VEFF magazine 2 2022

The VEFF magazine is produced by employees in DNV and sponsored by VEFF union, which is a union for DNV employees.

© VEFF 12-2022

Editor: Nina Ivarsen

Front cover photo: Vetle Daler, Parat

Back cover photo: ©DNV

Design and print: Aksell

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Benefits Affordability

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

The global workforce is always changing. We need to be at the top of its game to make everyone feel welcome and get their feedback. It can be a daunting task to design a comprehensive DE&I position, but DNV together with Nina Marie Nicolas, Diversity & Inclusion Lead have managed to implement this in our organization globally.

It can also be key for business success, as numerous DNV customers have also embraced DE&I as a key success factor for their businesses, and such alignment establishes stronger DNV customer relationships.

Energy systems have even established their own Board. The DE&I Advisory Board for Energy Systems will guide the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) in working to continually improve their DE&I efforts. The Board’s mission is to challenge and support the ELT in creating an environment in where differences are valued, appreciated, and embraced.

IMPACT OF DE&I

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (referred to jointly as DE&I) are three words that have greater importance than the sum of their parts. It captures the culture of any organization in managing a diverse workforce that feels included and has equal opportunities to succeed.

It doesn’t just refer to the rules in the book, but to the ethos of the organization in its approach to dealing with a multifaceted workforce. People are different. But the desire to contribute is universal. How we handle them is a testament to our organization’s willingness and capability, and hence the battle for DE&I.

The top quartile of companies with greater ethnic and gender diversity are likely to outperform their competitors by 25%, according to a McKinsey report. So, there is value in being diverse economically. But even from a social perspective, generation Z members are beginning to enter the workforce in droves, and they are the most diverse generation in the history.

“We all agree that DNV’s fostering of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace is critical to achieving both an exceptional talent pool and work experience.”

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: OUR 2025 AMBITIONS AND ONGOING INITIATIVES

From broad-based employee listening groups, surveys, and training for the EC, DNV is moving forward in its efforts to strengthen our approach to diversity and inclusion at all levels of the organization. One of the lighthouse initiatives in our DNV Strategy 2025 is to strengthen our approach to DE&I, enabling our exceptional people to be at their best and fulfil their potential. We have over many years focused on improving diversity and we are starting from a position of strength. Now we are stepping up our efforts in our DE&I approach to strengthen our future capability to deliver on our Purpose.

After dialogues with internal and external stakeholders and an involvement process listening to employees’ views, the EC has concluded the DNV DE&I ambition, which was presented to the DNV Bord of directors in November.

FIND MORE INFORMATION HERE: https://dnv.sharepoint.com/ sites/intranet/Organization/Pages/Group-diversity-and-inclusion-hub.aspx

EDITORIAL 04 Benefits affordability and mental health 06 How do we look at retirement 08 The sense of ownership leads to higher morale, increased pride in the job and employees who simply work better 10 Engagement is about respect and belonging

What is hybrid work and how does it impacy your business

“Funksjonæravtalen” is re-negotiated for a new two-year period

Salary negotiations 2023

Interview Katrine Andresen Roald

Membership benefits

Now the home office quickly costs thousands of NOK’is

Nina attending a DNV Board meeting.

Benefits Affordability and Mental health

Recent research highlights how inflation is affecting employees’ ability to pay for their bills as energy and food prices are raising high.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

After two years of existential crises with the pandemic, a war in Europe, and historic inflation, employees are more focused on their financial security and well-being than climbing the ladder or career advancement, according to Mercer’s 2022 Inside Employees’ Minds study. The number of employees who are considering leaving their employer has increased to 36% compared to 28% in 2021.

ABILITY TO MEET MONTHLY EXPENSES JUMPS TO #1 EMPLOYEE CONCERN

The findings reveal that concerns over inflation have placed financial health as the greatest of employees’ unmet needs this is defined as concerns that keep employees up at night and prevent them from having adequate mental and emotional bandwidth to do a great job at work. Covering monthly expenses now claims the top spot, up from #9 in 2021, and the ability to retire is now second, up from #5 in 2021.

Third on the list is work-life balance and boundaries and employees continue to say burnout is a key reason for them to consider leaving their employer. About half (51%) of employees reported feeling exhausted on a typical day at work. Concerns about physical health have declined this year as health and safety measures at work and the threat posed by COVID-19 have improved, though it remains a top concern overall (#4, down from the #1 spot last year). Mental health concerns are also in the top five.

MENTAL HEALTH IS A TOP 2 CONCERN FOR YOUNGER WORKERS AND OTHER EMPLOYEE GROUPS

Mercer’s employer surveys have shown that employers are concerned about their workers’ mental health after three years in a pandemic. These new findings, from the employees’ perspective, show they are right to focus on this issue.

While mental health ranked fifth among concerns overall, it is a top 2 concern for workers under age 35. DNV have mental health high on the agenda, and we have our own resilience awareness program and training.

The survey asked employees what their employers could do to help support their mental health and ease burnout.

At the top of the list is reducing their workload, not surprising given that many employers have been running short-staffed and leaning on their people to cover these gaps.

“During the pandemic, organizations are led with empathy and prioritized health and flexibility,” said Adam Pressman, Mercer’s U.S. employee research leader.

“But 2022 has brought new challenges – inflation, labor shortages, a war in Ukraine and more.”

EMPLOYERS MUST ADJUST TO CHANGING NEEDS

In 2022, employees value a workplace that centers on well-being; where they have more a sustainable workload and more resources to support their holistic health, financial, physical, and mental. Employers who act to address these evolving needs will gain a committed and productive workforce and be an employer of choice in today’s job market.

Resources: Inside Employees’ Minds: This study includes 4,049 full-time employees in the United States and Europe, working for organizations with more than 250 employees. The study was conducted between August 26 and September 9, 2022.

Recourse: Adam Pressman, Partner | Employee Research & Engagement Leader | Mercer US & C | Helping Organizations Listen More Effectively

“We do have a Global DNV Resilience Gateway. Resilience is what can help you thrive while tackling life challenges and cope with stress. Resilience is not something you may be born with, but it is something you can develop. Our Global DNV Resilience Gateway offers some ideas for how to develop, maintain and strengthen your resilience.”

How do we look at retirement?

Baby Boomers – Generation X – Millennials –Generation Z – Generation Alpha

We have two pension schemes in Norway; “Defined contribution benefit” (innskuddspensjon) and “Defined benefit pension” (ytelsespensjon).

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

Defined Contribution Pension (Innskuddspensjon)

Since January 1st, 2005, all new employees enter the Defined Contribution Pension scheme. Also, employees who chose to convert from “Defined Benefit Pension” at this time, are enrolled in this scheme.

Pension contribution is paid by DNV into your personal pension account at Nordea, where you are encouraged to take an active part in the investment profile to maximize your pension savings.

An annual contribution is paid as follows: 5% base salary between 0 - 7,1 G 15% base salary between 7,1 - 12 G

If you work part-time, the contribution is a pro rata share of the amount that would have been paid for a full-time position. The balance in your pension savings account is managed by the pension supplier and will be converted into a pension payment when you start withdrawing your pension.

The yearly contribution will vary each year depending on your salary and the development of the Norwegian base amount (G).

Return on investments on Defined Contribution scheme

Your employer paid pension will consist of the sum of contribution and the investment return. With a long timeline it is very important how the funds are managed, as this will determine how much you will receive in pension.

Defined Benefit Pension (Ytelsespensjon)

This pension scheme only applies to employees hired before 2005. The scheme is provided by the DNV Pension fund and is managed by Lumera AS from July 1st 2016.

The defined benefits level is 66% of the final salary level, assuming at least 30 years of service, deducted the calculated pension from the Norwegian insurance scheme (“Folketrygden”). See OP-NOR-8-7 for details.

The actual pension from the Norwegian insurance scheme will deviate from the calculated pension, and no private pension schemes takes into account this difference.

Retirement age and pension withdrawal

From the year in which you reach the age of 62 you may choose to start drawing your pension. You can combine pension withdrawal with continued work. If you go on working, you will continue to build up pension rights.

On the 1st of July 2015 the age limit for termination of employment in the Norwegian Working Environment Act (arbeidsmiljøloven) was raised. As a result of this, DNV Norway decided to raise the age limit in the company to 70 years.

AFP - avtalefestet pensjon

AFP is an ungraded lifelong supplement to the retirement pension from the National Insurance scheme (Folketrygden). AFP is a collectively agreed pension scheme in the private sector.

You must be born after Feb 16th, 1957, to qualify for AFP, because DNV signed the AFP tariff agreement On Feb 16th, 2012. If you have moved from another company affiliated to the AFP scheme, you may still be eligible.

The principal rule is that for seven out of the last nine years before you reach the age of 62 you must have worked for one or more companies affiliated to the AFP scheme for Fellesordningen, Spekter or FA.

You can find mor information on the intranet - Pension Norway: https://dnv.sharepoint.com/sites/intranet/support/hr/Pages/GSS_HR_ Norway_Pension.aspx

BABY BOOMERS

(BORN 1946 TO 1964)

Emerging from the pandemic, Baby Boomers approaching retirement are susceptible to employment risks, volatility in the financial markets and increasing inflation—all of which could disrupt their retirement plans.

Almost half of Baby Boomer workers (49 percent) expect to work past the age of 70, are already doing so or do not plan to retire. However, these plans depend on support from employers. Just 59 percent of workers from this generation say their employer is age-friendly, as evidenced by actions such as offering opportunities, work arrangements, training and tools needed for employees of all ages to be successful.

