaboration.
However, desk sharing is to remain voluntary, as some employees prefer a personal workstation. Such a desk can be booked via a digital tool.
Employees who work on a mobile basis and wish to participate in desk sharing receive not only technical equipment in the form of an IT package, but also a 500-euro voucher (currently up to 750 euros until June 30, 2023) for ergonomic office equipment.
The new company agreement is an “elementary building block” of the “better normal” concept, which is intended to provide Audi employees with maximum flexibility. The basis for modern working models is the culture of trust and personal responsibility practiced at Audi, which strongly promotes them.
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* Source: Elektroniknet
As a leader, you must learn to trust your employees. According to Microsoft, this is very important to keep your employees even in uncertain times. It’s statistically proven that hybrid workers continue to be productive.
In the new edition of the Work Trend Index, Microsoft shares the results of its global survey data for leaders and also provides valuable action tips.
In recent months, the hybrid model has become more mainstream. However, employees and executives don’t always agree on how well the new work model is working. There is still a clear perception gap. For example, flexible working conditions are highly valued by employees. The majority of 87% think they are just as productive at work as before. However, many managers are not so sure about this yet. The majority of 85% find it hard to trust that the productivity of hybrid workers is consistent.
According to Microsoft, however, the data clearly speaks for employees. For example, weekly meetings were already up 153% earlier this year compared to pre-pandemic times. So far this year, no trend reversal has been observed either. In addition, it has been shown that around 42% of employees perform other tasks during meetings, and this does not even include passive activities (e.g. reading emails).
In order to check the activity times of employees, some managers rely on opaque activity tracking, which undermines the relationship of trust. Microsoft itself also had such a tool on offer until the end of 2020.
At the very least, this is purposeful. Managers must learn to trust, otherwise the long-term success of the remote model and thus of hybrid work is at risk. It is therefore all the more important to show employees what is important on the basis of Objective Key Results. A corporate culture in which quality is rewarded instead of quantity also promotes a relationship of trust between employees and managers.
For the new edition of the Work Trend Index, Microsoft surveyed a total of 20,000 full-time employees in 11 countries (Germany, France, England, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Canada and the USA) between July 7 and August 2, 2022. The survey data is representative for all countries.
You can view the complete report for free: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work
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* Source: Heise
Home office is becoming increasingly popular among employees and it is hard to imagine working without it. Today we would like to present the most important advantages of working from home.
Many employees work outside their home and often have to commute up to an hour to work on weekdays. Of course, this time could be used much more effectively in the home office, since working on public transportation is often difficult. However, if the commute is now completely eliminated, you can start working right away. Since the commute does not count as working time, you can get more free time by eliminating it. During this time, you can do something that is good for you.
We all know the problem: we have a time-consuming hobby, have a family or other important private commitments. Often it is difficult to reconcile all these commitments in everyday life without missing out on something. A real challenge!
By setting up a work-friendly home office, you can significantly improve your work-life balance, as you can usually freely arrange your working hours. This also allows you to decide when to take a break and meet your personal obligations.
When you work in a home office, you are much more flexible, because you can keep handyman appointments during the day and receive your packages in person. It also allows you to better schedule doctor’s appointments or your children’s appointments, run urgent errands, and do laundry quickly during your break.
By not having to commute to work, you avoid train delays or traffic jams, which can quickly raise your stress level. So you can go to your workplace relaxed.
By not having to travel to work, you save on the cost of your train ticket or the cost of gasoline for your car, which is a lot of money in this day and age. In addition, you will save on food, as the cost of lunch will be eliminated unless you brought your home-cooked meal to work. It’s best to cook fresh at home anyway.
By working from home, your employer can save on fixed costs for your workplace and lower electricity consumption. Of course, your employer has to provide you with your working materials once, but in the long run, the company can save fixed costs.
By working in a home office, you can protect yourself well from infections because you are not in direct contact with your team members and the commute is eliminated. This reduces the risk of getting infected somewhere, which helps to keep the business running.
It may be hard to believe, but we are most distracted at work by other team members, not by our smartphone. Short conversations can quickly spiral out and half an hour has passed. In the home office, on the other hand, you can be less distracted by your team members. Of course, there are other sources of distraction, especially in the home office (TV, house cleaning, etc.). Here you need to show discipline and focus on your work.
Here, the core working hours of the company must be observed. Otherwise, you can freely arrange your working hours, which can be very useful, especially for long-sufferers. This way you can work according to your very own biorhythm and be much more relaxed at work.
