New Work – Modern Work Models in Practice
- Michele Detzel
Desk sharing, home office, and digital nomadism. The digitization of the world is also bringing about changes in the workplace. The digital transformation introduces new employment models for modern and often digital work. Within the realm of technological possibilities, agile work methods and new disciplines are evolving, presenting challenges to be mastered.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional culture of presence in the workplace has become a thing of the past. The transition of companies to Remote Work despite previous opposition in many industries, occurred surprisingly smoothly. Fixed working hours and locations now seem unattractive to many employees and lead to dissatisfaction.
Virtual Job Interviews – Recruiting Remotely
The digitalization of the working world also brings new challenges for a company’s HR department. It is increasingly confronted with the possibility or necessity of online-based application processes. These digital job interviews offer new opportunities in the search for qualified personnel. However, virtual job interviews in the digital realm are often unfamiliar to both parties compared to traditional interviews: no handshakes, no first impression of the office premises, and future colleagues.
Although applicants no longer need to travel long distances to the company’s location and HR professionals can choose from a much larger pool of potential employees, only time will tell whether digital video interviews are merely a temporary solution during the COVID-19 era or if a new normality in the recruitment process will be established.
Hybrid Work Models for More Flexibility in Daily Work
The elimination of commutes and travel costs, along with the associated time savings and reduced environmental impact, advocate for the performance of professional activities in one’s own home.
With a pure home-office policy, interpersonal exchange only occurs in scheduled meetings or project-based communication, often leaving informal interaction among colleagues in digital collaboration lacking.
The hybrid work model combines the advantages of home office with those of an office workday. Flexible office concepts lay the foundation for a permanently successful hybrid way of working. This shared meeting point in the form of an open desk office with freely selectable workspaces strengthens team cohesion and provides the perfect conditions for flexible work in changing teams and projects.
However, the digital work environment not only holds benefits for employees but also yields positive effects on the employer’s side. The predominantly digital work environment and the use of flexible office layouts increase employer attractiveness through temporal and spatial flexibility. With the increased relocation of the job market to urban areas, hybrid work models offer the opportunity to reduce office space and thus save costs for the company. The saved costs can ideally be used for employee training and development, as well as for improving the hybrid setup and achieving more efficient work practices in combination with remote work.
The key to successful implementation of the hybrid work model lies in the digitalization of the company and the strengthening or expansion of employees’ digital skills, as well as effective communication within the company. A high degree of self-organization and communication, especially in virtual networks of all involved parties, are essential prerequisites for a modern working environment. Especially when going to the office, as a physical meeting point, becomes more of an exception than the rule through remote possibilities, a certain degree of self-responsibility and team self-management is indispensable. However, those who start early to establish agile work models will not only acquire the basic skills for a future increasingly digitally transformed economy for themselves and their employees but may also gain a competitive advantage for their own company.
Challenges of the Working World in the Digital Transformation
With the advantages of digital and location-independent work, the complexity and demands on the work environment and employees also increase. It requires not only a stable IT infrastructure capable of handling the challenges of future-oriented work processes but also a high level of digital basic competence among employees.
According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, in addition to digital basic competence and industry-specific expertise and experience, skills for collaboration and networking, as well as self-organization and management, are also required. Thus, with regard to the future, entrepreneurial thinking and the ability for self-organization and further education will also become increasingly important for employees.
The increased demands on control and coordination skills and the required communication and problem-solving abilities can lead to overwhelm for some employees accustomed to traditional leadership styles. Therefore, it is important to continuously adapt the New Work concept to the performance and requirements of one’s own company. In comparison, a gradual introduction to agile work methods can lead to successful experiences for both the work team and management. “This releases capacities that can be used elsewhere and enables new levels and qualities of productivity to be achieved“.
Another issue associated with an increased level of time and self-management is the risk of overtime, the feeling of needing to be available around the clock, and the lack of separation between work and personal life for employees.
For this purpose, it may be useful to use a tool for transparent documentation of performance to assess one’s own efficiency and derive process and self-optimization potentials.
Furthermore, the technical prerequisites such as the availability of modern devices and a stable internet connection must be given to be able to utilize the advantages of digitization and networking. If access to digital information and knowledge is not sufficiently available, there is a risk that the unequal distribution of participation opportunities through digitization will be further reinforced.
