Top management is responsible for ways of working and where work is done

This opinion piece was originally published in Kauppalehti on 5 June 2023.

Ways of working and where work is done as well as the related decisions continue to cause confusion in organizations. In addition to productivity, wellbeing at work plays an essential role when discussing hybrid working methods as well as organizational success over the long term. Investing in employee health and a working environment that supports well-being means investing in the company’s success, as Patrik Etelävuori stated in his opinion piece (KL April 20, 2023).

In terms of the success of every organization, ways of working and the places where work is done are so critical that the decisions related to them belong to the top management of the organization, as Antti Lehmusvirta noted in his column (KL April 17, 2023).

From the point of view of an individual employee, the freedom to work regardless of time and place may improve the efficiency and wellbeing of an individual worker, but its impact on the efficiency, work community and even bottom line of the entire company may be the opposite. Uncertainty about the ways of working and where to work directly affects organizational culture and, for example, how new employees are able to integrate into the work community.

Although our ways of working have evolved, our human needs have remained the same. One of the most important ones is the need to belong to a community. Wellbeing at work, work engagement and enjoyment feed creativity, trust, efficiency and commitment. These factors, in turn, build the long-term success of the organization.

Every organization is different, and the best solutions can be found by discussing and listening. At the end of the day, it is still the responsibility of the organization’s top management to make those big decisions that ensure both the success of the organization and the well-being of its employees. One of the most important and difficult decisions is to determine where and how work is done at a given time.