Workplace culture - Interview with Nikki Humphrey, Chief People Officer for the Virgin Group  

I really loved the studio cultures of Studio Moross and Ustwo but I didn’t know if implementing this harmonious environment was possible in a post covid era. I decided to talk to my friend Nikki Humphrey, who has a lot of experience in brand, values and culture and managing people and contracts, about what considerations I needed to implement when employing staff and of any innovative ways I can maintain team cohesion and a sense of belonging.

Q: Nikki, I have this romantic vision of running a harmonious creative practice, where we collaborate, share creative ideas and work under the same roof. In 2023, am I being unrealistic and what allowances should I make for staff to work remotely?

A: It’s a great way to operate, I think its a great vision to have and I wouldn’t reduce your ambition, however I think with the frequency and reason you need to consider why you would get your team together, because I think what has shifted in 2023, has definitely pre-covid, workplaces have generally been showing greater flexibility for their workers, in terms of, when they come into work, how they do their work, how they collaborate, and so I don’t know if your ideal image is everyone together 5 days a week, that is probably unrealistic, but I think the vision of collaborating is really key both internally and externally. Its fair to also say, there are huge generational differences, between how we grew up and condusively work in the same way, and this is about being thoughtful about who is in your team and what considerations you need to take, there might be quite bespoke considering who they are at what their (homelife) set up is  and then what are you prepared to do as an employer in terms of kit at home versus kit in the office and that might be a financial decision based on what you are able to provide.

Q: As a SME, employing people has always seemed a bit of a minefield without an HR department. Are there any new workplace policies and practices I should be aware for an employee working from home? For instance, are they insured, do I contribute to their utilities? Where can I find out this information?

A: So there are two routes I’d suggest, if you were going down that route, there is the Citizens Advice Bureau, which has all stuff around Employment Law which is all free and accessible, there are also quite a lot of the Law Firms have access and give out free newsletters (and you don’t have to be a client) or even a local Law Firm will give you up to date information about what you need to consider or the Laws coming through. If you wanted to pay for a service there are organisations that can give you paid-for HR Law and employment advice and there are considerations if you are working from home. A lot of it is left to the individual and left to the employer to what they want to do and often there is not strict rules about it, there is just good practice to it. What is coming about, which is good to be aware of, is a bill signed around flexible working, giving everyone the right from Day one, so that’s interesting and puts more onus on the employer to be more accommodating with flexible working requests.

Q:  What strategies are in place to bridge potential communication gaps between in-office and remote team members? Do you trust people to get on with their tasks, do you have software, timesheets?

This is the number one question that gets asked about the need for staff to work remotely against staff sitting in front of them. I have really clear and strong views about this, but these are my personal views, for me, if you’re going to get the best out of people who work for you, I think operating with really high trust is really the number one rule and I think that is so critical. If there is no trust in that relationship, to be honest, this filters out into everything you do. For example, when anyone in my team works from home, I start with the fact that I genuinely believe they are working, rather than, well they must be skiving or being off doing other things, and that’s quite an important point, as I think this drives your mindset, with how you’re going to lead them, however, it doesn’t matter how people work (in the office, at home, remotely etc) I think its really important for every team member to have a clear set of objectives, whether its team objectives or company ones, and then individual objectives that each member of the team understands apart, and then overall what they need to deliver. I think that is really important, especially with your type of work, where you may have projects where you might have various people coming in, and there needs to have good planning around those projects - from what or when is the deadline, what are the key milestones you need to hit, and then you just need to have regular reviews on how that is going and check that they are progressing and you’re helping remove any barriers and are working at the pace that you or a member of your team is in line to when your project or deliverables need to be achieved and it’s probably as straightforward as that. Where I think people doubt they are being productive is probably because you 1. don’t take enough interest in the work they are producing, or 2. you haven’t been clear enough about your framework or the parameters of what they need to go and deliver and maybe that’s because you haven’t been supporting or monitoring them. So from that you can usually tell if someone is not performing at the level you need to. There are some businesses that do time manage, you have got professional services that do time sheets. From my personal experience that’s a real pain in the backside but they do it for purpose as then they go and charge back the clients. I think if you were building up a team, I think it is such an important part, your charging model, and knowing how many hours, you probably need that combination of both. So a close set of objectives, project deliverables plus also the person, capturing where they are spending their time, if it’s done in a transparent way and doesn’t feel like its being closely monitored for the wrong reasons like, you don’t trust them, I think that could work really well, and professional services feedback  work really smartly and they have high trust in where they allocate their time

Louise: I always think if someone actually says to you “I trust you” because they’ve said that you always think “I need to deliver” it’s probably a mindset thing.

Nikki, thank you for your time today. There are a lot of things I need to bear in mind in my own practice.  

Video of Interview - Somehow managed to screen record without any sound so this is the back up from my phone - sorry for the dodgy recording!