Aug 18, 2021
New work: how flexibility, freedom and responsibility will shape the way we work now.
Today we live in a world built on the foundation of productivity, where we define our worth by the volume of work we’re able to accomplish in any given day. “I don’t share this approach. In my opinion it takes a radical shift in how we work and collaborate. And we want to play a pioneering role in this’’ says Florian Pinger, founder and CEO of &why.
New work models have been gaining acceptance at a rapid pace, and the corona pandemic, with it‘s requirement for home office and remote work, has only accelerated this trend. The crisis-driven digitalization push is promoting new work structures characterized by more flexibility, freedom and responsibility. Even the most conservative corporate cultures saw the need to become more agile and adaptive.
“More than anything else, people want to find meaning in their work. The office is becoming a place of collaborative working and social events, while employees have the freedom to work from anywhere. This increase in flexibility also means more responsibility for each employee”, explains Claudia Müller, professional coach and our well-being manager at &why (You know, the person who advises us to take a break once too often rather than too little.)
„We’ve always believed in giving people maximum freedom. It’s been one of the cornerstones of our culture and has allowed us to adapt to changing work environments, new projects and interesting business opportunities” adds Florian.
Our 5 ideas for the future of work at &why
Office as a place for collaboration
Our office is transforming from a place of work to a hub for co-creation and co-working, for real interpersonal relationships and genuine culture. While the home office is great for focused work, our office is the place where our values come to life, where a sense of unity is fostered, and where new things are created together. Not to forget, of course, a place for leisure and fun: team events, long evenings in our Palomabar — a place to get together.
Flexible working hours
We don’t understand working time as a weekly continuum, but as a flexible contingent that can be adapted to individual situations and life phases. Shorter and flexible working hours sometimes make us more productive, can even reduce sick leave or increase creativity. In the end, for us it doesn’t really matter where and when our people work, as long as we create great ideas and solutions.
Remote work and work-from-anywhere
With remote work, we also want to offer our team more flexibility and freedom. In addition to positive consequences such as less traffic congestion or air pollution, it really helps some of our parents to be able to take their children to school or look after them at home. As an emergence of remote we offer employees to work-from-anywhere, which offers both temporal and geographic flexibility.
Purpose-Drive becomes central
What is the purpose of our work? At &why we constantly question “why” we do things and challenge our clients. “Our team needs to identify with what we do,” Florian explains. “Our projects have to match our core values and fit our culture. There are definitely clients we would never work with. In addition, we’ve built internal task-forces that focus on sustainability, social and DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion) topics. Also, a part of our effort is put into pro bono work supporting societal or environmental projects. In the end, we want to do our part to improve life for everyone.”
Trust before control
“For me it is an illusion to believe that everything can be controlled” explains Florian. “Today our world is — more than ever — complex and fast moving. I’m convinced that trust fosters growth, satisfaction and loyalty. We’ve built up a team of individuals who are striving to challenge themselves and to constantly grow. For me, there is no better foundation for trust than the wish to get better day-by-day.”
Florian Pinger (CEO of &why), Claudia Müller (HR) and Daniela Baumann (Brand Strategy) contributed to this article.
