Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction and project development companies. It is focused on selected home markets in the Nordic region, Europe, and the US.
In the UK, Skanska is one of the leading contractors and has around 3,300 employees. Its focus is on construction and project development to help build a better society.
Challenges
Some of the key challenges were attitudes and behaviours to flexible working, site operational constraints (such as set times for mandatory health and safety briefings), and the fact that many frontline workers were paid hourly and wanted to maximise their hours. This meant one type of flexible working would not work for all and that innovative solutions and pilots had to be trialled to experiment with different solutions.
Innovative actions
Skanska launched a Flex-it framework that applied to all employees. The purpose of the framework was to provide everyone with some level of flexibility in where and when they work.
To facilitate this new way of working they rolled out bespoke decision-making tools, learning content, and training to support the behavioural change needed to make the new framework a success. To support the right working environment, Skanska spent £250,000 on desks, chairs, and monitors to ensure remote employees could work at home in a comfortable and healthy setting.
Skanska provided managerial training and hosted drop-in sessions and webinars for line managers on how to apply the framework to their teams. Tools (such as a Flex-it grid) helped people see where their role would sit. Skanska also shared an employee Flex-it feedback form on the organisation’s intranet to gain direct feedback on the tools and case studies provided.
Evidence of impact
These initiatives resulted in an organisational shift in how Skanska perceived productivity and adopted new ways of working. Evidence of the impact has come from their pulse surveys, pre- and post-pilot surveys, and feedback from employee networks.
The emerging benefits have included:
- Higher performing teams;
- A more inclusive culture that is helping to retain diverse talent;
- Improved physical and mental health and wellbeing; and
- A lower carbon footprint.
The information contained within this resource was accurate at the time of its publication and subsequent revision. This article was created in 2021 and revised in April 2022.