Home office is great if you want to take on more responsibility. In a home office, you take sole responsibility for your work and motivation, because there is no one looking over your shoulder at home. You have to make sure that you get your work done on time because your company relies on you. This requires a lot of discipline as well as good self-motivation, as you can quickly get distracted by other things at home.
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* Source: Karrierezentrum
In an interview, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company has no plans to force your employees to return to the office.
“We have no plan to require people to come back,” Jassy said on stage at the Code Conference in Los Angeles last Wednesday. “Right now, we don’t. But we will be adaptive as we learn.”
In early 2020, Amazon tech employees were ordered to work from home to avoid infections. In October, Jassy said he was leaving it up to respective managers to make a decision on how often employees need to come into the office, which is the opposite of what he had previously planned – an “office-centric culture.”
Jassy said most employees returned to physical offices last Wednesday and worked from home some days. Certain teams tend to be in the office more often, such as the hardware or creative departments, while others, such as engineers, continue to work largely remotely, he added.
“I think there are some things that are harder to do remotely,” Jassy said. “I think it’s a little harder to invent remotely.”
Jassy had previously said the pandemic could have a lasting impact on how offices are used in the future. He noted that it has already impacted Amazon’s hiring of employees. Today, Amazon is much more open to remote work and will recruit employees from any location, rather than focusing only on areas as it has in the past.
In April, for example, Google began requiring a majority of its employees to work at least three days a week in physical offices. This led to some backlash from employees who opposed the mandate. Apple also required a majority of its employees to come into the office three days a week starting this month.
Watch CNBC’s full interview with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy
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* Source: CNBC
If it were up to our Federal Minister of Labor, Mr. Heil, more employees should actually start working from home again in fall to protect themselves from an infection. However, this move has now been toned down after Heil received criticism from many quarters.
Last Wednesday, the federal cabinet passed a new Corona Protection Ordinance. After this employers are to examine in the context of a hygiene concept homeoffice and test offers for their employees only. This new regulation is to apply from 01.01.2022 to 07.04.2023.
An earlier draft of the regulation had still stated: “The employer shall offer employees to perform suitable activities in their home if there are no compelling operational reasons to the contrary.”
In addition, an obligation to offer two tests per week was planned. This obligation was also abandoned. No obligation, but flexible action is the solution.
“The new regulation enables companies to flexibly adapt the measures to the incidence of infection. In this way, infections are prevented in the company and work and production losses are avoided,” Heil said Wednesday.
The appeal from employers to the government was heard: “Where work from home is possible, it will continue to be offered in the future. A push by the legislator is not needed for this,” said a statement from the employers’ association BDA.
Steffen Kampeter (BDA CEO) welcomed the changes: “It’s good that the rules have now been revised – better late than never,” he said in an interview with German Press Agency Employers and employees could effectively protect themselves from infection with caution and flexibility. For this, differentiated, situation-adapted measures are needed in companies, but not “government bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo.” In the fall and winter, for example, companies would use their tried-and-tested concepts for in-company infection protection.
There was criticism from the German Federation of Trade Unions: “Voluntary measures have demonstrably not worked well recently, few have worked from home – despite high infection rates. This is precisely why the mandatory offer proposed by Labor Minister Heil would have been the right way to manage the pandemic,” said board member Anja Piel. She called on employers to prevent employees from becoming infected on their way to work or in open-plan offices in fall and winter.
In March, the obligations for companies to offer tests and work at home had expired. At that time, the responsibility for taking appropriate measures was largely in the hands of employers. Then in May, the occupational health and safety provision for companies dropped out altogether. Now they want to reactivate it.
Reason: it is to be expected that the infection numbers will rise clearly in fall and winter. For this reason, appropriate protective measures should also be taken at work. Although the companies are to implement hygiene concepts again, they are fairly free in their design.
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* Source: Haufe
Do you want to ensure that your employees have the best conditions to work in a home office?
Then it’s up to you to actively support your employees in creating a work-friendly environment. There are a few points to consider.
Not every employee has a separate room within their own four walls that can be used as an office. Nevertheless, it is possible to set up a home office even in small apartments, which makes it possible to work in a focused manner. However, it´s important that the employees are equipped with the right technology. This includes a powerful laptop as well as a headset that can be used for virtual meetings and block out distracting background noise. In addition to the right technology, a fast and stable Internet connection is another important factor.
Many employees don´t have professional office equipment in their home office and often use the kitchen table and a normal chair. This may work for a short period of time, but in the long run it´s detrimental to health, as it leads to poor posture and back and neck pain. Make sure that your employees have professional and ergonomic equipment by providing them with it. By doing so, you will not only actively promote the health and productivity of your employees, but also be able to retain them at the same time, as they will feel valued.
