New changes in the workplace

We’ve all experienced the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on businesses and the act of going to work.

It was important that we readjusted to returning to the office, which we were able to do in February, as well as maintain a flexible working style which we had also become accustomed to in 2020.

We thought we would share the post-lockdown changes to the workplace that the company has made to be good for our employees as well as our business!

Working from home policy:

At Hotglue, we've developed a simple 3-part policy:

1. You must come into the office at least once per week
2. You must remain contactable during business hours, and
3. You can work whenever it suits you, so long as you follow rule 2.

When the team was putting together these new working from home policies, it was important for everyone’s point of view to be considered. This was done through a detailed survey to understand what each staff member preferred in terms of an office-home split.

The above working from home policies are simple and easy to understand but also flexible so that everyone could determine what their week looked like based on their schedule and preferences.

Attendance tracking:

With the flexible working policies in mind, we still had to ensure we were following the restrictions on transitioning back into the workplace.

The team started using Slack as soon as we began working from home which has been a great tool to keep in touch on all conversation topics! We still use it today despite being back in the office, and have linked up the Attendance Bot software that we have begun using too. This allows staff members to log the days they’ll be working from home, the office, on set or on leave to track numbers. With restrictions on numbers mostly lifted, we now use this to see who is where for the day and a summary is announced to the team daily.

The attendancebot feature on Slack.

Internalised workspace:

The team thought it was really important to collate all of our on-site docs and information onto a reliable workspace system, and Notion was the one we chose to do the job!

We’re able to have WIPs, meeting notes, policies and more easily located on the app, which we have separated into teams as well as all staff.

Performance tracking:

Working from home can mean less face-to-face time, especially around performance and feedback. We began rolling out CultureAmp late in 2020 and it has been used frequently within most of our teams for 1-on-1 catch-ups to track staff wellbeing and performance.

The 1-on-1 function doesn’t necessarily replace more formal performance reviews but gives our teams a chance to catch up on what’s been happening over a fortnight or month, and discuss wins or challenges.

There is also a feedback function to shout out a team member, goal setting and a Skills Coach to undertake short courses on leadership and other workplace skills.