Room at the Top?
The interest surrounding hybrid working has been a hot topic during the pandemic. But now HSBC is taking a further step to redesign its working environment post-Covid, by scrapping top floor offices for key executives at its Canary Wharf HQ.
Its boss Noel Quinn told the FT that the old system was a “waste of real estate” because top execs spent half their time traveling the world, leaving the 42nd floor mostly empty.
The executive floor will be repurposed as client meeting rooms and communal spaces, whilst the bank is committed to embrace a hybrid working model as it shrinks its office space by 40%.
The hope is that an open-plan approach will allow colleagues to “reconnect” after a year of working from home, whilst staff will be allowed to continue with a mix of home and office working after the pandemic.
According to Finder, 60% of the UK’s adult population are currently working from home. Data released by the Office for National Statistics on the April 19 suggested that people who work a hybrid model between the home and office were “more productive” than those who never work from home.
And it’s not just HSBC leading the shift towards hybrid working. Nationwide building society has indicated that it won’t force people to return to the office if they have been able to work from home successfully during the pandemic, whilst BP told its staff that they will be expected to spend two days a week at home after lockdown restrictions ease.
It might be too early to start predicting the downfall of Canary Wharf though, with Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon labelling home working as an “aberration” which doesn’t suit the investment bank’s work culture back in February.
Solomon is right to focus on culture (it eats strategy for breakfast, after all) but query whether he has correctly gauged the temperature in the room at Goldman Sachs. It’s always a good idea to engage with staff and seek their views before making these types of pronouncements. Also, perhaps hybrid working should be seen as innovation, rather than aberration? I’m a firm believer that, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. The hybrid model isn’t just good for employees, it’s also good for business. Let’s embrace it and enjoy the benefits.