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“We don’t have ‘office hours’ and we’re not ‘clock watched’”: Corinium’s Flexible Working Culture

Written by Craig Steward on Jul 1, 2019 2:31:14 PM

#wearecorinium Flexible Working

It’s 9:30am on a Friday morning and I’ve been on the road for 2 hours already. I left Northcliff, like most other commuters, once the kids were dropped off at school. I’ve been around the backroads of Northcliff to get into Linden and then through Greenside. And I’m still not at my destination.

Sounds like most people’s morning ‘hacks’ through the Joburg traffic, right?

Only difference is I’m on my feet. Running. Training for my third Comrades with a 30km run on a Friday morning.

 Disclaimer: I’m not a professional athlete. And I don’t work for myself. And I’m not unemployed.

I work from home just like my 70 other global Corinium colleagues. We’ve been given the gift of freedom from the daily grind most people face in getting to work each day. Whether that be through horrific traffic or on a cramped train. We don’t have ‘office hours’ and we’re not ‘clock watched’ by senior management.

 For me working from home is a privilege because I get to spend more time with my kids and I get to go running at whatever time works best for me.

How do I cram work in, you may ask?

 I structure my day around my productive hours and, with no typical office distractions, I’m able to be highly effective through the day. Whether that be catching up with my team or burying myself in market research to discover the next hot topic that will sustain our incredible rate of growth.

If I have something non-work related on during the day I never feel guilty or anxious. I don’t feel like my boss is going to raise an eyebrow over ‘stolen company hours.’ I either make up the time at night - often my wife and I work together in the evening - or I get up really early and put in an hour or so to catch up.

My team knows they have the same sense of ownership over their time and output. We are all working towards a common goal and as a tight knit team no one let’s anyone down. Most of us have kids or hobbies that require time. Time that is often stolen by office based jobs.

We’ve learnt to hyper-communicate which is critical in a remote-work based environment. Over the last 30 days our company as a whole has sent 59,209 messages on Slack - our communication platform. That doesn’t include the many hours of one-on-one calls and group calls. If we’ve got something to discuss we just pick up the phone or send a message. There’s a strong sense of community in our virtual world.

In the South African business, we regularly meetup to discuss events or meet our colleague’s new baby or just to have a coffee. It’s our common purpose that binds us not office walls.

It’s a chilly Winter’s afternoon in Joburg. It’s 3:00 and I have an hour until the kids get home. My to-do list looks like a full marks test...everything’s done. Perhaps I’ll head out for a quick run...

Craig running Craig medal Craig

 

Craig Steward

Craig Steward, Managing Director MEA, Corinium Global Intelligence

craig.steward@coriniumgroup.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-steward-692b47a/ 

 

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