Anger as Nationwide orders workers back to office

A company which championed home-working after the pandemic has told staff they must come back to the office.

Nationwide Building Society has said its 13,000 workers, many of whom are based at its Swindon HQ, need to be in the office at least two days a week, or 40% of their time.

The society said staff who had returned to the office “recognised the benefits of collaborating”.

But one worker told the BBC: “People who are angry are very, very angry.”

The staff member, who had worked at the building society for more than five years, wanted to remain anonymous for fear of recrimination by bosses.

The row centres on a report published by Nationwide in March 2021 called ‘The Future of Work’.

After a year of remote working sparked by the Covid pandemic, researchers for Ipsos Mori asked staff where they would like to work in future.

Only 6% said they wanted to go back to the office every day.

More than half, 56%, declared they wanted to work from home forever.

Nationwide responded with a new plan called “Work from Anywhere”.

The society said staff could work from home or the office, as they chose.

They held a big conference with blue chip professional firms including NatWest Bank, Accenture and KPMG.

The chief executive at the time, Joe Garner, proudly announced that: “We are putting our employees in control of where they work from.”

Mr Garner promoted the benefits of staff working from home, saying: “Our data suggests that working in a home environment encourages us to think more about the impact on others when making decisions.”

The pandemic, he said, encouraged businesses to “embrace different, and more flexible, ways of working, to trust their people and rely on them to make good, and maybe better, decisions independently”.

Staff have said this report, and the media appearances made by bosses, sent out a powerful message.

“People sold cars, moved house, made big plans based on home-working,” one worker said.

But as time has passed, Nationwide’s love of home-working dwindled.

In August 2022 new “guidance” was issued to managers. Staff should “try and come in” at least one day a week or 20% of their time.

The Nationwide Staff Union said the return to the office had “been challenging for many employees”.

Some staff had moved away from their base, others had childcare arrangements built around working from home, not commuting.

And the union also reported that: “The benefits attributed to collaborative working and social interaction have not been immediately obvious to all”.

In an attempt to clarify the rules, the building society has now issued more clear-cut guidance.

Everyone should work in an office for two days, or 40% of their working hours.

A few exceptions have been made.

Overall, Nationwide insists “hybrid working is an important part of Nationwide’s flexible arrangements”.

But for many staff, getting back to the office regularly is going to be quite an upheaval.

“What happened to the trust?” asked one worker. “This just seems like a dictat.”