GENERATION X

(BORN 1965 TO 1980)

Only 22 percent of Generation X workers are “very” confident they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle and just 28 percent “strongly agree” they are building a large enough retirement earning. Seventy-eight percent are concerned that Social Security will not be there for them when they are ready to retire.

Generation X workers seek to extend their working years, so they have more time to save. Thirty-eight percent expect to retire at age 70 or older or do not plan to retire, and 55 percent plan to work in retirement.

“The oldest Generation Xers are now in their late 50s and the youngest are in their early 40s, so there is no time like the present to build their savings and create long-term financial plans,” Collinson said.

MILLENNIALS

(BORN 1981 TO 1996)

Millennials entered the workforce around the time of the Great Recession, which began in late 2007. They experienced a turbulent economy in their early working years. They started their careers with higher levels of student debt than previous generations. Millennials have waited to buy homes, get married and start families, but with the increasingly widespread availability of 401(k) plans, they made a solid and early start in saving for retirement.

Seventy-three percent are concerned that Social Security will not be there for them when they are ready to retire.

GENERATION Z (BORN 1997 TO

2012)

The pandemic has been especially difficult for Generation Z workers. Fifty-one percent said they often have trouble making ends meet. Yet, they have not given up on retirement—67 percent of workers from this generation are saving through employer-sponsored 401(k)s or similar retirement plans, and they started saving at the unprecedented young age of 19 (median).

Employers can “help workers protect their health and finances and facilitate saving and investing for retirement,” Collinson said, “and the private sector must continue innovating products, services and solutions that can help people live, work, save and retire better. We’re all in this together.”

Source: Navigating a New Era of Financial Wellness, Bank of America, 2022. Created with Datawrapper

GENERATION ALPHA

Generation Alpha (or Gen Alpha for short) is the demographic cohort succeeding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early to mid-2010s as starting birth years and the mid-2020s as ending birth years. Named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet, Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in the 21st century. Most members of Generation Alpha are the children of Millennials and younger Generation X.

Generation Alpha has been born at a time of falling fertility rates across much of the world. Children’s entertainment has been increasingly dominated by electronic technology, social networks, and streaming services, with interest in traditional television concurrently falling. Changes in the use of technology in classrooms and other aspects of life have influenced massively how this generation has experienced early learning compared to previous generations. Studies suggest that allergies, obesity, and health problems related to screen time have become increasingly prevalent among children in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant event in the lives of Generation Alpha.

The sense of ownership leads to higher morale, increased pride in the job and employees who simply work better

You’ve finally assembled the perfect team. The employees enjoy the tasks, cooperate well, and have a common understanding of the goals. But how can you as a manager arrange for your employees to give their very best?

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING WITH YOUR OWN LEADERSHIP STYLE

We believe that a good leader must first and foremost get involved, be present, delegate, and not least, have trust in his or her employees.

I believe there are two completely elementary conditions that should be in place to be able to work with your own leadership style and avoid mistakes.

First and foremost, it is about managers having to see and know their employees and then delegate and assign work tasks that have value, create well-being, and adapt to the individual employee’s life situation, says Nina the Chair of VEFF. She believes that clear management in combination with care for the employees is one of the better ways to lead.

SCHEDULE REGULAR ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS

She recommends that managers plan regular meetings in addition to the annual employee review. The meetings can be a weekly or monthly coffee chat or arranged in advance throughout the year. They can also be in the form of ongoing feedback that occurs spontaneously in the situation.

Spontaneous meetings show that a manager is present to deal with current issues. The dialogue must be fresh and show that the manager addresses challenges “here and now”. If you wait until the annual employee review, it has completely lost its value. But there must also be conversations that mean something, that can make a real difference, and not be a paper exercise because you do what is expected or because you are measured on it.

BUILD A SUPPORTIVE WORK CULTURE

We all know that managers have a great influence on the culture that develops in the workplace.

A supportive work culture is about involving employees in decisions and innovations. This can be through user surveys, pulse measurements, “bottomup” strategies or co-determination

barometer. It is about ensuring broad co-determination that creates ownership of the work.

GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

Nina believes that a good organizational culture is developed through constructive feedback.

Be generous with praise, but also give clear and constructive feedback when necessary. A culture of feedback in the workplace is incredibly important. It does not happen overnight but must be practiced from all sides. Managers who give poor or no feedback undermine their own position and intention to create good results. It creates a poor working environment and company culture, which in the worst case can lead to the business losing its best employees.

MAKES IT EASIER TO REALIZE IDEAS

To make it easier to realize ideas, Nina recommends facilitating dialogue across the organization.

We recommend everyone to create a forum where you open for thoughts and

ideas. Facilitate dialogue across departments and teams so that everyone can share insights and knowledge. One should avoid thinking in silos but find ways of working that invite interdisciplinary cooperation towards a common goal. It’s about listening, following up on good ideas and letting fewer good ideas go.

HELP THE EMPLOYEES WITH TIME PLANNING

Time planning begins with knowing your employees and creating a culture so that you as a manager have insight into how the employees feel.

Understanding the individual employee’s situation and assistance with time planning has a positive effect on work performance. A good manager takes into account that everyone can have periods where they have to prioritize differently. A manager should also take the initiative to solve time problems before the employee may realize it himself.

“By having responsibility for your own decisions, the decisions will also be better. And since you, as a manager, don’t have to overrule others, you get more time for your own work. There is a clear connection between co-determination, trust, and productivity.”

“Solution-focused and learning-oriented feedback confirms the employee’s efforts and creates opportunities for development. Feedback is also positive when you address a topic with room for improvement. Focus on the positive and what you want rather than what you don’t want.”

“Managers who involve and engage their employees create room for creativity, and not least, a desire to influence and come up with new ideas.”

Engagement is about respect and belonging

Commitment in the workplace is about respect and belonging. It is important to take the pulse of the organization more often.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

Return-on-investment, ROI, is a well-known formula from business economics. Now managers are looking for similar formulas to follow up on investments in employees.

According to studies conducted by Eric Garton at Bain & Company, engaged employees are three times as productive as less engaged employees. Isn’t it time to look at commitment among employees as a prerequisite for profitability?

DESIRE- AND DUTY-BASED MOTIVATION FOR VALUE CREATION

We believe that value creation and profitability depend on what we call desire-based motivation.

Value creation boils down to whether the employees have a desire-based or duty-based motive. Duty-based value creation is never as profitable as desire-based value creation. No matter how good you are as a manager at defining roles, tasks, routines, and guidelines, you will never be able to get your employees to do “that little bit extra” if there is no genuine desire behind it.

Value creation is very different depending on what the employee does in the business. Nevertheless, there are several common elements that affect the employee’s value creation.

TRUST-BASED MANAGEMENT CREATES INNOVATION

We believe we are finished with employees

want a role description with assigned tasks.

“Diversity is the aggregation of diverse minds for a common purpose. Inclusion is a critical enabler to effectively manage a diverse work force. Belonging is a feeling generated out of well-balanced inclusion.”

who

“For an accountant, the expected value creation can lie in always delivering accounts or reports on time. But an accountant who does “the little extra” and discovers connections that enable you to propose alternatives can provide a completely different value creation. Employees who want to do something more than what they are instructed to do will always be more profitable. This is something you see in all industries and occupational groups.”

We are convinced that trust-based management is the management style that creates the best working environment for commitment.

The home office is here to stay, and we must have confidence in the employee. If we have goals and KPIs, we can more easily find out how to work best. Give employees individual freedom to find out how they want to work and let them show that they can do more than what they are hired for. Profitability then comes as a natural consequence, concludes Nina Ivarsen, Chair VEFF.

“There will be a new generation of employees who want to know which goals are to be achieved and which vision they are expected to work towards. Employees often find more efficient and smarter ways to achieve goals than you as a manager. If you instruct with a task-based management style, it only leads to frustration because the employees are not given room to show that they can do more than what is expected.”

What is Hybrid Work and How Does it Impact Your Business

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

WHAT IS HYBRID WORK?

As the world moves on post-pandemic, companies are trying to figure out how to adapt to the new normal when it comes to where their employees will work. Many organizations are grappling with whether to return to the office, stay remote, or explore a combination of the two with a hybrid work model.

Known for its flexibility, the hybrid work model enables employees to work across multiple environments while allowing for in-office collaboration opportunities that business leaders crave. As you’re evaluating whether to return to the office or not, it’s beneficial for you to understand the benefits of hybrid work and how it can impact your business. Before we dive into the details, let’s discuss how other companies have adapted to the hybrid work model.

HYBRID WORK MODEL EXAMPLES

According to Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index: Annual Report, 38% of employees say the biggest challenge is knowing when and why to come into the office. As we move into this next phase of work, many of the top businesses across various industries have all chosen a different approach.

At Apple, employees are returning to the office for a set number of days, with some teams expected to be back in the office full time. One reason Apple gives

for bringing employees back two or three days a week is that innovation is often unplanned and can occur when people bump into each other and discuss ideas.

Other companies, like Tesla, are requiring employees to return to the office full time while Google announced that remote US employees could be subject to a pay cut. For some, this decision is based on the belief that remote work negatively impacts productivity, which points out one of the biggest challenges to hybrid work — the disconnect between executives and employees.

