Our future ready ways of working

By Leanne Wood, Vodafone Group Chief Human Resources Officer

The events of the last year have brought lasting changes to society including how we live, and how and where we work. At Vodafone, we have learnt so much over the last 18 months, changing quickly to serve our customers while adapting how we work together and supporting each other when we can’t be together. The past 18 months have not been easy, and we know that colleagues continue to be impacted by the pandemic.

During this time, we have been reflecting on our ways of working, building on what we have learnt so far and listening to your feedback. Over the last several months, we have been talking about what a Vodafone workplace of the future could be. Today, I want to share with you what this really means and why our future ready way of working, shaped by the core principles of trust, flexibility, choice and balance, is our chosen way forward.

Future ready ways of working will provide more flexibility to you regarding how and where you work: working remotely, in the office or flexing time between both options.

We need to acknowledge that some roles in Vodafone are location dependent such as our engineers who are field based or our teams in retail stores. But for all other roles where a blend of remote and office-based work is possible, we aim to increase the flexibility we can offer in location of work. For those roles the split of time between office and remote will depend on business, team and individual needs reflecting workload, projects and deliverables. Some weeks may have a heavy in-office presence and some may have none. We anticipate that teams will average about 2 or 3 days in the office and 2 or 3 days remote, and over time we will learn, adapt and adjust as needed.

Vodafone is a global company and we are increasing the opportunities to work from different countries. This includes the recent announcement of new skills hubs in Dresden and Malaga and we are going to experiment with posting job vacancies across countries without the need to relocate. In addition, we are increasing the opportunity for 100% remote working for specific roles such as some of our customer operations teams. This location flexibility will provide greater access to career opportunities across countries.

Truly living a future ready way of working means a change in our mindset and our physical working space. To understand what that feels and looks like, we are trialling new office designs with bigger and more inclusive spaces for brainstorming and informal meet ups. Through this test and try approach, we will learn how we can be at our best when we combine working and collaborating virtually and in person.

I am really pleased to share with you two new exciting initiatives. We are introducing the opportunity to work from any location without the need to come to a Vodafone office for up to 4 weeks per year, with your manager’s approval. Second, we are introducing Spirit of Vodafone days, regular meeting free days focused on wellbeing, connection and personal growth. Over the coming months local markets will communicate their plans to implement this.

These future ready ways of working are a defining example of how the Spirit of Vodafone is brought to life. We’re experimenting and we will learn together fast as we go. We are creating the future, in a way that both supports you and serves our customers and society.

I hope this gives you a better sense of what our post-pandemic workplace can be. Your feedback has been invaluable in building our plans, and we will continue to listen to your views and adapt where needed. I am excited and optimistic about the path ahead of us and I believe that our future ready working will enable us to live and work better.

Thank you for being part of this unique opportunity to shape our future, together.