Bank of Ireland has announced a new hybrid working model for its staff across the 海角视频 and Ireland.
The bank said 海角视频 employees would have the ability to work from a combination of home and office locations including significant investment in four “agile” hubs in Belfast, London, Bristol and Birmingham.
It said the move was aimed at reducing “time and money-sapping commutes” and has been prompted following consultation with staff, 91% of which said they prefer to work flexibly both at home and in an office.
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The bank has implemented a similar move in the Republic and plans to have 11 remote hubs across the region by the end of 2021.
It is the latest corporate name to adopt more flexibility for its workforce, a move which will allow companies to attract talent from a wider geographical area. Bank of Ireland said it would now have “increased access to applicants for certain roles from outside traditional operational centres”.
Although the development has been triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank had already started moving to a more flexible model with 3,500 employees across the group working with some degree of flexibility at the start of 2020.
But surveys of staff in May and December 2020 found that three quarters preferred to work from home between 25% and 75% of the working week.
Matt Elliott, Chief People Officer at Bank of Ireland, said the working world has changed for good.
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“Things won’t go back to how they were at the start of 2020,” he said. “We are going to see less of the old way of doing things, like travelling through rush hour to do something at the office that could easily have been done from home.
“Our network of remote working hubs will provide a real alternative to time and energy sapping commutes. The central office still has an important but different role to play – with large office buildings being redesigned to facilitate meetings and collaboration.”
Mr Elliott said the new model gave the bank access to a wider pool of talent.
“The introduction of a hybrid model also increases accessibility to employees or applicants for roles based around the country and outside urban centres and to those who have caring responsibilities in the home. Ultimately, it offers much more flexibility and choice, blending home and office working with less commuting time and cost and a greater work-life balance.”
Similar moves by other firms are boosting demand for flexible workspaces, Jamie Mc Coubrey, managing director and Joint Founder of Urban HQ in Belfast said.
“As companies plan their return to the workplace, we have witnessed a definite shift towards flexible or hybrid working. Out of the 20 member companies who have moved into Urban HQ since opening in September 2020, approximately 30% have switched from a conventional lease in favour of a flexible agreement with complete cost transparency.
"Larger corporates which are often headquartered in large capital cities like London are also transitioning towards a hub and spoke model whereby they open regional offices with flexible workspaces to provide their staff the option to work closer to home. Finally we are also seeing a trend of quality over quantity, creating the office as a destination and a place where staff want to be.”