On the other side, Twitter and Airbnb are actively encouraging employees to work from wherever they feel most productive. This could be working from home indefinitely, in-office full time, or simply showing up at the office when it

makes sense for them. Meanwhile, Dropbox is remote-first or “virtual-first,” meaning that offices will be more like co-working spaces.

In addition, UBS recently announced their Virtual Worker Framework, giving certain employees the option to work remotely 100% of the time if they choose to. This flexibility is partially inspired by the new approaches to engagement they discovered while adopting hybrid work.

While your options for hybrid work are endless, you need to figure out what makes the most sense for you, your employees, and your business.

BENEFITS OF HYBRID WORK MODEL

As the past few years have shown us, there are many benefits to the hybrid working model. Not only do employees

“The way we have adapted to working during the pandemic has shattered antiquated assumptions about work design.” Gartner, 2021

prefer flexibility, but businesses are also seeing positive impacts on employee engagement, collaboration, and productivity, especially when done with intention. With 63% of high-growth companies adopting a “productivity anywhere” workforce model, here are a few of the benefits of hybrid work:

BUILD MORE SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS

Hybrid presents the opportunity to be strategic about costs, time, and energy

and, with the right approach, it can generate meaningful savings in a short amount of time. In fact, Cisco reported that between 2015-2020 the reduction in real estate footprint enabled by hybrid work saved the company around $500 million.

Not only does a hybrid work model help with overall costs, but it also makes your organization less vulnerable to stoppages and disruptions that can happen in an office environment. And from an

employee’s standpoint, not having to commute helps save both their time and mental energy. With the average employee losing 2.7 work hours per week due to travel disruption and delays when commuting for work, it’s a win-win to give them more flexibility.

Taking that a step further, with the right approach to hybrid work, the environment can benefit, too. A recent study found that our personal emissions can be reduced by up to 80% when working from home versus commuting daily. And if your company is looking to impact your ESG (environment, social, and governance) initiatives, the move to a hybrid work model is a great place to start.

IMPROVE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

2022 Work Trend Index: Annual Report

The more time that passes, the clearer it becomes that employees want flexibility.

“Employees value flexibility and wellbeing, and this creates an opportunity for organizations to reimagine work-life integration as a win-win.”

An effective hybrid work model can give employees better balance and support while creating an environment that is trusting, autonomous, and collaborative. With 76% of employees wanting flexibility in where they work and 93% wanting flexibility in when they work, hybrid is a no-brainer.

For workers who are raising children, taking care of sick family, or balancing other obligations, hybrid work allows them to structure their time more individually.

In a hybrid work environment, employees might be given the opportunity to take advantage of what helps them to be productive, including things that would be difficult or impossible in an office (such as keeping non-traditional working hours, or working next to your cat).

By focusing less on where employees work and more on how they work, outcome and impact can be emphasized over output and activity. This mindset is

currently emerging from many hybrid office cultures.

That’s because outcome over output helps employees focus on the “why” of their work, encourages strategic alignment, and places more value in their creativity, which in turn amplifies innovation and adaptability.

For all these reasons and more, forward-looking companies that set their hybrid work models up for success will be more likely to attract—and keep— top talent.

EMPOWER MANAGEMENT

Managers are the connection between employees and leadership. They are the key to bridging the gap between the company’s highest-level priorities and the day-to-day execution, enabling everyone to achieve their goals along the way.

In addition, managers are crucial for helping foster working relationships and connections in a hybrid workplace. They are the ones implementing practical change as teams develop their own best practices for sustainable collaboration across borders, time zones, and screens.

It’s vitally important that managers are empowered to practice the healthy habits introduced to employees during the shift to hybrid work, while mentoring employees in how to adapt to their roles and thrive in a hybrid work environment.

These “culture-keepers” are in the right place to mediate differences, decide what’s essential and what’s not, and experiment with turning the weaknesses

“With the right resources people can be productive anywhere.” Accenture Future of Work Study

of the new normal into strengths. The potential of hybrid work may very well lie in the good discretion of empowered managers.

PROPEL DIVERSITY

The ability to hire remotely opens new possibilities for the diversity of your enterprise.

According to McKinsey’s workplace diversity report, four out of five companies in the top quartile for genderdiverse executive teams confirmed that flexible work was a critical component for improving their diversity.

One way the hybrid work model impacts diversity is by enabling your organization to have people work together across languages, countries, and time zones.

At Gtmhub, for instance, we’re remotefirst and have employees in more than 15 countries, which means speaking with people all over the world who have different backgrounds, experiences, skills, habits, beliefs, and approaches to success.

A hybrid work environment can also help remove certain obstacles presented by the conventional in-office model to groups like mothers with young children, the elderly, the disabled, and the neurodiverse, as well as those who are unable to afford commuting right away.

The ability to recruit without borders also allows organizations to maintain 24/7 operations and can be a game-

changer for companies recruiting for scarce or highly in-demand skill sets, allowing them to tap global job markets and remote regions.

more difficult for the organization to scale their efforts and achieve strategic agility.

ISOLATION, DIVISION, AND INFORMATION OVERLOAD

In the office, it’s easy to consult with nearby teammates and managers, but being remote, we take this informal, often non-verbal communication for granted. Without easy access to information in today’s fast-paced business environment, staying on top of team, company, and process developments becomes a real challenge.

HYBRID WORK CHALLENGES

The benefits of the hybrid work model mean that it’s here to stay, and the case for a permanent switch is a powerful one. Despite this, many companies have yet to fully commit to hybrid work. The issue is that while the challenges involved are understood, they are not easy to solve.

THE STRUGGLE TO ALIGN WORKFORCE WITH STRATEGY

Communicating your mission and strategy to your workforce and keeping them aligned isn’t easy for leadership under normal circumstances, especially in large organizations with layers of hierarchy and international operations.

A hybrid workforce only adds to the communication challenge of keeping everyone aligned with strategy. Employees may not understand how their work fits into the bigger picture, making it

Consequently, for new employees, remote working means it can take them longer to acquire the knowledge required to get up to speed and become productive. In our new working environment, onboarding may be done completely remotely, which means employees are learning more on their own.

For remote workers in general, the sense of isolation can give rise to feelings of dislocation. It can even leave them feeling secondary to their officebased counterparts, which can culminate in a divided workforce.

Unfortunately, trying to compensate with more meetings and increasing the information flow can backfire by adding more distractions and the danger of burnout rather than mitigating the problem.

THE TRUST ISSUE

According to a recent study, 80% of employees say they’re equally or more productive after going remote or hybrid, however, 54% of leaders fear that the opposite is true.

In fact, Harvard Business Review notes that managers who cannot “see” their direct reports can sometimes struggle to trust that their employees are indeed working.

Negative attitudes lead to negative perceptions of employees, including questioning their competence, knowledge, and essential skills.

As LinkedIn Chief Economist Karin Kimbrough noted, “Companies in major cities can hire talent from under-represented groups that may not have the means or desire to move to a big city. And in smaller cities, companies will now have access to talent that may have a different set of skills than they had before.”

“Work is a thing you do, not a place you go.”

Sir Gus O’Donnell, economist

These negative perceptions can lead to micro-management, with leaders sowing seeds of self-doubt in their employees.

Accountability assumes competence. For leaders, it’s necessary to hold staff accountable, especially as employees get used to working with more autonomy. Being accountable to their own work also helps employees connect to their purpose within their role and develop good habits, which benefits the company.

However, when an employee’s competence, knowledge, and essential skills are questioned, this core lack of trust leads to inevitable disengagement, lack of focus, and decreased productivity.

EXECUTIVE-EMPLOYEE DISCONNECT

To say there’s a disconnect between executives and employees’ desire to

return to the office is probably an understatement. While 44% of executives would prefer to come back to the office every day, only 17% of employees feel similarly.

For some people, the switch to hybrid work helped shift work-life balance in a positive way, giving them more freedom and autonomy to better prioritize their family, health, rest, and passions.

For others, hybrid work led to more night and weekend hours, as well as the pressure or expectation to be on-call as often as technology allows. On average, meetings, chat, workday length, and after-hours and weekend work have all increased over the past two years.

With the pressure and difficulties of guiding their teams through massive uncertainty, leaders have certainly felt

the weight of these imbalances. The challenge for leaders continues now, with the mandate to configure their organization’s standard working model in the new normal.

Simply wanting to see employees back in familiar spaces may also partially explain why so many leaders want to return to the office.

IMPLEMENTING YOUR HYBRID WORKFORCE MODEL

As the world adapts to the new normal, there will be plenty of challenges as well as opportunities to re-imagine what work looks like for your organization. When it comes to implementing a sustainable hybrid work model, it’s necessary to choose a system that will benefit and adapt to the uniqueness of your business.

As you set out on this path, look to build a work environment that supports connection and collaboration, while empowering teams and managers to achieve their best. Like we’ve discussed, every approach will be different, but it’s up to you as a leader to figure out what will help your business thrive.

CONCLUSION

The way we work has likely been changed permanently. The most successful and optimal hybrid work models offer employees flexibility and support multiple ways of working and collaboration for today’s circumstances. Company procedures must acknowledge their employees’ need for work-life balance and must ensure their remote only workers are fully supported.

“Funksjonæravtalen” is re-negotiated for a new two-year period

Parat, together with the sister unions Negotia and Yrkestrafikkforbundet, was the representatives in the negotiations that ended in October.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

The officials’ agreement is the largest area of agreement between Parat and NHO, the negotiations cover close to 1,700 members in more than 220 companies. The agreement (Funksjonæravtalen) is an agreement where there is a tradition that all salary negotiations take place locally.

