RBS has announced that its staff will be able to work flexibly during the Olympics.
This news echoes that of Whitehall who also recently announced staff would be permitted to work from home for the 7 week period covering the Olympics and Paralympics.
Whilst the intentions of both these organisations is to help employees be more efficient and productive during a period of intense demand on our transport infrastructure, the critics argue that this sends out a message that Britian won’t be working as hard or as long during the games.
When RBS broke its news, it was suggested by MP Priti Patel that the only focus for the bank’s staff should be ‘getting on with their jobs in the office’. Even Whitehall has issued a statement defending its civil servants and accusations of ‘slacking’.
Sadly, what this all really boils down to is one thing: trust. This is about trusting the people you work with to deliver to the best of their ability whether they are at home or office. Its about trusting people to ‘do their bit’ and actively contribute and drive productivity without managers feel the need to ‘check up’ on what staff are doing.
For the employee, its about trusting leadership to expect the best from you but without expecting you to be shackled to your in-box or phone in an attempt to ‘prove’ you are working.
Being trustful of others whilst also being trusting yourself is a key element of strong managers and HR has a role to play in helping leaders and managers build trust in the organisation. One vital step in building trust is knowing employees as individuals and investing in a relationship with them.
It takes time and effort but the rewards are massive. Many of the leaders I work with deliberately and consciously take time to connect with their employees and make themselves more ‘knowable’.
In return, their teams describe them as being open, authentic and approachable and this helps build levels of engagement that can really boost and drive productivity.
The challenge then is not whether we should be trusting our employees during a period of changed working patterns, but to recognise that HR professionals should be helping our leaders to consistently be trustworthy and trusting.
