Westpac’s chief executive has weighed in on the work-from-home controversy with a subtle dig at rival CommBank.
Last week, CommBank sparked an internal revolt after ordering staff back to the office at least 50 per cent of the time, with employees lashing out at management during an internal town hall meeting held to discuss the changes.
In an all-staff email, Westpac CEO Peter King addressed the media coverage and noted the bank’s hybrid approach “hasn’t changed”.
“Hi everyone — if you’ve been keeping an eye on the news, you would have seen debate about getting teams back into the office full-time,” Mr King wrote in the email, which was posted online by business gossip Instagram account The Aussie Corporate.
“I wanted to confirm our approach hasn’t changed. We continue to run a hybrid working model, where you’re expected to come into the office two or three days a week. Your team days in the office are an opportunity to work together and collaborate in person.”
Mr King noted that there were “of course many of our roles, particularly those in customer-facing areas, that see us in the workplace full-time”.
“Or if you’re like me, you’re mostly in the office or on the road — which I know my family prefers!” he added.
“We are committed to retaining flexibility for our people including through hybrid working and we feel we have the balance right. We trust you to get your work done in a way that works for you and your team. If you have any questions about your team’s working patterns, I encourage you to speak with your people leader.”
Is your company ordering staff back to the office? Email the author at frank.chung@news.com.au
Westpac declined to comment on the email.
CommBank’s return-to-office mandate was delivered to the bank’s 49,000 employees by CEO Matt Comyn and his executive team last Monday.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review last week, CommBank group executive of human resources Sian Lewis said the bank had “now set the expectation with our office-based people that from mid-July, they will be required to come into the office for at least 50 per cent of their work time per month”.
She said the move was prompted by a decision to drive innovation and collaboration with face-to-face interactions.
“We’ve learnt that on average, we actively connect with 11 more colleagues each day when we are together in the office and spend 20-30 minutes more time collaborating,” she said.
“Our people also spend 40 per cent or more time connecting with their leader and peers when in the office. We have seen that innovation is an outcome of our people physically working together.”
The major bank was forced to follow up on the directive in another email on Tuesday.
“We understand how positively everyone has embraced hybrid working and you will still be able to work from home,” the leadership team said.
“However, as we’ve said before, being together in our corporate offices provides stronger levels of connection, which help us in our own learning, as well as in collaborating to build services for our customers and in sharing and co-developing with our colleagues.”
A CommBank spokesman told news.com.au on Thursday the bank had tried to find the right hybrid working “balance” for staff and its customers.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve spent time testing different working models based on our own insights, regular feedback from our people, and the lessons of other organisations,” he said.
An internal technology town hall was described as a “bloodbath” by the The Aussie Corporate, which shared screenshots of some of the anonymous comments posted in the online meeting.
One said their team agreed “one office day per week is a good balance”, and demanded to know if leaders “will sign their name on forcing teams back to the office”.
Another raised concerns about the offices having the space to fit all of the returning staff at the same time, with many teams split around Australia and the world.
A third asked if there has been “consideration … to embrace more modern ways of working”, given the ripple effects on working families of forcing parents back to the office amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Reaction on Facebook was mixed, with many readers taking the side of CommBank.
“Entitled much! Get back to work and be thankful you have a job,” one man said.
“It’s not axed, they can still WFH 50 per cent of the time. Spoilt people looks like,” another agreed.
Meanwhile, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) highlighted the double standard of CommBank stressing the importance of face-to-face interactions — even as it closes branches and forces customers online.
“The Finance Sector Union supports our members who are concerned about being forced back to the office by the CBA,” FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said.
“While the CBA is quick to close bank branches on the basis that some customers are using digital banking, it is unfair that its staff are being told they can’t have a choice about when they take advantage of working digitally from home.”
CommBank is just the latest large company attempting to crack down on working from home, which became commonplace during the pandemic and has quickly become one of the most important things to employees.
Research from LinkedIn late last year found nearly three quarters of Australian business leaders prefer staff to work from the office.
Last month, NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said he expected senior leaders to return to the bank’s Melbourne headquarters five days a week to set an example for staff, or be prepared to leave the business.
According to The Australian, NAB staff currently spend 1.2 days a week on average in the office, below the bank’s minimum requirement of two to three days.
“Ross has long advocated for the need for teams to be together regularly to collaborate and problem solve for customers,” a spokeswoman told the newspaper.
“NAB is a relationship bank and those relationships are best delivered face-to-face. Ross believes the most senior leaders need to role model the behaviours and culture expected of everyone at NAB.”
frank.chung@news.com.au