In the previous article, we introduced the following key points about the results of the work style that has been implemented at our head office, ITOKI TOKYO XORK (now ITOKI DESIGN HOUSE), since November 2018.
- Productivity is increasing year by year
- Quickly responded to the pandemic's recommendation to work from home
- Employee collaboration is only half-way there
- Organizational solidarity requires further examination
While there are some areas where we believe we have achieved better than expected, there are also some areas where we have not reached our desired state. Taking this situation into consideration, what do workers at XORK (now DESIGN HOUSE) think about working in the post-COVID era? Several characteristics emerged from the results of an internal survey.
Demand for flexible work styles even after COVID-19
XORK (now DESIGN HOUSE), workers, were asked about their values regarding work styles, more than 80% of workers responded that they should be able to choose where they work, including at home, even if Corona is converged. On the other hand, respondents tended to be somewhat cautious about the flexibility of working hours, partly because we do not currently have a flexible work schedule. Nevertheless, more than two-thirds of the respondents (workers) answered that "employees should be able to choose what time they work.
Conducted by the Adecco Group, the survey targeted 14,800 workers in 25 countries around the world, including Japan. investigation In the survey, 76% of employees who work remotely for more than half of their working time said that support for flexible working styles is important even after the pandemic. In line with global trends, workers at XORK (now DESIGN HOUSE) also hope to continue to have flexible working styles.
More than 60% of workers feel that their quality of life has improved since their previous working style
One of the reasons people seek flexible working styles is to improve their quality of life. In the same survey, more than 60% of workers said they felt their quality of life had improved compared to their previous working style. What constitutes an "improved quality of life" varies from person to person. For example, in an interview with one of our employees, they commented that they could spend time on housework and childcare before starting work.
However, it is important not to make preconceived judgments such as "People with a heavy burden of housework, childcare, and nursing care will want to work from home" or "Younger people will support flexible working styles." The Adecco Group report mentioned above also points out that office use intentions differ depending on age and whether or not you live with children. Specifically, it seems that younger generations and people who live with children tend to want to work longer in the office. However, this will also vary depending on workers 's housing and family environment. Forcing everyone to uniformly come to the office or work from home frequently, or allowing only certain attributes to work flexibly, could be a bad move. We believe it is important for workers to be able to choose where to work according to their own needs.
Practicing flexible working practices motivates employees to continue working for the company
Furthermore, allowing employees to work flexibly is not just a "welfare benefit" for them. In the survey, over 70% of workers agreed with the statement, "I feel that practicing flexible working styles is one of the reasons I want to continue working at Itoki." Furthermore, workers generally agree that flexible working styles should be allowed in order to attract talented personnel. The steadily declining birthrate and aging population, along with the shortage of highly skilled personnel, are making employee retention a higher priority among the many management issues as the competition to acquire talent intensifies in the future.
According to the Adecco Group survey, 41% of workers say they are looking or considering moving to a job that offers more flexibility, especially among young people. In an interview with our head of recruitment, he mentioned the positive impact on recruitment. Enabling flexible work styles is not only a good Advantage for employees, but also for management.
Emphasis on face-to-face communication, but do not want to dramatically increase office visits
Our survey also confirmed people's intentions regarding communication. When employees were asked to choose between two extreme options for communication and meetings between employees, "it is better to have face-to-face meetings as much as possible" or "it is better to have email or chat meetings as much as possible," we found that workers at the headquarters tend to prioritize face-to-face communication. On the other hand, when it comes to the rate of attendance and staying in the office after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, about 60% of respondents said they would be happy to keep it at the current rate (30-35%). How should we interpret these results, which at first glance seem contradictory?
Intention to do activities at the office/home varies depending on the activity
As a hint for unraveling the above results, let's look at the intention of what ratio of the 10 activities*1 that we have adopted as a framework to be carried out in the office and at home. For "High-Focus" and "Low-Focus" that are done alone, the intention to use them was clearly divided between the office and at home. For "telephone/web conferences," the result showed that the percentage of responses that they would like to carry out at home was somewhat higher.
*1 Click here to see the 10 activities.
Additionally, "Duo" and "Dialogue," both of which are activities that two people do, are activities that the majority of people want to do in the office. Of activities that involve three or more people, "Create " is most likely to be done in the office, while "Coordinate" and "Inform " are slightly biased toward the office, but are split almost evenly.
For "Coordinate" (organizing and discussing the progress of a plan), it may be necessary to share the same time, but depending on the urgency, it may not be necessary to share the same place. "Inform " (one-way conversation between the presenter and the audience) has Advantage of creating a live feeling by sharing the same place, but many people have probably felt the convenience of watching seminars online or on-demand at any time they like in recent years.
In other words, where people want to carry out their activities seems to depend on how much importance they attach to the "synchrony" of communication, i.e., the amount of time shared during communication. As a higher percentage of employees prefer "face-to-face" communication over "email or chat," our employees would prefer to work primarily with synchronous communication rather than asynchronous communication. However, there are not many situations where a shared location is required, and most can be substituted with web conferences, so I think they have a sense that they do not need to come to the office very often. However, "Duo," "Dialogue," and "Create" are activities that are difficult to do when the "synchrony" is slightly lost due to the time lag of web conferences, so it is assumed that they prefer to use the office.
By the way, a white paper compiled by Veldhoen + Company, "ON THE EDGE The Cutting Edge of Hybrid Work: Learning from an Australian Case Study," presents the results of a survey of workers in Australia and Singapore on their intention to use office/home by activity. Similar to our workers, many respondents in Australia workers want to use the office for "Duo," "Dialogue," and "Create," while the majority of respondents in Singapore want to use the office and home equally for "Duo" and at home for "Dialogue," indicating that intentions regarding communication It can be inferred that intentions regarding communication differ depending on the country and corporate culture.
Now, we are returning to the idea of creating an office that employees want to work in.
Along with the articles in the first part of this report, we have presented our efforts at our headquarters, the results we have achieved so far, and how we feel about workers.
First, the transition to a flexible work style of ABW (Activity Based Working) based on self-discretion is a success, as it has improved the sense of productivity and quick response to pandemics, and has led to improved quality of life and retention at workers.
On the other hand, with restrictions on going to the office, employees who value face-to-face communication were in a situation where they could not meet other employees even when they were in the office, which made them lose sight of the meaning of the office. With a view to hybrid work, we will create a lively place by equipping the office with functions to support activities that can only be done here and making it an "office that employees want to go to." By doing so, we hope to accelerate efforts at ITOKI TOKYO XORK (now ITOKI DESIGN HOUSE) to generate communication and solidarity within the team, as well as collaboration and learning across departments.
