Annual report 2020

Dr Zundel, looking back at the first lockdown, how straight forward and smooth was the transition to working from home? And how has the “new normal” panned out so far?

In conjunction with the Works Council, we concluded and communicated our works agreement on flexwork, our in-house term for working from home, just before the first lockdown. So sound foundations for working away from the office were laid at an early stage. At first, line capacity had to be expanded, but this was sorted out very quickly. Around half of our colleagues now work from home. It has gone very well.

What experience have employees gained from working from home? What skills are required?

The flexible opportunity to work from home is actually increasing employee satisfaction at the bank. However, to work this way, individuals need lots of self-management and self-discipline. There are also employees who prefer to work in the office. It always comes down the personal situation and the duties of the people concerned.

How does remote management work? Do you have any feedback from managers?

I understand that some managers initially wondered how efficiently their employees would be able to work from home. In addition, remote management is challenging. There are greater demands on managers’ communications and media skills. Target-based management helps here. Another aspect we are looking is integrating new colleagues into the team. In some cases, the physical distance between colleagues makes this much harder.

How would you say working from home is going?

Coronavirus is acting as a catalyst for digitalisation. Many things were technically possible before the pandemic – but they have been put into practice very quickly. In the past twelve months, managers and employees have learned a lot about work efficiency away from the office and remote working on joint projects and objectives. I think we can say that flexwork has become an integral part of our working culture here.

What will change when we overcome the crisis? Will there be any positive effects?

I assume that a hybrid way of working is here to stay. This is also likely to apply with regard to other use concepts for office space that are yet to be developed. Essentially, we have seen overwhelmingly positive effects: greater flexibility, improved media skills, fewer business trips, and ultimately increased satisfaction. I hope we can retain a lot of this once the pandemic is over.