Nina Ivarsen and Lin Beate Karsten represented Parat, together with negotiator Katrine Andersen Roald, in the negotiation team.

You can read more about the outcome of the negotiations at parat.com/parat24

“Organizations that implement hybrid work models need to embrace a work culture centered on employee engagement, well-being, and allows for feedback, assessments, and opportunities, no matter where they are working.”

Salary negotiations 2023

We have now started to prepare the salary negotiations for 2023. The negotiations will take place the first weeks of January. The negotiated salary adjustment will be effective from 1st of April 2023.

LIN BEATE KARSTEN, DEPUTY CHAIR VEFF

We will now share some of our reflections before the negotiations and a summary of the survey sent to all our members about a month ago.

Based on the VEFF’s review report after the 2022 wage settlement, we see that 6.5%, which we received, helped close much of the gap in DNV’s wage level.

We still believe that a gap exists.

In the wage settlement for 2021, which ended at 2%, we showed great moderation with a lot of uncertainty in connection with Covid.

If we look at the consumer price index from 1.10.2021 to 1.10.2022, it was 7,5% (without energy index it is 5,9%), which also shows that our wage settlement in 2022 is likely to have given us a slight decline in real wages (the KPI has been updated after we sent out our survey).

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SALARY NEGOTIATIONS

2023:

We demand that employees get their share of DNV’s very good results also in terms of wages and pensions. We believe that the global macro-economy shows great uncertainty, but the economy in Norway is growing steadily even with high electricity prices.

If we look at the 4 criteria’s that should be the starting point for the negotiations, there is nothing that indicates that we need to show moderation, except for uncertainty regarding the war in Ukraine. DNV has introduced all the sanctions imposed and taken the financial consequences of this in budget 2021. Norway is rather seen as one of the “profit-making countries”. We profit from the war, making it difficult to accept arguments that impose moderation because of uncertainty.

Underlying trends: Europe is short of labour

The government’s budget proposal to increase employers’ national insurance contributions by 5% (on salaries above 750,000) will have a direct impact on budgets In DNV Norway in the order of NOK 12.5 million (average salary in DNV Norway is 875,000).

Profit share is a pure risk model, if the company earns little the employees get nothing, if we earn a lot the employees get their share of the profit. The model we have now was implemented in 2021 and we do not want any changes to the model. One risk with showing moderation, is that people leave the company, and it becomes extremely difficult to recruit the expertise we need, therefore we need to be competitive on salary.

Underlying trend: Europe lacks labor (see graph below)

Figure 1: Share of unfilled positions in EU countries and the Eurozone 2013-2021 (Q1 - 2022)

SALARY SURVEY

In October we sent out a survey to all our members and we received a lot of valuable feedback from 247 members.

The image below shows that most of you have an expectation of a good outcome of the salary negotiations next year. The question was: What is your realistic expectation to the salary raise in 2023:

We also asked you to provide us with any input to the negotiations in a free text question. Approximately 50 of our members provided us with a lot of valuable input that will be used in the negotiations. Below you can read some of them:

«I don’t think DNV will make any attempt to maintain our purchasing power. The whole point of the interest rate increases is that we will have poorer purchasing power. The outlook for 2023 is higher unemployment and thus DNV does not need to secure labor unlike the situation just a year ago.”

«This year I got a bit over 5%, which was good as you expected a KPI of just over 3%, i.e. I should get about 2% more than the KPI, i.e., a real wage increase. That didn’t happen. as of September 2022, the KPI is at 6.9%. I expect a real wage decline of about 2%, i.e., a difference of 4% from the

expected wage settlement. I would like to “get” these 4% back in next year’s wage settlement. If this year’s and next year’s CPI is 7%, then I hope for a wage settlement on mine. 7% + 4% = 11%.”

«As a manager, I would like to see a clearer guideline on the distribution of salaries between experienced and younger employees. If it is still the case that salary category 6-7-8 needs a boost, then it would be nice to be able to get guidelines on how much these should have, so that it is not assessed differently from BA to BA and department to department. By the way, I am very pleased with VEFF! :)»

«I expect DNV to recognize inflation and ensure (at least) increased purchasing power for all its groups of employees. We Care, We Dare, We Share »

«DNV is not known for their high salaries. They need to raise it a lot now to make sure people do not leave if they try with the normal 2-3%. Everything is more expensive. It is not enough to offer other items around the salary.»

«The budgeting for 2023 calculates a large increase in turnover due to inflation-adjusted prices, but only a small increase in EBITA above this year’s level, which is likely to be

very good! It is therefore difficult to argue for moderation with difficult times, when budgeting for good times. »

«I have checked 5% and by that I do not mean the total frame, but the % that I think it must be realistic for me personally to get as support personnel. Support personnel at Høvik have always been provided with only crumbs. I have the impression that those who are employed in a similar position in the same department as me in other countries in Europe have higher salaries. I think there’s a reason why VEFF should investigate this. »

«We have probably had negative wage growth recently, while DNV delivers all-time high. »

If you have any questions or input to the coming negotiations, do not hesitate to contact the negotiation team or send an email to: veff@dnv.com

Katrine Andresen Roald

Advokat MNA, Parat

Katrine Andresen Roald is the main layer and adviser for VEFF. She works in the legal department at Parat.

I am 37 years old, married to my husband Lennart and we have three children aged 2, 4 and 6 years old. I was born, raised, studied, and still living in Oslo. I work as a lawyer in the negotiation and working life department of the trade union Parat. As a person, once I decide on something, I go all in, whether it’s hobbies, studies, or work.

WHAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL SKILLS AND WORK EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE?

I have a master’s degree in law from the University of Oslo. I finished my studies in 2010 after going straight from high school to law school. I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to work with.

I had English contract law and tax law as an elective course, and it really seemed to me that I was going to end up in business law.

But then I joined the Juss-Buss – a student-run legal aid initiative that assists those who cannot afford other legal aid. There I understood that an employment relationship is not like any other contractual relationship. I experienced

“To sum up, I love being out in the nature and I am very passionate to ensure that everyone has access to legal aid regardless of resources.”

employers who kept the passports of the employees, the employees lived in poor conditions and were paid small amounts of cash in wages. After this, it became clear to me that what I wanted was to work with employment law.

When I was offered the opportunity to work in Parat, I felt it had to be the perfect place to work. A trade union that represents a huge range of different worker categories and in all sectors. The first year I worked in the legal department and only assisted with individual cases. Then I started in the negotiation and working life department.

In parallel with my work in Parat, I continued my work to help disadvantaged groups. I developed the Legal Aid Center—a legal aid initiative run by the Church City Mission—from a monthly offer to a weekly service, and I was the general manager there for about 5 years.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT AT WORK?

When I am not at work, I spend time with my family. We like to be in the mountains either on foot or on skis – both cross-country skiing and downhill skiing. In addition, we are lucky to live near the sea, so we enjoy being out in our small boat.

If we are on vacation, we go hiking in the mountains or we travel to the United States, where my mother’s family comes from.

A lot of time is also spent on children’s activities. I was very active in children’s sports, as a figure skater, and would like to pass on all the joy that I experienced through sports to my children.

YOUR ROLE AT PARAT

I work as a lawyer in the negotiation and working life department, and I am the negotiation manager for all our official agreements within the NHO area. I assist employee representatives and individual members in matters related to legislation and agreements.

As a negotiator, I work with the collective agreements, i.e., what the collective agreement should contain. However, the tariff settlements are only part of the job.

In addition, I work a lot with advising on the understanding of the provisions of the collective agreement and the law. How should the wage settlement be carried out? And what about the right to welfare leave? What are the requirements for major reorganizations? What rules apply to working hours? Or what about the main agreements’ provisions on the right to employee representative time and the right to co-determination for employee representatives?

An important part of the job is also to hold courses for both members and employee representatives. We have great variation in the course portfolio and offer courses over several days to employee representatives in topics such as restructuring, presentation technique and working hours. In addition, we have shorter courses and webinars on, for example, pensions and management law. These are open to all members.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT PARAT AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WORK THERE

Parat is a politically independent trade union affiliated to the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (YS). We have over 40,000 members in all sectors of working life and organize employees in most professions and industries.

Working in Parat is both varied and exciting. One day may be about a major reorganization, while the next may be about a member who has not received their salary or needs someone to talk to because they are not doing well.

Due to our large secretariat, we also have a good opportunity to be specialized. As responsible for NHO’s official agreements, it gives me ample opportunity to draw lines across the tariff areas and use this to assist our groups.

“I talk a lot with the elected representatives about problems at the group level, but I also help union representatives and members directly with individual cases.”

IMPORTANT ISSUES YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT

The task of lawyers is to promote justice and prevent injustice. For me, finding good and fair solutions for our members is one of the things that makes the workday meaningful.

I am also dedicated to ensuring that companies have collective agreements. A collective agreement is an important measure for creating acceptable working conditions and job security. Working to put in place more collective agreements therefore feels extra meaningful to me. Now we in Parat have started with tariff marking. All companies that have a collective agreement in place can place a sticker on their company as a of stamp of quality. We hope this helps to raise awareness of how important it is to trade with businesses where employees are ensured proper pay and working conditions.

The wide range of tasks and the good working environment means that 11 years in Parat have gone away faster than I could have ever imagined.

“Working to give our members an even better working day is incredibly rewarding.”

