The hybrid workplace is now a reality not just a concept, and it is here to stay. Most organisations have embraced it, happy for staff to work part of the week from home and part of it from the office. In the financial sector the lockdowns forced banks, asset managers, insurers and other firms to require many employees to operate from home. Now, with Covid-19 restrictions being lifted, many people want to continue working from home and most firms are letting them do so for significant periods of time and to choose, within reason, how often they go into the office. 

HSBC says it will not renew many of its city-centre leases in the next three to five years; the bank is also shifting to a policy of about two employees per desk, excluding branches. Nationwide, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, will allow its 13,000 office staff to work from home full-time if they wish. Schroders, the asset manager, has announced that it will continue with flexible working permanently. And one-in-four employees at UK insurance firms say they would prefer to work entirely from home in the future according to a recent survey.

Yet the hybrid approach has its challenges. Remote workers may not always be as productive as office workers. They may not be able to collaborate or learn as easily. They can find it harder to comply with complicated financial regulations. They may have a poor experience when connecting to the corporate network from different devices and locations. They could be more prone to cyber attack outside the tight security of a physical banking or insurance company environment. All of these pitfalls can have negative knock-on effects for customers.

The solution is a combination of good people management, culture and the right technology. The objective should be to create a cloud-based digital workspace that can be accessed securely from office desktops and mobile devices, one that allows staff to share data, use all types of software delivered through legacy systems or the cloud, benefit from features such as single sign-on (SSO) access, and provide high levels of customer service – all in a way that satisfies the financial regulators.

This live webinar, hosted by the Financial Times in partnership with Citrix, has brought together senior IT and customer experience executives from financial institutions to discuss what it takes to build a unified, productive, collaborative and secure digital workspace, one that helps firms unlock human potential and provide a positive experience for customers. 

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