Providing employees with the appropriate work equipment and technical support through an internal IT department or external remote maintenance should be a prerequisite for smooth operations in the company. In addition, through comprehensive onboarding or internal training, the hurdle of entering the digital working world can be reduced, and equal opportunities for employees with different levels of knowledge can be created.
Technical problems, lack of on-site exchange with colleagues, delayed decisions, and the lack of separation between private and work life pose the greatest challenges for the working world in the digital transformation.
Implementation of New Work at adojo
The New Work mindset has long been part of the corporate culture at adojo and is primarily implemented in everyday life through digital and location-independent work. Thanks to our IT infrastructure, the foundation for flexible working has been in place for a long time. Particularly in the field of online marketing, digital work processes offer the optimal conditions for integrating and implementing time- and location-independent work arrangements.
Home Office and Co-Working Space
With a generous home office policy, our employees are spared long commutes in rush hour traffic. In addition, a flexible working hour model accommodates the individual preferences and work styles of the employees: whether early bird or night owl.
To ensure agile project management for account managers and colleagues, as well as cross-departmental teamwork, despite different working hours, a fixed core working hours from 10 am to 3 pm has been established. However, exceptions can be made in rare cases and for contracts under 30 hours, as long as this is communicated within the team.
However, if employees find it difficult to work concentrated at home due to noisy neighbors, a construction site in front of their door, or unsuitable premises, they are welcome to exchange their own four walls for a place in the open-plan office, small team office, or conference room at any time. With our shared office, a workspace with flexible workstations for concentrated work and creative exchange has been created.
Because while our editor Alexandra prefers complete silence for content creation, the best brainstorming meetings for adojo’s internal marketing often take place in the conference room with a whiteboard, snacks, and/or pizza. The combination of working together on-site at the office and remotely fulfills the team’s vision of a balanced work-life balance. This approach not only enables efficient collaboration but also provides a solid foundation for the best possible development of each employee’s potential.
The newfound freedom to choose working hours and the workplace is particularly beneficial for employees with families or young children, as it offers a better balance between family and work life. However, it is not just parents with children who benefit from an improved work-life balance!
New Leadership
Customizable workday schedules create more efficient work methods and greater opportunities for free daily planning. The foundation for this is a solid culture of trust within the company. The flat hierarchy structure further supports the involvement of employees in business decisions. The New Work concept is based on the freedom for employees to make decisions regarding their workday and have a say in internal company decisions. Therefore, the leadership style required from management must align with the forward-thinking mindset of the New Work concept. Traditional leadership styles with strict regulations and limited autonomy are counterproductive and stifle the creative process.
Why Should New Work be Implemented in a Company?
Not only do employees benefit from the decision-making possibilities within a company, but employers can also expect several advantages if implemented correctly:
Involvement of Employees in Decisions: Leads to new impulses and promotes innovative ideas.
Competitive Advantage: The job market is highly competitive, and skilled workers are in short supply. Companies with New Work approaches counteract the shortage of skilled workers by offering a more attractive work environment.
Mindset Change: Employees are brought into focus. Health, work-life balance, and efficient work are not mutually exclusive but can be enhanced on both sides.
Future Viability: New Work concepts create space for creative approaches, innovation, and the potential for productivity increases.
A recent study by Statista in collaboration with Slack found that 69 percent of office workers want to work hybrid or completely remote in the future. Over half of the respondents stated that flexible working hours are important to them. For 76% of the respondents, better work-life balance is the main reason for implementing flexible working models.
A XING article on home office states, “Employees who can truly organize their work independently in terms of time and location are demonstrably more motivated, more engaged, can work much more focused on certain tasks, save commuting time, and can better reconcile their profession with other areas of life. Companies and institutions that enable this have a clear benefit: they gain productivity, optimize resources, and become attractive employers. As such, they can better recruit and retain good, diverse workers.”
In summary, the New Work concept can significantly improve a company’s development and its attractiveness in the job market. Thus, if implemented correctly, it creates a win-win situation for both employers and employees.
Sources:
https://t3n.de/news/studie-slack-statista-deutsche-1392177/
https://www.xing.com/news/articles/home-office-wie-weiter-nach-corona-3195986