Standard Chartered PLC plans to formalize a hybrid working model for most of its British staff this week as it moves forward with a sweeping overhaul of its working practices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lender is rolling out the program to its 85,000 staff globally after 84 percent of the first wave of workers asked to keep the flexible arrangements pioneered during the pandemic, which has forced millions of people worldwide to abandon offices and fit working hours alongside other commitments.
The bank’s new setup, first unveiled in November last year, takes effect from Thursday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Standard Chartered is also exploring ways to help employees stay in touch under the new arrangement, with an internal competition among staff coming up with ideas including a holographic watercooler to help spark virtual conversations.
Tanuj Kapilashrami, group head of human resources, said in an interview that most employees are keen to work from home at least once a week, while others want more say in when they work.
“We really wanted to design the future based on what our employees want,” she said.
Most staff said they want to work at home some of the time, which “was a key part of the insight that shaped our thinking on hybrid,” Kapilashrami said.
The lender is reviewing its office network in light of the reduced need for space.
Speaking to Bloomberg last month, Standard Chartered chief financial officer Andy Halford said the company is estimating annual savings of about US$100 million from cutting the amount of office space it uses and would review all of its major sites, including its London base.
“We’ve got nine floors or 10 floors in a building in London; whether ultimately we could have seven of those, whether actually we could sublet part of that, those are the sorts of things we should look at,” Halford said.
Standard Chartered’s internal “watercooler challenge” has produced a shortlist of potential projects to keep staff in touch outside the office. The holographic meeting idea proposes matching staff using similar technology to dating services.
Other suggestions include an app called SCBilly that would link employees that live close to one another for social events, and a system called Coffee Meet to connect staff who want to talk to someone.
“People can pitch ideas and the ideas will get some seed funding to develop them,” Kapilashrami said. “We are working with the individuals who have given them to flesh them out.”
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