Case study: Creating structures for hybrid work

Creating team charters

Australian beverage company?Lion?employs around 1,700 people in Australia, with men accounting for approximately 60% of the workforce.

While flexible work options were already in place, they’ve used the pandemic to reshape the balance.

Under their ‘Collective Flexibility’ model, each team has a Co-Flex charter, to gain agreement on how individual flexibility arrangements work together for the team.

Alicia Purtell, Lion’s People & Culture Director, says the company is challenging itself to rethink flexibility.

“Right now, we are asking ourselves what does flex look like for different types of work patterns across functions like sales and supply chain, and what are the expectations of our people and our future leaders? We will continue to talk to our people and evolve and adapt our approach,” she said.

For office-based roles, Lion has opted for the hybrid model of working. The peak office days are?Tuesday – Thursday, and teams are encouraged to use those days together for collaborative projects and leave Mondays and Fridays for individually-driven work.

In their most recent employee survey, their work in mainstreaming flex policies?led to 84% of staff saying they felt they had the flexibility needed in their work schedule to meet both work and personal commitments.

Redefining work as ‘something to do, not a place to go’

Insurance and health services company?Medibank?has more than 3,800 employees, including over 1,400 health professionals.

They used the pandemic to evolve their thinking about how and where work needed to be done.

“Central to the new Future Fit model is the belief that work should be something we do, not somewhere we go,” Kylie Bishop, Medibank Group Executive - People, Culture & Sustainability explains.

The company uses the three filters to help inform decisions around where work can be done: collaboration, connection and concentration

“We have designated our offices as being places to collaborate, connect and, if needed, concentrate.

“Our people no longer need to come into the office just because it’s Monday and that’s what they’ve always done.”