Global company leaders are faced with designing a return–to– office plan and future of work (FoW) that will best fit their company. The pandemic catapulted us into a remote working environment overnight. Despite this being the biggest workplace transformation of our time, this was successful thanks to our greatest asset: our people. So, what do you do when having all employees in the office is a success and working from home is also a success? Our answer is to give employees a choice.

Sarah Mears, MUFG Investor Services’ Chief Human Resources Officer, stated, “If there is any silver lining to this pandemic, it is that we have really opened up the conversation about what our people want and need, we talk more openly about mental wellbeing and support. Putting our people first is at the heart of our evolving approach and to do this we need to understand their needs, different as they may be. This puts us in a powerful position as we enter into this new hybrid way of working”.

We are prepared to work with our employees to get the balance right with our hybrid model.

Offering the flexibility to blend in-office and remote working provides the best of both worlds – collaboration and structure when needed and the opportunity for flexibility and uninterrupted focus. Choosing a hybrid work model provides our employees a higher level of autonomy and job satisfaction.

Most recently, we canvassed all staff, and our poll found that 75% responded as ‘feeling great’ or ‘good’, with 89% ‘strongly agreeing’ or ‘agreeing’ that they can work productively in the current environment- which is one of the reasons we are choosing to adopt this hybrid method.

Veronica Van Der Hoeven, Managing Director, People Strategy summarizes “I believe it’s simple; employees that feel valued and respected with a strong sense of belonging, will be happy, motivated and loyal and always go that extra mile. It’s a win-win for all. We are all embarking on this new journey into a hybrid world, lets ensure we do it right and build it together”.

We are running workshops for managers on the importance of connection, inclusion, and avoiding pitfalls such as the formation of ‘in and out groups’, and bias for those working in an office versus remotely. At the same time, we will be hosting seminars for all employees to inform them further on what to expect, as well as their roles and responsibilities in making the hybrid model work.

We have developed MUFG Investor Services FoW principles to provide further framework clarity on the various ways of working for our employees. These guiding principles outline where and how they can work, when to be in t he office, and the importance of conversations and staying connected.