“I am also devoted to assuring that everyone, regardless of status or life situation, should have access to legal aid. How resourceful you are should not determine what help you get. The union is a good contribution to this, because membership ensures help if ever needed.”

Membership benefits

As member of Parat/YS you are entitled to a lot of membership benefits. This article is in Norwegian but do not hesitate to contact us if you need assistance or translation.

PARAT: KALKULATOR MED HVOR MYE DU KAN SPARE

Parat Tariff - Prøv vår fordelskalkulator

https://www.parat.com/tariff/prov-var-fordelskalkulator-9688-479414 (url)

Her er det mye penger å spare – mange opplever å spare inn hele kontingenten ved å benytte fordelene.

JURIDISK BISTAND

Som medlem får du tilgang til Parats advokater, som har spesialkompetanse på lov- og avtaleverk som gjelder for din bransje. De står klar til å hjelpe deg hvis du opplever problemer eller utfordringer på din arbeidsplass. Våre advokater kan også hjelpe deg med private saker.

Kjemper mot sosial dumping

MEDLEMSPRIS PÅ FORSIKRING

Som Parat-medlem kan du spare mye ved å benytte medlemsrabattene dine på forsikring. Over 60 % av medlemmene benytter seg av forsikringsfordelene som vi har forhandlet frem sammen med YS.

Forsikringene er blant markedets beste, og målinger viser at medlemmene våre er svært fornøyde med hvilke skader forsikringene dekker, kundebehandlingen og oppgjørstiden i Gjensidige.

SJEKK ALLE MEDLEMSFORDELENE DINE I GJENSIDIGE

https://www.gjensidige.no/privat/kundefordeler/ ys?utm_id=xd48&utm_source=para t&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=v%C3%A6re-medlem_nettside-medlemsfordeler

BANK

Som medlem i Parat får du en av landets laveste renter på boliglån og mange andre fordeler hos Nordea Direct gjennom YS-avtalen. Har du boliglån i annen bank kan du spare flere tusen kroner på å flytte lånet ditt til Nordea Direct.

Now the home office quickly costs thousands of NOK’is

Heating is a big expense with today’s electricity prices in southern Norway. Some have their home office in a cabin, others in the living room. If, on average, we assume that people’s home office is a separate room of 10 square meters, the heating costs for it will be at least NOK 500 a month with an electricity price of over NOK 5 per kilowatt hour.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

THE FOSSIL CAR COSTS MORE THAN THE PANEL OVEN

By using the office instead, the domestic heating expenditure can be reduced by lowering the temperature during the day. Strøm.no has looked at the power consumption of a panel oven and calculates that a 1200 W oven that is used for

5 hours, with an electricity price of NOK 5 kW, the saving with 2 fewer home office days a week will be just over NOK 1,000 a year after deductions for electricity subsidies, if we assume that you turn off the panel oven for 5 hours on the days in question.

The calculation works out best for those who anyway have a fixed price (monthly pass, walking and cycling) for transport to work. NAF (Norges Automobil Forbund) operates in its calculator with a charging requirement of 1.7 kW per mile for electric cars and 0.6 liters per mile for fossil cars.

If you travel more than approximately 17 km each way, the charging requirement for the electric car will exceed the power consumption of the panel oven. With diesel, the average price is NOK 20 per liter, with a 3-kilometer journey you will be better off using the panel oven at home than driving. But if you have such a short distance,

walk

CHANGED PREFERENCES

The employees’ preference for a home office this winter will probably depend on the economic effect:

Those with fossil-fuel cars and long journeys will particularly want to utilize home office more often than when energy prices were low Those with a monthly pass/electric car and a short journey, as well as those who have a home office in their own room that can easily be lowered in temperature, will want a smaller home office, or work more at the office buildings.

If you in addition have the possibility to shower at work, this can also tip the balance in the office’s favor.

We do have an insight into how employees travel to work, we will now be able to

make forecasts on how the dramatically increased energy prices will affect the degree of home office during this autumn.

“Energy prices come in as a new factor compared to when the use of home offices took off in 2020. Back then, energy prices were very low, and it was primarily a question of infection control, the need for social interaction and the transfer of skills, decided whether you used home office or not. But times are changing.”

you can perhaps

or cycle to work?

Job satisfaction – a buzzword or a necessity

”Job satisfaction” is a popular word and it has become more important now when we have entered into flexible work agreements. We in DNV have reports that describe how employees experience their work and engagement. Participation, involvement, and job crafting is very important factors for employees to be happy and to deliver work of good quality through life.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF, WITH KRISTIANIA UNIVERSITY

In § 4-2 of the Working Environment Act (Arbeidsmiljø Loven), there are requirements for facilitation, participation, and development at work. Also, in § 4-3, there are requirements set for psychosocial working environment.

Researchers, consultants and organizations on both the employer’s and the employee’s side, have analyzed what creates a well-functioning working life. A search in Atekst/Retriever shows that the use of the term “job satisfaction” increased from the 2000s and until 2013, before it experienced a slight decline. In 2021, however, the use is on its way up again, and there is reason to expect a further rise in 2022 due to Covid and now the war in Ukraine.

It has become clear that job satisfaction embraces many concepts. The benefits of having job satisfaction in a business, results in increased productivity, higher customer satisfaction, more innovation, greater job loyalty and lower sickness absence (Brøgger & Salomon, 2013).

COMMITMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT, TWO IMPORTANT FACTORS IN JOB SATISFACTION

Engaged employees feel better at work (Lauring & Selmer, 2015) and have reduced risk of being burned out (Yin, 2018), but when we get to the relationship between commitment and achievement, we can see that the results from research clarify the findings. Kim, Kolb and Kim (2013) reviewed 20 empirical

studies that looked at connections between commitment and achievement. In eleven of the studies there was a direct or indirect connection between commitment and performance. Nine other studies also found similar connections, but then with commitment as a mediating factor (Kim, Kolb & Kim, 2013). An example of how commitment can be a mediating factor can be found in Nasurdin et al. (2018).

But what kind of performance does engagement actually contribute to? Bailey et al. (2017) did one similar review as Kim, Kolb and Kim (2013). Also, their review showed, in the majority of studies, a positive relationship between commitment and performance.

In summary, performance affected engagement in two ways:

1) Task performance: Employees perform their tasks better. Examples of task achievements can be team performance, customer loyalty and quality of care.

2) Extra-role behavior: Employees contribute positively beyond the formal tasks, including taking initiative, sharing knowledge and come up with new ideas (Bailey et.al, 2017; Yin, 2018). Other surveys confirm that commitment leads to creativity and innovation (Kim & Koo, 2017). In addition, engaged employees will engage less in “counterproductive behavior”, a term that describes a behavior where the employee deliberately

wants to “destroy” the organization he/she works for and its employees (Yin, 2018).

BUT IS IT THE CASE, THAT THE MORE COMMITMENT, THE BETTER FOR BOTH EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER?

Although commitment appears to have a positive influence on performance, several studies show that this effect is curvilinear, i.e., diminishing as it increases engagement. Bouckenooghe et al. (2022) found such a diminishing effect among a wide composite selection of employees from different industries and cultures. However, they found that one diminishing effect could be counteracted if employees sought feedback from their surroundings.

Several researchers have also taken a closer look at less positive consequences of commitment, what is referred to as the “dark side” of commitment (Bouckenooghe et al., 2022). One can, for example, imagine an exaggerated commitment that drains workers for personal resources, which is not sustainable over time. Employees with commitment and workaholism have in common that they are characterized to be hardworking and dedicated. Yet, while committed employees work hard because they find work meaningful and interesting, workaholics work hard because an inner drive makes them feel they have to (Bakker et al. 2014).

Bakker et al. (2014) found that high engagement is positive for the workhome-life balance (“work-family facilitation”), and that it leads to higher quality of life, while at the same time familyfriendly management behavior stimulates increased commitment (Matthews et al., 2014). For workaholics it was the opposite, they had a demanding workhome balance and a lower quality of life (Bakker et al., 2014). Shimazu (2015) concludes that there is a positive correlation between commitment and workaholism, but that the concepts should nevertheless be understood as independent phenomena. Furthermore, it could perhaps be thought of that way because committed employees work so hard, they can easily become burned out. Research done on this shows that it is not necessarily the case (Rabenu et al., 2021). Burnout is linked to negative health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol addiction. Engagement, on the other hand, is linked to active, positive emotions (Bakker, Demerouti & Sanz-Vergel, 2014).

The international research on job satisfaction is voluminous and heavy on concepts. Individual and psychological factors that create job satisfaction is still the belief in one’s own abilities, personality traits, the experience of meaningful work, mindset, and good self-management. Newer research also emphasizes how job satisfaction is a dynamic and relational concept which does not occur in a vacuum, but within the conditions set by the organization. There are more social and relational factors that recent research highlights as important for job satisfaction. Positive interactions with colleagues, feedback, recognition from the manager and positive relational energy. Findings also emphasize that it is not only this factors that are linked directly to the work tasks that create job satisfaction, but that the organizations also have one important direct and indirect effect on job satisfaction. For example, the research shows the importance of good HR(M) processes that give the employees opportunities for development, co-determination, and gives the employee an experience of being valued in the organization as a whole.

