Openwork Partnership plans to switch to a hybrid working model following demand for greater flexibility from staff.
The financial advice and investment network has doubled the number of colleagues who can work in its Swindon headquarters three days a week from 50 to 100 and plans to move to five days a week from September. Other offices will be opened as restrictions ease, the group said.
Employees will be able to decide whether to work all or part of the time in the office or whether to work from home with visits to the office for meetings. They will need to be available between 10am and 2pm, but are free to fit work around other commitments.
The Open Partnership has created a specially-designed Flexible working Portal with guidance and videos to guide employees through the transition.
Carrie Morris, chief people officer at The Openwork Partnership, said: “It is an exciting new chapter for the company and there will be major benefits for colleagues in terms of motivation, recruiting and retaining colleagues as well as in the work/life balance and productivity.
“Colleagues told us in surveys that they wanted more flexibility and we recognised that the world has changed and that the way we work needs to change too. Flexible working aims to provide everybody with the work/life balance choices that enable each of us to reach our full potential professionally and personally.
“As we emerge from the Covid era some will be keen to stop working from home while others will be worried about returning to the office – importantly, no one will be expected to work in the office unless they are comfortable in doing so. We may all feel different after a few months of normal life so we may need to flex and adapt as time goes by.”
Image: : mayofi-KboMbhlRgGY-unsplash
