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How can private life, family and a fulfilling job be combined? Flexible working according to the “New Work” principle seemed to be the solution. But many companies are rowing back when it comes to home offices.
Working flexibly in terms of time and space, in cool locations and flat hierarchies: This is what young people in particular want. Tobias Reitz is one of them. And he works exactly that way. 14 years ago he founded the agency “quäntchen + glück” in Darmstadt and thereby made his personal dream of a pleasant working world come true. Back then, topics such as strategic innovation culture and “New Work” were still laughed at. Today his order books are full.
As an organizational developer, the 37-year-old tries to make other people’s work better. Many companies have realized that they cannot afford not to think about new ways of working: “We still have a shortage of skilled workers and of course we have to make an effort to ensure that people enjoy working for our organization and that they are well organized there .”
Enjoy working: What do companies have to do?
But how can this be achieved? And do companies actually have an interest in their employees being happy at work? According to the current Gallup study, there have never been more employees in Germany without an emotional connection to work than there are currently.
There are several reasons why there are so many employees who cannot identify with the company: Poor leadership, for example, is a risk factor for the company’s success. And demotivated employees “who don’t care about anything” led to significant economic costs. These are estimated at 132.6 to 167.2 billion euros.
Back to the office – why actually?
Many employees are critical of the fact that many DAX companies, such as Deutsche Bank, want to see their employees back in the offices. The office should continue to be the primary workplace for them, even if the financial institution sticks to a “hybrid working model”. According to spokesman Christian Stangert, new guidelines ensure, among other things, the presence of managers in the office: “Personal exchange in the office is important in order to make connections, learn and work together as a team.”
And that’s not entirely irrelevant: “In many organizations there is the problem that innovative strength and creativity have declined due to a lack of exchange,” says Friederike Hardering, an expert on the future of work. She teaches and researches at the Münster University of Applied Sciences. Communication often doesn’t work quite as well when working from home; That’s why employees would be brought back to the office.
But Hardering also emphasizes that many companies have long been offering hybrid models. Because you also have to see that employees want to work from home if they can. Combining work and life is essential for many employees. This is also confirmed by a study by the TU Darmstadt.
What employers do to ensure satisfaction
Many companies, large and small, are now doing a lot to ensure that their employees are happy at work. An example of this is the car manufacturer Opel from Rüsselsheim. There is now a permanent, flexible home office solution here; employees can vary between zero and five working days per week in the home office, said Opel spokesman Andreas Steiner. In addition, a pilot project has been launched for a modern and flexible office concept: away from individual workstations and towards collaborative work in teams.
At the Lufthansa Group, mobile working in some areas goes beyond working within your own four walls thanks to a company agreement. “The regulation also includes the possibility of 30 days of mobile work in other European countries. New Work is a big and important topic for the Lufthansa Group,” explained airline spokesman Marc Baron.
The auditing firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) implements a similar model. It accepts that its employees work remotely from abroad. This happens as part of a so-called workation, as Daniela Geretshuber, member of the PwC management, explains. The number of countries from which work can be done has now increased to 40.
Is “New Work” over?
Scientist Hardering emphasizes that innovative working models play a major role for most companies in retaining employees – even if some companies are backtracking on some offers. In any case, the following applies: There is no “one fits all” solution – i.e. a solution that works equally well for everyone.
The expert recommends that companies focus on the respective activity and choose the place of work accordingly: “What do the individual employees and teams need to do their specific work well?” Answering this question is crucial.
Often more appearance than reality
Fruit baskets, swings or table football: “New Work” is often misused as a container term. The professor for the future of work calls this “new work washing,” scratching the surface without actually implementing structural changes in the company.
Much more important is the question of what actually makes employees happy or what they find meaningful. There are many studies on this: secure work, a fair salary, good communication, meaningful tasks, a good working atmosphere and, above all, good leadership.
For the “New Work” expert Reitz from Darmstadt, good leadership means constantly adapting work: “We have to find good solutions and somehow try to take everyone along.” This is more important than ever in times of skilled labor shortages.