Taking the Friction out of Work
As
organisations
seek
to
re-establish
long-term
working
models,
it’s
becoming
increasingly
clear
that
business
cultures
must
fundamentally
change.
As
organisations
seek
to
re-establish
long-term
working
models,
it’s
becoming
increasingly
clear
that
business
cultures
must
fundamentally
change.
To
create
a
productive
and
motivated
hybrid-working
model,
companies
need
to
actively
increase
empathy,
according
to
a
recent
CIO
virtual
roundtable
entitled
“Taking
the
Friction
Out
of
Work”.
At
the
forefront
of
this
move
towards
a
more
people-centred
company
culture
is
Slack,
which
names
empathy
as
a
core
corporate
value.
The
firm’s
software
is
used
by
leading
companies
including
Allianz,
Moonpig,
PwC,
Sainsbury’s
and
Wise
to
drive
alignment
and
engagement.
Workplace
empathy
involves
creating
an
environment
where
staff
feel
confident
to
share
their
feelings
as
well
as
acknowledging
that
hybrid
work
blurs
traditional
work/life
boundaries.
The
mass
adoption
of
hybrid
working
has
introduced
compelling
benefits
for
both
employees
and
employers.
Productive,
friction-free
working,
however,
isn’t
as
easy
as
issuing
staff
with
laptops.
Company
culture,
and
specifically
empathy,
is
key
in
the
new
work-from-anywhere
era.
The
CIO
roundtable
heard
from
decision-makers
in
the
pharmaceuticals,
medical,
financial
services
and
logistics
sectors,
who
explained
their
hybrid
working
challenges.
These
leaders
identified
a
range
of
issues
including
on-boarding
new
employees,
unifying
employee
experience
after
mergers
and
acquisitions
(M&A),
ensuring
team
members
can
collaborate
wherever
they
are
based
on
any
particular
day
and
ensuring
a
seamless
transition
between
on-site
and
remote
working
for
employees
who
split
their
time
between
the
two.
“We
find
team
members
are
less
likely
to
ask
questions
about
a
project
if
they’re
working
from
home,
because
they
don’t
want
to
look
like
they’re
out
of
the
loop,”
said
one
roundtable
participant
from
the
financial
services
sector.
“Questioning
and
interrogating
a
brief,
however,
is
really
important
if
you
want
a
project
to
develop
and
evolve.”
Louise
Holmes,
Regional
Sales
Director
at
Slack,
explained
that
her
company’s
solutions
enable
organisations
to
“build
their
digital
HQ”
–
a
single,
virtual
space
connecting
people,
tools,
customers
and
partners
for
faster
and
more
flexible
work.
“This
approach
breaks
down
organisational
silos,
making
work
faster
and
easier
by
introducing
common
processes,
uniting
people
from
across
the
organisation
and
increasing
the
accessibility
of
the
tools
you
need
to
be
productive
by
placing
them
in
one
central
location,”
Holmes
explained.
“The
digital
HQ
is
not
a
replacement
for
a
physical
HQ,
but
it
is
the
one
place
every
employee
visits
each
day
and
enables
the
whole
organisation
to
focus
on
what
matters
most:
delivering
quality
products
and
services,”
she
added.
For
example,
platforms
such
as
Slack
make
it
possible
to
set
up
specific
“newbie”
channels
for
new-starters
and
create
workflows
that
streamline
the
process
of
onboarding
new
starters.
“Ask
me
anything”
channels
can
also
be
set
up
for
the
wider
workforce
to
ensure
mission-critical
information
is
always
to
hand.
For
Slack
and
its
parent
company
Salesforce,
however,
success
isn’t
just
about
technology
and
where
people
work;
it’s
also
about
how
people
work.
A
study
by
Future
Forum
found
flexibility
ranks
second
only
to
compensation
in
determining
job
satisfaction.
Workers
who
have
full
schedule
flexibility
show
29%
higher
productivity
than
workers
with
no
ability
to
shift
their
schedule.
Ben
Kennedy,
Senior
Manager
for
Solution
Engineering
at
Slack,
explained
that
hybrid
working
blurs
the
boundaries
between
work
and
employees’
private
life.
Adopting
an
empathetic,
people-first
approach
helps
both
employees
and
employers
navigate
these
new
boundaries
more
successfully.
Kennedy
maintained
that
an
empathetic
approach
enables
a
top-down
culture
of
openness,
transparency
and
inclusion
among
employees
–
for
example,
team
members
feeling
comfortable
enough
to
share
their
real-time
status,
so
colleagues
get
a
sense
of
where
they
are
geographically,
intellectually
and
emotionally.
“Whether
you’ve
set
time
aside
to
work
on
an
important
project,
you’re
busy
on
a
call,
you’re
caring
for
a
sick
relative,
walking
the
dog
or
you
just
don’t
feel
great
that
day,
an
empathetic
culture
enables
employees
to
be
open
about
where
they
are
at.
When
you
are
at
your
best
it
is
easier
to
give
your
best
and
be
more
productive,”
added
Kennedy.
The
roundtable
also
discussed
how
the
nature
of
work
has
changed
dramatically
post-pandemic,
with
tried-and-tested
linear
workflows
increasingly
rejected
in
favour
of
a
more
fluid
iterative
approach,
which
is
heavily
reliant
on
collaboration
for
success.
“It’s
no
longer
a
case
of
giving
a
team
member
a
task
and
expecting
them
to
do
it.
Modern
working
should
be
about
innovation
–
working
together
to
find
new
ways
to
unlock
value,”
said
one
roundtable
participant
from
the
pharmaceuticals
industry.
“In
this
complex
and
often
ambiguous
environment,
an
empathetic
approach,
where
employees
feel
safe
and
their
input
valued,
can
increase
engagement
and
help
ensure
success,”
Kennedy
said.
Both
Holmes
and
Kennedy
said
Slack
had
discovered
that
empathy
is
about
more
than
just
boosting
hybrid
teams’
throughput,
it’s
about
taking
positive
steps
to
make
work-life
simpler,
more
pleasant
and
ultimately
more
productive
and
friction-free
for
everyone.
Find
out
more
about
Slack’s
digital
HQ
solution.
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