By Ray Birch
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.—Much of the work flexibility driven initially by the pandemic is not just here to stay, employees now expect it, whether it’s full-time work from home positions or just a few days in the office. But how all of this change will ultimately play out is still progressing, according to one person with PSCU/Co-op Solutions, which has been learning a few lessons of its own.
“I think it has been an evolution, which is neither good nor bad,” said Cheryl Middleton Jones, EVP chief people officer at PSCU/Co-op Solutions. “Work has evolved even from when I started—you had to dress formally. Then it went to casual Friday; that eventually became business casual all week. This is an evolution, as well, where we have evolved from being in the office all of the work week to now having flexibility in how we work.”
Middleton Jones’ comments appear here as part of a two-part series examining how companies and credit unions have adjusted to the new work environment
One of the biggest advantages credit unions—and all organizations—has received from the work shift is a greater ability to access more talent, Middleton Jones believes.
“I can't help but think there's good to that because it affords you the opportunity to access a whole pool of people that you might not have had access to if you were recruiting talent for only one place,” she said. “The flip side of that is now is you have to make an investment in technology. It is an evolution and I would expect in the next 20-30 years will continue to evolve. The main challenge is really how do you match the evolution so that you can both maximize member engagement and employee engagement.”
One Company’s Experience
In terms of the changes in the workforce environment at Co-op, and to a lesser degree PSCU—the two companies on opposite coasts remain in the process of merging—Middleton Jones told CUToday.info, “We have seen a hunger for flexibility, greater flexibility at work. And I do think that's universal, not just here at Co-op and PSCU. I've heard from credit unions that people now want more flexibility in terms of being able to integrate their life as well as their work. So, whether you're talking about a remote schedule that's 100% remote or hybrid, people want flexibility. They want to have the ability to balance work and life.”
Middleton Jones said Co-op’s hybrid working policy for most of its staff has most recently been 60% remote and 40% in the office. Co-op is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
“At this point we still have people that are in the office a lot. Our contact center employees are in-office employees, and then we have a lot of functions that are remote,” she said. “Maybe people come into the office for one day a week, or even two days a week, for training and development or for meetings.”
Cheryl Middleton Jones
Learning From Other Company
When it comes to the positions that are best suited for remote work, Middleton Jones said several months ago, before the merger with PSCU, she believed contact center roles were best performed in the office.
“I say that largely because of the need for training and development that happens as a team,” she explained. “I am learning, through our exposure to the PSCU organization, that all of their contact center roles are remote. They've been able to figure out how to master that learning and development, as well as the privacy that we afford to our clients, and that's critical in those roles—the data privacy and security. So, there's an investment in technology that's required for just about any remote position.”
Figuring It Out
Middleton Jones said the only roles she can readily say are best performed solely in the office are facilities, shipping and the mailroom.
“Everything else I think you can figure out a way to do remotely,” she said. “We all started out this way as a real experiment in remote work during the pandemic. I think what didn't work was we made the decision kind of in the moment, based on employee safety. If we had to do it over again, we would have taken the time to make sure everybody had the bandwidth to be able to work remotely, and be able to test that. We would have invested more time to make sure people could work remotely safely and securely. We are doing those things and have done those things post pandemic, but initially the focus was on getting people out of the buildings.”
The Connectivity Challenge
But staying connected with co-workers can be challenging with remote work, Middleton Jones said.
“One of the things we have done well is to create opportunities for people to be connected, whether it's through our employee resource groups, through the nature of work—where you know you’re working collaboratively with people in different locations and the investment in software that goes along with that,” she expained. “We make sure our leaders are continuing to communicate and message with their teams, no matter where they are. Everybody gets the same consistent messaging. So, what we have changed is really our delivery in terms of how we communicate with our employees and how we engage with them.
“But the main thing is that we invest the time in our employees so people are still getting the exposure that is necessary for growth and development.”
An Exaggerated Criticism
Discussions about remote work killing collaboration are overblown, Middleton Jones contended.
“It has actually helped in some ways, because it’s easier for everybody to be available at a single point in time,” she said.
Middleton Jones noted that prior to the growth of remote work environments a meeting was largely defined as a gathering in one room, and people had to make sure they could be present.
“That made it difficult to hold meetings with everyone who needed to be present,” Middleton Jones said.
Today, she remiinded, it is simpler for people to be in a meeting by just sitting in front of their computer.
“For example, you don’t have to worry anymore about someone not being in the office that day,” Middleton Jones said. “And people are more on time now.”
A Critical Element
A critical element for success, she added, is to create opportunities for people to “get together.”
“So, getting to know each other and building the relationship. When we were in an office together you could stop by someone's desk, go grab coffee together, and those informal moments of connection really helped to build the relationship that helps work happen more efficiently and effectively,” she said. “Now, you have to make a concerted effort to do that in a remote environment. You have to mimic those in-person opportunities.”
Middleton Jones said that can be naturally done through employee resource groups (ERGs), which have grown across credit unions and companies in general.
“We also offer what we call coffee talks that can be scheduled electronically,” Middleton Jones noted. “This is when you can get to know people in an informal virtual environment and have coffee together virtually. You have to find ways to build those relationships that are so critical.”
Rusty Skills
But all that time away from corporate environments and working remotely has caused some skills to get rusty, if they were ever learned in the first place. Specifically, Middleton Jones said, that means corporate etiquette and some human and interpersonal skills, as well.
“I think there's value in having a code of conduct, or office practices, and how to be an employee,” Middleton Jones said. “For example, working remotely, sometimes you don't have the benefit of softening your words as you might in person. Sometimes people might not understand what you're saying if you text or write an e-mail. They might not understand it in the same way they would in person. I see it with my kids. If all you do is text and look at a screen all day, you have to reintroduce the concept of how you talk to people. How do you make conversations? How do you make eye contact?”