References

Akhtar, R., Boustani, L., Tsivrikos, D. & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015). The engageable personality: personality and trait EI as predictors of work engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 44- 49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. paid.2014.08.040

Bailey, C., Madden, A., Alfes, K., & Fletcher, L. (2017). The meaning, antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 31-53, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12077

Bouckenooghe, D., De Clercq, D., Naseer, S., & Syed, F. (2022). A curvilinear relationship between work engagement and job performance: the roles of feedback-seeking behavior and personal resources. Journal of Business and Psychology, 37(2), 353-368, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-021-09750-7 Brøgger, B. & Salomon, R. (2013). Å jobbe med arbeidsglede –hva kan virksomheter få ut av det? En kunnskapsstatus. R2013:6. Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet

Edelbroek, R., Peters, P., & Blomme, R. J. (2019). Engaging in open innovation: The mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and the quality of the open innovation process as perceived by employees. Journal of General Management, 45(1), 5-17, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0306307019844633

Kim, M. S., & Koo, D. W. (2017). Linking LMX, engagement, innovative behavior, and job performance in hotel employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(12), 3044-3062, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2016-0319

Kim, W., Kolb, J. A., & Kim, T. (2013). The relationship between work engagement and performance: A review of empirical literature and a proposed research agenda. Human Resource Development Review, 12(3), 248-276, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1534484312461635

Lauring, J., & Selmer, J. (2015). Job engagement and work outcomes in a cognitively demanding context: the case of expatriate academics. Personnel Review, 44(4), 629-647. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2013-0216

Matthews, R. A., Mills, M. J., Trout, R. C., & English, L. (2014). Family-supportive supervisor behaviors, work engagement, and subjective well-being: A contextually dependent mediated process. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(2), 168-181, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036012

Nasurdin, A. M., Ling, T. C., & Khan, S. N. (2018). Linking social support, work engagement and job performance in nursing. International Journal of Business & Society, 19(2), 363-381.

Rabenu, E., Shkoler, O., Lebron, M. J., & Tabak, F. (2021). Heavywork investment, job engagement, managerial role, personorganization value congruence, and burnout: A moderatedmediation analysis in USA and Israel. Current Psychology, 40(10), 4825-4842, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00423-6

Yin, N. (2018). The influencing outcomes of job engagement: an interpretation from the social exchange theory. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 67(5), 873-889. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-03-2017-0054

Arbeidsglede – moteord ellernødvendighet?

Forfattere: Silje Wiig-Abban, Hans Erik Næss, Sindre Olafsrud og Mari Svendsen KRISTIANIA RAPPORT 2022 / 04

New rights to improve work-life balance in the EU enter into application

This fall I traveled to Brussel and learned about work-life balance, fair salaries, impact of the war in Ukraine, just to mention some interesting topics.

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

As of today, all Member States must apply EU-wide rules to improve work-life balance for parents and careers adopted in 2019. These rules set out minimum standards for paternity, parental and careers’ leave and establish additional rights, such as the right to request flexible working arrangements, which will help people develop their careers and family life without having to sacrifice either. These rights, which come in addition to existing maternity leave rights, were achieved under the European Pillar of Social Rights and is a key milestone towards building a Union of Equality.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE FOR PARENTS AND CAREERS

The Directive on work-life balance aims to both increase the participation of women in the labor market and the take-up of family-related leave and flexible working arrangements. Overall, women’s employment rate in the EU is 10.8 percentage points lower than men. Moreover, only 68% of women with care responsibilities work compared to 81% of men with the same duties. The Directive allows workers leave to care for relatives who need support and overall, this means that parents and careers can reconcile professional and private lives.

“As a society we must care about caring. We have recently seen how fragile health can be and how important the solidarity of society is. Flexible work arrangements and the possibility to take time off when needed most show how the EU is a true society of solidarity. We are laying the foundations for creating a modern workplace fit for citizens and all family members.”

As set out by President von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, the Commission will ensure the full implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive, which will help bring more women into the labor market and help fight child poverty. The Commission will support Member States in applying the new rules including through the European Social Fund+ to improve the quality and accessibility of early childhood education and care systems.

Member States are required to transpose the Directive into national law. In a next step, the Commission will assess the completeness and compliance of the national measures notified by each Member State and act if and where necessary.

“Over the past two years many Europeans have taken steps to focus on what truly matters to them. With more flexibility and new rights, the Work-Life Balance Directive provides them with a safety net to do so without worrying. Across the EU, parents and careers now have more guaranteed leave with fair compensation. It means we can care for the people we love without sacrificing the love of our work.”

Photo: Nina Ivarsen

YS Top Representative Study

From August 2021 to May 2022, I got the privilege to participate in a study program that was a pilot project as an initiative of YS through my position as deputy chair of VEFF.

LIN BEATE KARSTEN, DEPUTY CHAIR VEFF

The program took place over one year with 4 sessions, 2 mandatory assignments and a final exam in May. The 4 sub-federations of YS, Parat, Delta, Negotia and Finansforbundet got 5 seats each, there were 20 students who participated.

THE TOPICS IN THE DIFFERENT SESSIONS WERE:

First session: Change, selfmanagement, and leadership

Second session: Megatrends and the future of the trade union movement

Third session: Change and disruption

Fourth session: Communication and influence

What was distinctive about this program was that all the students had to formulate their own research question at the start of the program, which we wanted to go into more depth about. My choice of research question fell on “Leadership in a hybrid working day”. During the seminars, I received a lot of professional input that could be used to write an academic thesis related to the research question.

“Study practice was the name of the program and the purpose was to use one’s own working day and link this to theory.”

During the autumn after start-up on the study program, I discovered that I wanted to elaborate on my research question and my topic I had chosen to write about, so this ended with the following formulation of the research question:

What consequences and how or whether the pandemic has affected how to manage employees and what is required of self-management in a hybrid/flexible working arrangement.

Furthermore, I have also discussed whether and how the psychosocial working environment is affected by hybrid work arrangements.

There were many interesting, related issues and hypotheses that emerged during the study that were closely related to my main research question;

How to manage employees, has that changed?

How to lead oneself (self-management), what is required of each employee?

How to create flexibility for the individual without compromising productivity?

Will something happen to the psychosocial working environment?

My conclusion in my thesis was that in a hybrid work situation (defined

A formalization of long experience

Formalizing the knowledge and experience that employee representatives possess is very valuable for both us and for you in the work you will continue to do, said Rector of Kristiania University College, Trine J. Meza, in her opening speech.

Graduates from the associations Parat, Negotia, Delta and Finansforbundet presented exciting angles and findings for reflection in what they eventually hope will be a collection of articles with an overview of the employee representative’s role in Norwegian work-places today.

On their homepage, Kristiania University College describes that the program developed in cooperation with the four federations will:

• Create professional development that puts you in the best possible position to exercise existing or upcoming positions in your federation and own business.

• Strengthen your ability to become a good leader and role model as an active contributor in the federation.

• Establish and develop networks with other top elected officials.

as performing your work in different places, partly in the office in a community with others and partly in a home office) a different type of management is required than if everyone is together.

At the same time, I’ve seen through practice and theory that it hasn’t necessarily changed because of a pandemic. For a lot of what I have experienced, there was already performed much research, and for years there has been focus on this topic within management theories. New generations have and still

“The pandemic is/was probably not a game changer, more of the changes in our working life was there before we were forced to work from home. But what is certain is that this would have been useful anyway and that managing employees has changed and that self-management, relationship management, competence mobilization and self-motivation will have a great impact in the future.”

have (even before the pandemic) different expectations of leadership than the older generations.

Relationship management will be something I am left with that I believe will become more and more important in a working life where employees increasingly need and want autonomy, trust, support, and motivation.

I’m pretty sure this will apply both when you work alone in the home office and when contact with managers and colleagues is digital, or if you meet at the office every day.

When it comes to the psychosocial working environment, in my opinion this is something that must be focused on continuously and that an important element here is perspective exploration and the ability and willingness of the individual to see things from multiple perspectives, which I personally believe will be of great importance in creating a good working environment. My contention is that this is partly influenced by how one is managed, but that in the end it is the individual employee’s ability to understand each other better that will be decisive for whether one manages are enabled to create a good psychosocial work environment.

Whether such a way of organizing work affects the psychosocial working environment, my conclusion is that it is partly affected, but that the greatest influencing factor is the ability of individual employees to familiarize themselves with the needs of others and how the manager motivates and trusts his/her employees. How and how extensive this impact is/becomes is somewhat unclear and difficult to conclude, as it depends a lot on how often (and how) you interact both physically and digitally around task solving and what works best for which tasks.

“Leadership is a woolly concept, but most definitions of leadership are about influencing to create good interaction between people so that together you achieve common goals.”

Tom Karp, professor of leadership

EMPLOYEES IN DNV HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT

FUNKSJONÆRAVTALEN

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KOMPETANSE

Internasjonalisering og omstilling krever styrket kompetanseutvikling i næringslivet. Konkurranseevne forutsetter høy faglig kompetanse blant medarbeiderne i bedriftene. Bare konkurransedyktige bedrifter kan gi trygge arbeidsplasser. Fag- og yrkesopplæringen er særlig viktig for bedriftenes konkurranseevne.

Bedriftenes fremtid vil være avhengig av vedlikehold og fornyelse av de ansattes kompetanse. Det vil derfor være av stor betydning for bedriftene, de ansatte og samfunnet at bedriftene har et høyt faglig nivå.

Ut fra dette er partene enige om følgende:

KARTLEGGING

Den enkelte bedrift må ha et ansvar for å kartlegge og analysere bedriftenes kompetansebehov med bakgrunn i bedriftenes forretningsidé og strategi. Gjennomføringen av dette arbeidet skal i størst mulig utstrekning skje i samarbeid mellom partene.

