In 2020 almost 80% of the financial services industry were able to work from home and as we leave many of the Covid-19 restrictions behind, over 25% of staff are looking to work full-time from their home base. And yet as we return to normality a new challenge arises – how to handle the blend of both homeworking and office-based working.
Adempi’s upcoming series on “Managing the Hybrid Workplace” seeks to raise the lid on what HR, Senior Managers and Compliance teams need to consider in managing a more dispersed workforce than ever before. You can sign up to receive the guides here.
For FCA regulated firms the benefits of home working are weighed against the added burden of running a business with more autonomy.
At Adempi, we recognise that with less direct and traditional supervision, the risks of straying from regulatory requirements have suddenly increased. However, there are also undoubtedly substantial benefits from embracing these alternative working conditions, including less commuting time for staff, and the reduced need for costly office space for the business.
With that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that research points to a hybrid of home and office becoming the post-pandemic normal for business. While different firms are taking different approaches, for the large majority some blend of homeworking and office time is likely to be relevant.
To make the hybrid workspace work for your firm and meet FCA standards, we believe that there are three key areas to consider and we have created a guide for each:
1. Culture
How do you maintain your company culture and a compliant culture when you will far less frequently will have your full team together?
2. Governance
With more emphasis than ever on leadership and senior management accountability, how can you be adapt so that your controls are as strong across a dispersed workforce?
3. Operational resilience
What steps can you take now to make your business sustainable and future-proof in light of the changes in how we will work?The series from Adempi tackles each of these topics in turn, highlighting risks to be alert to and practical steps that can be taken to help your business to safely make the most of this new way of working.
While the swift advent of Covid-19 meant firms and the regulators had no pre-emptive opportunity to assess the potential for harms with such widespread remote working, this time there is time to plan and manage the risk.
We hope these guides provide some support and inspiration as your business starts to get back to (the new) normal!