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Remote Working Policy supporting family connections and flexible working options at IFM

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Remote Working Policy supporting family connections and flexible working options at IFM

In the past few years IFM, like many companies and businesses worldwide, has adapted to operating on a hybrid working model, with employees working both in-office and remotely from home. Since the launch of our remote working policy in 2021, we are also offering our people work location flexibility.

Flexibility embedded in hybrid working

While the concept of flexible working is already embedded in hybrid working models, we offer our people additional opportunities to customise flexible working patterns. This flexibility is available through temporary changes to their work location.  

Our remote working policy provides for a temporary change to an employee’s usual working location, domestically or internationally, to support their personal circumstances. It provides a structured framework to consistently manage remote working requests across our offices globally.  Since launching the policy in early 2021, we have amended it as necessary in response to changing government and regulatory considerations.

Policy in action

To date, 413 requests to work in an alternative location have been approved. One of these requests was made by Amit, a UK-based Global Risk and Compliance team member. Amit used the policy in 2022 when he spent just over two weeks in India for personal reasons. It worked well for Amit to maintain continuity of a key project he was working on, while also managing his personal circumstances. In fact, Amit discovered distinct advantages to working from India during that time, explaining that, “The time zone allowed me to overlap with colleagues in both Melbourne and London during my workday, which helped to keep the project moving along.” Amit also reflected that, “It was great to spend more time – albeit virtually - with my Australian colleagues without it being very early in the morning or late at night, which is what usually happens when I’m in London.”

Melbourne-based Sandra from our Global Operations team made unplanned use of the remote working policy in 2022 when she was on holiday in Ireland visiting family. During her stay, her mother experienced a serious medical issue that needed immediate medical attention. Sandra was able to support her mother’s long-term recovery by extending her stay by a month. Sandra said, “Working remotely allowed me to support my mother, while maintaining continuity and connection to my work and colleagues, which supported my own wellbeing.” 

Cat, a member of our People and Culture team located in Melbourne, has also made use of IFM’s remote work policy domestically. Cat used the policy to work for an extended period of time in Sydney, which allowed her to visit her brother and his family, while also building connections with her peers in the Sydney office. Cat reflected that “I was able to extend help to my brother when he had his first child, and this was particularly special as we are each other’s only family based in Australia.”

Since her time in Sydney, Cat has embraced the opportunities provided by the remote work policy internationally. In 2023, she was able to visit family in New York while working from our New York office. Cat also spent time working remotely from her home country, the Philippines. These opportunities have significantly enriched her experience of working at IFM.

Flexibility supporting win-win outcomes

The personal reasons for which our people use our remote working policy range from joyous events such as weddings to the more sombre such as illness. Regardless of the reason, the policy is useful in situations where it’s helpful and or important to continue working while managing the personal circumstances that require an employee to work away from their usual work location.  

Developing and managing our hybrid working model has been a catalyst for reflecting on the value of flexibility for our people. Over time, we plan to continue seeking feedback from our people to help ensure the model supports engagement and productivity across the organisation.