OPPLÆRING

På bakgrunn av kartleggingen planlegges og gjennomføres det kompetansehevende tiltak. Dette kan f.eks. skje gjennom det daglige arbeidet, gjennom bruk av interne og eksterne kurs, selvstudier og konferanser. Bedriften og den enkelte har således hver for seg og i fellesskap et ansvar for å ivareta kompetanseutviklingen.

Ut fra egne behov skal bedriftene bidra til å dekke opplæringskostnader forbundet med iverksettelsen av tiltak knyttet til opplæring i henhold til dette punkt.

OFFENTLIGE OPPGAVER

ENGLISH TRANSLATION Appendix 4. Competence

COMPETENCE

Internationalization and restructuring require strengthened competence development in the business world. Competitiveness requires a high level of professional competence among the employees in the companies. Only competitive companies can provide safe workplaces. Vocational training is particularly important for companies’ competitiveness.

The companies’ future will depend on the maintenance and renewal of the employees’ skills. It will therefore be of great importance for the companies, the employees and society that the companies have a high professional level.

Based on this, the parties agree on the following:

MAPPING

The individual company must have a responsibility to map and analyze the company’s competence needs based on the company’s business idea and strategy. The implementation of this work shall, to the greatest extent possible, take place in cooperation between the parties.

TRAINING

Based on the mapping, competence-enhancing measures are planned and implemented. This can e.g., happen through daily work, through use of internal and external courses, self-studies and conferences. Thereby the companies and the individual both have a responsibility individually and jointly to ensure competence development.

Based on their own needs, the companies must contribute to cover training costs associated with the implementation of measures related to training in accordance with this point.

PUBLIC DUTIES

YS and NHO will work to ensure that the authorities contribute to strengthening competence development by ensuring that all parts of the public school and education system, including adult education, offer relevant training that is organized so that it is attractive for working life.

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IN DNV HAVE THE RIGHT TO FURTHER AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

FUNKSJONÆRAVTALEN - YTF 2020-2022-VEFF

SMÅ OG MELLOMSTORE BEDRIFTER

For at arbeidet med kompetanseutvikling skal bli mest mulig hensiktsmessig også for små og mellomstore bedrifter, bør det utvikles nye modeller for samarbeid mellom flere bedrifter (jfr. opplæringskontorene og -ringene for lærlingordningen).

BEHOV FOR KOMPETANSEUTVIKLING

Partene er enige om at kompetanseutvikling i bedriftene er et prioritert satsningsområde. Det er derfor nødvendig å intensivere arbeidet med å ta Hovedavtalens kap XVIII i bruk på en konstruktiv måte. Hovedavtalen forutsetter at kartlegging av behov for kompetanse og iverksetting av tiltak skjer i et samarbeid mellom bedriftens ledelse og de ansatte. Partene understreker betydningen av å etablere og videreutvikle en dialog på den enkelte bedrift som kan stimulere dette samarbeidet. Det er av stor betydning at dialogen kan forene bedriftens behov for å rette investeringene i kompetanseutvikling inn mot det som er i samsvar med bedriftens behov og planer for videre utvikling, og den enkelte medarbeiders behov for å ha innflytelse på sin egen kompetanseutvikling.

OPPLÆRINGSUTVALG

Partene fremhever behovet for ytterligere motivasjon til kompetanseutvikling. Det er derfor nødvendig at det samarbeidet Hovedavtalens kap XVIII forutsetter, kan organiseres innenfor systematiske rammer. Som et ledd i å utvikle dette samarbeidet, kan spørsmål knyttet til kompetanseutvikling drøftes og behandles i de enkelte bedriftsutvalg (jfr. Hovedavtalens kap XII). Alternativt kan partene ved den enkelte bedrift bli enige om å nedsettes et eget opplæringsutvalg med to representanter for hver av partene.

For øvrig kan partene lokalt bestemme at andre allerede etablerte utvalg som for eksempel forhandlingsutvalget kan fungere som opplæringsutvalg. Utvalget skal søke å legge forholdene til rette for å fordele bedriftens utdanningstilbud slik at flest mulig av de arbeidstakere som er interessert kan delta.

KOMPETANSEPLANER

Partene er enige om at det ved den enkelte bedrift skal utvikles og holdes ved like en systematisk plan for kompetanseutvikling. Planen skal ta utgangspunkt i en vurdering av kompetansebehovene for å løse de oppgavene bedriften står overfor, og beskrive nødvendige tiltak for kompetanseutvikling.

Kompetanseplanen bør:

- Ajourholdes årlig.

- Motivere til faglig utvikling.

- Inneholde planer for gjennomføring av kompetanseutviklingstiltak for den enkelte medarbeider.

- Kompetanseplanen bør legge til rette for at medarbeidere får kompetanseheving gjennom avleggelse av fag- eller svenneprøve gjennom praksiskandidatordningen (jfr. opplæringslova, § 3-5).

I slike tilfeller dekker bedriften utgifter til eventuelle kursavgifter, læremateriell og prøveavgifter.

STØTTE TIL LIVSOPPHOLD VED UTDANNINGSPERMISJON

Alle arbeidstakere har fått en individuell rett til utdanningspermisjon ved lov vedtatt av Stortinget 1999, jfr. arbeidsmiljølovens, kap VIII A. Rettighetene til utdanningspermisjon sikrer likebehandling av alle arbeidsgivere og arbeidstakere. Ansvaret for å dekke utgifter i forbindelse med kompetanseutvikling for arbeidstakere avhenger av formålet med det enkelte tiltak:

- Utdanning i tråd med bedriftens behov skal dekkes av den enkelte bedrift (jfr. Hovedavtalen kap XVIII).

- Utdanning som bygger på lov om rett til utdanningspermisjon må finansieres på annen måte, for eksempel gjennom Statens Lånekasse.

For å sikre helheten i et framtidig system, forutsetter partene at også prinsippene som er nedfelt i Hovedavtalens kap XVIII allmenngjøres. Dersom man deler den siste gruppen inn i to, kan det skilles mellom følgende utdanningskategorier og finansieringsansvar:

1.Utdanning til annet fagområde. Dette må finansieres gjennom ordninger som for eksempel Lånekassen.

2. Etter- og videreutdanning innen samme fagområde, men ut over bedriftens behov (jfr. HA kap XVIII). Ansvar for finansiering av livsopphold under permisjon for denne gruppen er uavklart.

Partene er enige om at etablering av ordninger for støtte til livsopphold for gruppen under punkt 2 gjennom tariffoppgjørene vil legge ensidige byrder på tariffbundne bedrifter. Det må derfor være en forutsetning at en eventuell slik ordning bygger på like rettigheter og plikter for hele arbeidslivet både i privat og offentlig sektor, og gjelde alle arbeidstakere og arbeidsgivere. Partene mener derfor at utviklingen av ordningen må skje i et samspill mellom arbeidslivets parter og de politiske myndigheter.

VIDERE FREMDRIFT

Hovedorganisasjonene viser til Riksmeglingsmannens møtebok fra lønnsoppgjøret 1999 mellom YS og NHO og det grunnlag for fremdrift som ble lagt der. Videre vises det til brevveksling mellom Riksmeglingsmannen, partene og statsministeren vedrørende støtteordning til livsopphold ved utdanningspermisjon i forbindelse med mekling i lønnsoppgjøret år 2000 mellom LO og NHO. Hovedorganisasjon vil etablere det samarbeid som blir nødvendig for å følge dette opp.

EMPLOYEES

Bilag 5. Etter- og videreutdanning Videreutvikling av kompetansereformen

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

In order to make the actions on competence development to be as appropriate as possible also for small and medium-sized companies, new models for cooperation between several companies should be developed (cf. the training offices and rings for the apprenticeship scheme).

NEED FOR COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT

The parties agree that competence development in the companies is a priority area. It is therefore necessary to intensify the work to bring Chapter XVIII of the Main Agreement into use in a constructive way. The main agreement requires that the mapping of the need for expertise and the implementation of measures take place in collaboration between the company’s management and the employees. The parties emphasize the importance of establishing and further developing a dialogue at the individual company which can stimulate this cooperation. It is of great importance that the dialogue can reconcile the company’s need to direct investments in competence development towards what is in accordance with the company’s needs and plans for further development, and the individual employee’s need to have an influence on their own competence development.

TRAINING COMMITTEE

The parties highlight the need for further motivation for competence development. It is therefore necessary that the cooperation required by Chapter XVIII of the Main Agreement can be organized within a systematic framework. As part of developing this collaboration, issues relating to competence development can be discussed and dealt with in the company committees (cf. Chapter XII of the main agreement). Alternatively, the parties at the company can agree to set up a separate training committee with two representatives for each of the parties. Furthermore, the parties can decide locally that other already established committees such as the negotiation committee can function as training committees. The committee shall seek to create the right conditions to distribute the company’s educational offer so that as many as possible of the employees who are interested can participate.

COMPETENCE PLANS

The parties agree that a systematic plan for competence development must be developed and maintained in the company. The plan must be based on an assessment of the competence needs to solve the tasks the company faces and describe the necessary measures for competence development.

The competency plan should:

- Updated annually.

- Motivate professional development.

- Contain plans for the implementation of competence development measures for the individual employee.

- The competence plan should make it possible for employees to gain competence by taking a professional or apprentice test through the practice candidate scheme (cf. the Training Act, § 3-5). In such cases, the company covers expenses for any course fees, learning materials and test fees.

