Increasing staff mobility

In 2019, BIL launched a pilot scheme enabling certain staff to work remotely. The health crisis has since accelerated this trend on a large scale. We meet with Olivier Kormann, Head of People Care, Benefits and Solutions at BIL, to find out more.

BIL’s work environment has changed vastly over the past few years. In 2019, the bank launched its Mobile Working scheme (its name is a reference to home working), which aimed to increase staff mobility globally. “This initiative responded to employees’ call for more flexibility, to have the opportunity to work from several different places, be it the office, at home or with clients,” details Olivier Kormann.

A technological tool approved by Luxembourg’s financial supervisory authority, was designed for this purpose. In order to decentralise banking activity from outside the usual company offices, the company is required to implement a special technical framework to ensure security and confidentiality.

The scheme was positively received with quasi-unanimous support, with employees experiencing greater convenience in their daily working life. Employees spend less time commuting and have a better work-life balance. And finally, it enables staff to maintain close client relationships and has a positive impact on the quality of service at the bank. This trend is only set to grow in the future.

A demonstration of resilience When the health crisis kicked off in March 2020, the Bank had to implement the initiative more quickly, expanding it across more employees. Thanks to the IT teams’ tireless efforts, in the space of a few weeks, BIL had rolled out its teleworking tool across as many members of staff as possible while remaining fully operational. “The Bank and its employees demonstrated tremendous resilience during this period, with no impact on performance during this rather unsettling time.”

The Bank wants to use teleworking to promote another way of working. Managers require new skills, such as managing a team remotely. Employees are more independent when working from home, and so managers need to

“BIL is fully operational with all staff working remotely.”

ensure team members are working in the right direction and have access to the right tools to achieve their objectives. Managers must be mindful that everyone has access to comfortable working conditions, keep in contact regularly and be ready to help whatever their personal situation and individual needs.

“We’ve all learnt a lot from this lengthy crisis and resulting change in organisation. Communication with staff is key, whether it is at bank level or team level,” explains Olivier Kormann before adding, “That’s why the Bank is working on launching a new communication platform.” Indeed, new collaboration tools are in the pipeline to enhance remote project management.

At the same time, the offices have been reorganised, creating more modern workspaces that optimise dialogue – while respecting social distancing measures, of course. Because of the health crisis and the increase in teleworking, the Bank has also introduced a dynamic, smart car parking system at its headquarters. It enabled employees to come to work by car during the crisis, the aim being to reduce the risk of worker exposure.

As the end of the pandemic is looking in sight, the Bank is thinking about the future working environment for its staff in the post-Covid world.