What is the role of the office in the workplace? We asked Kristian Scharling and our own CEO Daniel Wilk this question and they engaged in an exciting debate at our go-home meeting on April 7. We were also joined by Caroline Alhof, and if you didn't attend, here are the highlights from an inspiring afternoon.
The stage was set for a very interesting afternoon when we opened the doors to the first go-home meeting of the year on Thursday with the theme of the hybrid workplace. Caroline Alhof, Head of People at Nordic Social, gave a presentation on how Nordic Social has tackled the increasing degree of homeworking. We also had a visit from Kristian Scharling who, together with our own CEO Daniel Wilk, took a seat in the warm chairs for an extremely interesting debate about the role of the office in the workplace.
In cozy surroundings and with good food provided by our partner Gas.Op, the event kicked off with a presentation from Caroline Alhof, who talked about Nordic Social's experiences with working from home.
Nordic Social employs many recent graduates and therefore acts as the first 'real workplace' for many of their employees. This also means that they have an extra focus on using the office as a catalyst for a good culture, and that working from home is not something that employees use a lot. Caroline and Nordic Social confirmed this when they opened the doors for their employees to come back into the office after a tough few months with coronavirus.
"When we announced that the offices would reopen, we did so with the hope that some of our employees would show up, but when we walked in on Monday morning, all 20 employees were there."
The willingness to be in the office also has a very logical explanation, Caroline believes.
"Most of our employees don't have a three or four bedroom apartment, they may live with roommates on very few square meters, and working from home can be a challenge. Our employees are therefore really happy to come in for something as basic as height adjustable desks and an extra computer screen."
Caroline also made a somewhat surprising observation. Like many others, she feels that working from home is seen as a competitive parameter in a recruitment process, but at the end of the day, most people are in the office.
"Working from home is something that most people ask about during the job interview, but very few people actually use it. I think it's a test of the workplace culture. People want to know that they have the freedom to choose"
After Caroline's presentation, it was time for a panel debate consisting of Caroline herself, Daniel Wilk and Kristian Scharling. And the latter needs a proper introduction.
Kristian Scharling is 25 years old and has just been named to Berlingske Tidende's Talent 100 list. He is the CEO and founder of Somera, a content marketing agency. In 2017, he traveled around the world and ran the company from several countries, which was the first step in transforming the company into a so-called remote agency without offices and with a shorter working week.
This means that Kristian's employees can choose where and when they want to work. And Kristian himself, well, he has rented a coworking space where he shares an office with other companies.
Kristian's and Somera's approach to remote work laid the foundation for an incredibly exciting debate about what the office means and how much freedom of choice should be given. One of Kristian's main points was that remote work doesn't have to mean working from home. Because, like Kristian himself, you can work from many places. It could be in a co-working space, at a café, or on a beach in Thailand.
Despite a number of different views, the panel agreed that the most important thing is to decide what kind of company you want to be and recruit accordingly.
The panel also weighed up the pros and cons of remote work and the classic office. You can find some of them in ourreport on the hybrid workplace
If you'd like to join us for our next go-home meeting, follow our LinkedIn page, where we'll announce it as soon as we've found a date