SUPPORT FOR SUBSISTENCE IN THE EVENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEAVE

All employees have been given an individual right to educational leave by law passed by the Storting in 1999, cf. Working Environment Act, Chapter VIII A. The right to educational leave ensures equal treatment of all employers and employees. The responsibility for covering expenses in connection with skills development for employees depends on the purpose of the individual measure:

- Education in line with the company’s needs must be covered by the individual company (cf. Main Agreement ch. XVIII).

- Education that is based on the law on the right to educational leave must be financed in another way, for example through the Statens Lånekasse.

To ensure the integrity of a future system, the parties assume that the principles laid down in Chapter XVIII of the Main Agreement are also made public. If one divides the last group into two, a distinction can be made between the following education categories and funding responsibilities:

1. Education in another subject area. This must be financed through schemes such as Lånekassen.

2. Further and further education within the same subject area, but beyond the company’s needs (cf. HA ch. XVIII). Responsibility for financing living expenses during leave for this group is unclear.

The parties agree that the establishment of schemes for subsistence support for the group under point 2 through the collective bargaining agreements will place unilateral burdens on collective bargaining companies. It must therefore be a prerequisite that any such arrangement is based on equal rights and duties for the entire working life in both the private and public sector and applies to all employees and employers. The parties therefore believe that the development of the scheme must take place in an interaction between the parties of working life and the political authorities.

FURTHER PROGRESS

The main organizations refer to the Ombudsman’s meeting book from the 1999 salary settlement between YS and NHO and the basis for progress that was laid there. Furthermore, reference is made to an exchange of letters between the National Mediator, the parties, and the Prime Minister regarding a support scheme for subsistence during educational leave in connection with mediation in the salary settlement in 2000 between LO and NHO. The main organization will establish the cooperation that will be necessary to follow this up.

For more information contact: veff@dnv.com

Appendix 5. Further and continuing education

Further development of the skills reform

Change

This time I will write about the topic, change. A very natural occurrence which is happening all the time. Changes are part of our everyday life. How you react to “a change” is very individual. Two people may react very different to the same change, some with delight; finally, something is happening while others will experience horror and fear.

ELLEN MARGRETHE PIHL KONSTAD, HVO

At present there is a big project planning for major changes at Høvik. We know that the way we use the office space is not optimal. With the new flexibility that was introduced after the Covid pandemic how and where we work has changed.

The recent survey from the “Flexible work” project shows that the main reason that we come to the office is to meet colleagues, with “To be available for my colleagues” as a clear number 2. The lease agreement between DNV and DNV Eiendom (owner of the Høvik Campus) will expire January 2024. A new contract has to be negotiated.

As a result, a project has been established to understand how we may use our premises in a way that meets the demands of new ways of working.

I must admit, I was very sceptical to the project, says Ellen as the HVO. In my mind, upgrade of a landscape equals new carpets and new lighting, but with

the same layout. Even though the project had communicated what they wanted to achieve, I was still very sceptical. Fortunately, I was invited on a tour to experience and see what all the plans meant in practice. I was invited to spend a day at Aker and Telia to see how they have solved these challenges.

I went from experiencing the coming change as something horrible, to “this is a place where I want to come to work”.

Anyone who has seen my desk knows that this belongs to the “cave category”, the one who has a photo of my family on pride of place together with the easter hen I got from a colleague and a “We Can Do It!” mug my husband brought back from the US years ago.

My desk is a memory from when we approved physical A1 drawings and needed space to fold them out. To be honest, I only use a small part of the desk when I am working, the rest is used for paper storage.

I now know that in the plans for the new way of working, there will be places where I will feel that this is a good place to work from. There will be designated areas to collaborate and areas to concentrate. There will also be areas to meet old and new colleagues, and areas to socialise. I will have to downsize my desk and I think that will be a good thing. I do not need my very own paper archive at my desk.

Knowledge does this to change. By knowing more, I feel more in control, I understand more of what the change might be like for me and daily worklife.

So yes, change will come. Understanding that we may react very different to

“It was a revolution. The stories about designated areas, zones, different surfaces, and fabrics suddenly made sense and was miles from the images in my head of what the plans for this upgrade was.”

taking

experience it myself.

look

the same change given that we come from very different backgrounds and that our daily tasks are very different, is important. Already now, we can get a glimpse of what the new Høvik office may look like. Up until Christmas, the canteen in V1 will raise up as a brandnew place to be. Y1 and Y2 are currently being renovated with the new way of working in mind.

“I did not see anything at Aker and Telia that the project already hadn’t been

in, I just needed to

I had to

and feel what this “new” could be like. I changed my view from being very sceptic to being a promotor.”

“Change is coming, and I now believe it is for the better.”

Working from anywhere with new views

NINA IVARSEN, CHAIR VEFF

BOOMERANG EMPLOYMENT

A boomerang employment is when an employee returns to work for a company they have previously worked for. This can be positive for employers, who then get back employees who already know the culture, but who have also learned new skills. In some cases, it may also be about returning after having clarified one's own life situation, for example a temporary move due to the cohabiting partner's work situation or extraordinarily large care tasks. Additional reasons why employees return may be seasonal work or that you have tried your hand at being an entrepreneur or selfemployed for a period.

CROSS BOARDING

In the case of internal mobility, where an employee change role in the organization, there is a need for preparations and a plan for the employee to succeed in his new assignment. This

is usually called cross-boarding and is a variant of onboarding. The difference is that the new employee is already employed by the employer, knows the company culture, and has a social network at work. Many of the characteristics of a good cross boarding process are taken from the more established processes of onboarding and offboarding. Like onboarding, cross-boarding is about removing moments of anxiety, creating clear expectations, communicating knowledge, and preparing the employee so that he or she can succeed in his or her new role. And as with offboarding, cross boarding should help the employee who changes role to get a good end to their current role, as it contributes to a smooth start for the replacement.

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

In Norwegian we can say the employee journey, and the term covers the experience employees have during their employment. From the time a person chooses to apply for a job until

In recent years, working life has changed, with more home offices and a shortage of labor. There have been many new terms and here are some terms that are good to know.

the person announces their resignation, there will be many moments that determine their experience with and of the employer. It can be measured in several different ways, ranging from how the candidate experienced the recruitment and onboarding to pulse measurements to map the employee's view of events in the organization. If you succeed in maintaining a good relationship with your employees, the Employer Experience will also be better.

REMOTE WORK

Work that is carried out at a place other than the usual place of work. Remote work can follow directly from an employment contract. For example, work "remote" from home, such as work abroad or employees on assignments in Norway. If teleworking is not regulated by an employment contract, the employer cannot unilaterally decide on teleworking, and the employee cannot demand it. Remote work in a country other than the one to which the employment relationship is linked and can have consequences for membership in social security schemes, tax, and insurance.

HOME OFFICE

Work that is carried out in the employees' homes, and a form of remote work. If the home office is used more than briefly and sporadically, the home office regulations apply. The employer decides whether the home should be workplace no. 2 and the individual employee chooses whether to make use of the opportunity. If the employee wishes so, an additional agreement must be entered. A home office abroad could have consequences for membership of the National Insurance Scheme, and together with issues such as tax and insurance, this should be clarified in advance.

HYBRID WORK

Hybrid working is a model that allows employees to combine work in the office with work from home or elsewhere.

REBOARDING

Reboarding is about reintegrating employees who, for one reason or another, have been absent from work for a period. The goal of the process is that the employee should get into the work as quickly as possible, both in terms of the position and work tasks, but also get into social contexts and build relationships with colleagues. Reboarding is likely to become more common when organizations look at hybrid solutions with a combination of work in the office and further away, where, for example, in a reboarding phase, the amount of remote work can be reduced compared to a normal situation.

RESKILL

While upskilling is about learning new skills within the same field of work, reskilling is about taking in knowledge and skills in a completely new area, among other things to be able to do other work.

UPSKILL

Upskill is about ensuring that employees develop their skills through the education and further training that is needed

Through the lens of a company and its business measures, a hybrid remote work environment improves retention, productivity, quality of the work produced, and reduces office expenses, absenteeism, and labor costs.

Qualitative business measures such as work-life balance, employee engagement, and job satisfaction cannot be converted into numbers, yet they form an important part of a hybrid workplace ROI.

To calculate the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of hybrid working, one must isolate the impact of flexible remote work in monetary terms and determine the program benefits and program costs.

BCR = Program Benefits - Program Costs

The rate of investments then becomes,

ROI (%) = {(Program Benefits - Program Costs) ÷ Program Costs} × 100

within the organization to reach new heights. The idea is that it should lead to a narrowing of the gap between the employees' skills and the organization’s needs. With upskilling, you gain new experience and knowledge within your established field of work. See also reskill.

WORK FROM ANYWHERE

Working from home became very common during the pandemic, but "work from anywhere" (in English: WFA) is an expression that the new working life has some work where it does not matter where the employee is located.

WORK-LIFE INTEGRATION

Work-life integration is about creating more synergies between different parts of life such as work, home/family, community, personal well-being, and health. This means that work and private life are brought closer together. During the pandemic, this was particularly natural. Laundry was done in video meetings, and several children showed up to work because schools were closed. Work-life integration is about allowing employees to be flexible and have the opportunity to coordinate private errands with professional ones, which can result in more satisfied and less stressed employees.

To determine the return on investment (ROI) of the hybrid work model, one must view it from the organization’s perspective