To ensure that employees have access to all documents relevant to their work at all times, you should also be well positioned digitally and ensure that documents can be edited together regardless of location and device. A cloud solution isan ideal solution.
However, digitization doesn´t only include work-relevant documents, but also the HR department, which is responsible for ensuring that it´s accessible to employees at all times, even in the digital age. Applications, sick notes, pay slips should be transmitted in digital form. An all-in-one HR solution is an solution.
When it comes to working hours, it’s up to you whether you want to track them or alternatively opt for trust-based working hours. If there is no longer a fixed office, you as the employer relinquish your control to a certain extent and have to trust that your employees are also productive in the home office. One way to express trust in your employees is to introduce flexible work schedules.
Working from a home office eliminates shared communication and small talk in the office. This makes it all the more important to strengthen the sense of community within the team, for example by using virtual team meetings, team events or coffee breaks where employees can exchange ideas with each other. Don’t underestimate communication, as it´s important for any working relationship. Employees should get along and work well together as a team, so it’s important that they can build a relationship with their team members.
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Many companies are currently facing the challenge of developing a functioning home office model for their employees, especially in view of the home office obligation that may be introduced over Christmas. In addition to the technical hurdles, this also includes professional equipment and ensuring the corporate culture, which can be promoted and maintained through targeted measures. To ensure a strong corporate culture, open communication with regular feedback is essential. This also includes a common vision, which the entire team pursues and motivates. Of course, the well-being of each individual also plays a central role. It is therefore all the more important that there is a respectful interaction within the team. Experience shows that corporate culture has an active as well as positive effect on the behavior and productivity of employees.
A positive corporate culture brings another plus point, because in conjunction with the right personnel marketing measures, you will find it much easier to find motivated and qualified talents for your team and retain them in the long term. With a positive corporate culture, you can stand out from other companies and strengthen your employer brand. This is especially important for the younger generation, who want to work flexibly and freely with modern structures. Another important point for employee satisfaction is the social integration of each individual in the team, as otherwise you can quickly become lonely in a home office. As you can see, a company benefits in many ways from a strong corporate culture.
As a company, you are faced with the task of building and maintaining a value-creating corporate culture, even when your employees are in the home office.
How can you ensure employee motivation when there is no daily interaction in the office? What if the work-live balance of employees in the home office is disturbed? How can new team members be introduced to the corporate culture and taught the company values?
Working in a home office is usually very positively received by employees, as it does offer some advantages, not least increased flexibility. However, if it becomes a permanent obligation, it can frustrate some employees in the long run. The reasons for this can be physical strain due to an unergonomic workplace, but also psychological strain due to a lack of separation between private and professional life. In addition, a weak Internet connection can become a real challenge and make communication much more difficult. This also applies to regular exchanges and the associated teamwork. It can lead to employees becoming increasingly less motivated and not feeling a sense of belonging in the company, due to the increasing lack of a lived corporate culture.
The motivation of employees is shaped not least by the corporate culture, because this also expresses the company’s commitment to its employees. The challenge now is to transfer not only the work processes but also the corporate culture that is practiced on a daily basis into the digital age. This can be a technical as well as a cultural challenge for the company if the digitization process has not yet taken place. The solution is an innovative and profitable use of communication channels to ensure a digital exchange in the home office.
To this end, it can be useful to introduce diverse internal formats. This can be, for example, a weekly meeting where employees can exchange ideas on a specific topic or current tasks as well as goals. In addition, you can introduce digital breaks and events (e.g. team or onboarding events). As a manager, take the time at regular intervals to ask how your team members are doing in the home office. It’s a small appreciative sign that can go a long way, especially with new employees.
During onboarding, make sure that the company culture is also conveyed remotely and provide the new employee with a “buddy” that the person can turn to at any time. This will help you integrate the new employee into the team more quickly. Of course, you should also not forget the health of your employees. This can be promoted, for example, through small digital sports sessions, relaxation techniques and autogenic training.
Strengthen the sense of belonging in your company and ensure that your employees can work digitally in the home office. Respond to your employees and their individual wishes, if this is feasible. Ask your employees and check the current situation in your company to clarify the exact need for appropriate measures and new formats. This will enable you to act in a targeted manner and make optimizations. Your employees will thank you for actively involving them in the process.
We would be happy to put you in touch with a partner from our network who will work with you to develop an individual solution for your company. Please send us a message via the contact form.
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*Source: Oscar
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