Hybrid engagement requires reimagined work schedules and roles

Transcript of video:

Jeff Benjamin [00:00:03] Physical changes to an office are one thing, but the real trick is getting the softer stuff right, which rolls need to come back to the office, which can be hybrid and who can stay remote. Ben Harrison from Pershing is here to help.

Ben Harrison [00:00:18] Thanks, Jeff. Really appreciate it. So over the past year as an industry, we’ve demonstrated that we’re able to adapt and accomplish almost the unimaginable. Firms have pivoted to a all remote work environment really quickly and effectively. And we’ve witnessed resiliency, strong performance and really record levels of productivity. So one thing is for sure, we are never going to go back to the way of doing business the old way. The workplace and the worker are going to evolve and it’s going to be very, very different. We believe that there are always going to be essential in office jobs. And this is the way that we’re thinking about our business at BNY Mellon Pershing as well. There’s going to be essential in office jobs. Those individuals are going to be in the office on a full time basis. Then there’s going to be remote only jobs. And we saw that pre pandemic that’s not going away. And we’ve proven now that those are highly effective. Then the vast majority of us will operate in a hybrid type of environment, spending some of our time in the office, in some in a remote capacity. We all have home offices set up now. We have to think about productivity, have to think about how you create an environment to foster innovation, how to organize your team, and how to drive engagement. Engaged workforces, produce productive work environment. So the tip there is really have a great communication strategy and have a mindset for change as we move into this new environment. The second item I’ll talk about is the digital tool and experience environment. And it’s been said that over the last year we’ve really accelerated five to 10 years in the future about how we engage. We’ve embraced video calls. Remember, we used to use conference bridges. Those are a thing of the past. Our kids are using Google classroom. We’ve moved from a paperless process environment to digital signatures and experiences really matter. And the tip that I would provide here is you really need to design a workplace for the future with the employee in mind so that you can operate in this new environment and really lean into the digital tools and experiences. And it’s going to require firms to think of this hybrid mentality of blending technology into our everyday work. Let’s talk about business processes. So a new chapter has evolved in the workplace. And and what it really means is we have to adapt our processes to everything that we do, onboarding not only clients, but also employees. Think about access to tools and technologies. It’s a bring your own device world network access from anywhere. And that means cybersecurity is of critical importance, ensuring capacity for remote workers. Remember back to the beginning of the pandemic in this need for remote individuals to get on to the networks and have capacity in which to work on the platforms. We’re moving to a twenty seven, twenty four by seven environment. We’re no longer limited by geography, so we have to be able to utilize all of the hours of our day in order to create an opportunity to to be more productive. In office processes are going to change whether it’s cleaning, disaffected, disinfecting how we set up our offices. After 9/11 that changed. This is no different. And there’s going to be a very long tail and you’ve got to lean into that. And finally, I would say training and development is absolutely important for you to take a look at. And regardless of where your employees are from a location standpoint, if they’re remote, if they’re in the office, I think about the fact that we all converted our conference rooms to allowing video. That might even be a thing of the past. It’s really you think about your own personal lives, and we’re all in our family rooms and the TV is on and we’ve got iPads and iPhones and everybody’s watching something different on their own personal devices. That’s probably the way our in office experience is going to melt here in the future. So as we think about the post pandemic phase of work, there are a tremendous amount of opportunities. There’s a great reset happening. It’s all about communication, it’s about collaboration, and it’s about having a mindset for change. So at the end of the day, Jeff we’re not going back to the old way of doing business.

Jeff Benjamin [00:05:28] Thanks for watching. If you have a topic you’d like us to explore, just reach out to me on Twitter at @Benjiewriter for InvestmentNews. I’m Jeff Benjamin.