Arjan de Kok investigated the effects of the introduction of the New Way of Working (HNW) on employees and organizations. For this, he combined a long-term study among employees who were confronted with HNW with a broad survey of more than a thousand respondents. Most employees are satisfied with their new work environment and can function well in this. Points of attention, however, are also present, such as the negative perception of the loss of one’s own workplace and the complex balance between information security and mobile working.
The New Way of Working (HNW) is capable of working place and time independently in a flexible working environment. The implementation of the HNW is based on three coherent pillars: the new working environment (Bricks), the use of IT and mobile working (Bytes), and result-oriented working and work-life balance (Behavior).
De Kok’s research shows that HNW has a significant positive effect on employee involvement and ultimately on the performance of the organization. Being able to choose with which device you work, reinforces this positive effect. When the right measures have been taken, this does not have to be at the expense of the protection of the organization information.
Because employees are more mobile, the way of knowledge sharing changes. Communication is less often face-to-face and more virtual. Knowledge is also less often (explicitly) documented. This entails the risk that important knowledge is lost.
De Kok refers to the outcomes of Danish research for the negative perception of the loss of his own workplace. Many employees indicated that they must be able to work concentrated throughout the working day to be productive, and that the new flexible office design does not make this possible. Their perception of how long they work concentrated behind their desk, however, turned out to be more than 50 percent different from reality. “This shows that employees must be able to retreat to a concentration place, but less often and for a shorter period than they think is necessary,” says De Kok.
De Kok concludes that potentially HNW’s most profit lies in being able to work in a result-oriented manner rather than in the design of the new office or mobile IT. Here, however, the necessary information security can have a counterproductive effect, placing organizations in front of a complex balance of mobile working versus information security.
Se also the blog of Arjan de Kok on the New Way of Working
This (Dutch) article was published by Utrecht University.
