Janet Mui, investment director at wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, also agrees with Faith and Andrew that a hybrid model is particularly appealing. However, unlike Andrew, Janet emphasises the benefits of working from home, alleging that it has boosted her productivity and allowed her to seize a breadth of opportunities that would not otherwise have been possible.
She says, “Having virtual meetings and hence a reduction in travel, I am able to do more presentations for our clients. So overall, I have been more productive. I have done hundreds of webinars in the past year – I can speak to clients who are based in Manchester at 9am, then join a discussion panel based in Birmingham at 11am, with a Bloomberg interview in between at 10am!”
“The most challenging part of working from home is the lack of physical networking and interaction, which I miss. This is particularly difficult when you are a new starter and you have not met your colleagues in person.”
Annabel Brodie-Smith, Communications Director of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), sheds some light on hybrid working; discussing the AIC’s plan to trial a hybrid approach and return to the office three days a week. Annabel recognises the increased efficiency that comes with working remotely, as it prevents “wasted travel time to and from meetings”, and the positive impact it has had in regards to attendance for AIC events, such as conferences and training, which has been up across the board. In addition, with the vast majority working from home at some point over the past year and a half, Annabel says that most people she finds herself in communication with are “understanding of the odd internet glitch or the occasional meeting interruption from a child or pet”. Nonetheless, she also outlines the pitfalls of full-time remote positions: “It’s harder to bounce ideas around with colleagues spontaneously and we’ve missed the fun and social side of work – no lunches or industry dinners. Also, with no coffee breaks at events it’s much more difficult to have enjoyable chance encounters with old acquaintances.”
Damien Rylett, Chief Executive Officer of Brunel Capital Partners, also talks about his company’s flexible work model, which is being reviewed on an ongoing basis going forward. Damien describes Brunel Capital Partners’ straightforward transition to remote working, which proved employees can work easily and effectively from home: “When we established our business in 2011, we ensured that should there be a reason why we could not work in our office at short notice, the business could continue to operate efficiently and smoothly. It is a regulatory requirement to have an adequate disaster recovery plan in place. The whole team had laptops, we had no physical server in the office and all of our applications were cloud or web-based. Our VoIP phone service allows us to divert calls to mobiles at the flick of a switch.
Little did we know that on the 23rd of March 2020 the whole of the country would be ordered to stay at home. Disaster recovery plan executed. All meetings and contact went online. We were already users of teams and zoom for meetings and messaging so this was an easy transition for us.”
Damien says that in December the company took up residence in a more flexible, service type office space, but allowed team members to choose whether they utilized the workspace or remained at home. He comments: “The team safety and wellbeing was paramount, so we gave them the choice. Some had found working from home tough while others had enjoyed it more and liked the extra freedom and flexibility it gave them. As long as team members were available when needed and the work got done, they were left to manage their own time. If they wanted to start early and finish early that was fine. If they wanted to take an extended lunch break they could. The team really stepped up to the plate, productivity was high and we had various things in place to ensure we all remained connected from a weekly quiz to online social and drinks.”
He continues, “So, we knew the working from home model could work but it didn’t suit everyone so we have opted for a hybrid model. As it stands today, the directors and senior management team work from home and have no dedicated desk in the office. Everybody else can work from home two days a week with the other three in the office. This is a balance that everybody seems comfortable with and gives them the necessary flexibility and freedom but also the contact in the office that many craved.”
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