Softcat launches hybrid working policy with 'slight bias to office'
'You could interpret it as 2.6 days a week. Most people interpret it as three days a week," CEO Graeme Watt says of new policy implemented since beginning of 1 November
Softcat has implemented a new "high-level" hybrid working policy that has a "slight bias to the office", its CEO Graeme Watt said following its Q1 trading update.
The LSE-listed reseller giant revealed earlier this week that it "performed well" during the first quarter of its fiscal year ending 31 July 2022 and "delivered year-on-year growth in revenue, gross profit and operating profit".
The need to strike a balance between flexible and remote working and retaining a strong, energetic culture was discussed by UK channel leaders including Computacenter's Mike Norris, SCC's James Rigby and Insight's Emma de Sousa at the recent Canalys EMEA Channels Forum.
In a recent video interview with CRN, Telefonica Tech UK's boss, Martin Hess, argued that "working from home, all the time, for most people, is a bad thing", claiming that companies get their "ideas", "energy" and "spark" from an office-based culture (see video, bottom - from 4.00 minutes onwards).
Softcat had implemented a new hybrid working policy from 1 November, Watt revealed, stressing that it is"as high level as possible" and emphasises flexibility over rigidity, with staff trusted "to make good judgement".
"It's a hybrid working policy that we put in place with a slight bias to the office," Watt told CRN.
"You could interpret that as 2.6 days a week. Most people interpret it as three days a week. Ultimately, there is a slight bias to the office because we can't afford to lose the energy, the engagement, the commitment, the soft and hard learning and the agility that you get from being in the office.
"We're happy for people to have the best of both worlds, without any degradation to the way we operate as a business.
"And it's been great. I'm in the London office today and there are people everywhere. It's not quite the same numbers as we had pre-pandemic, but it's the biggest numbers we've had in 18 months or more, and I think everybody is seeing the benefit of that."
100 new heads
Softcat will continue to invest in recruiting staff to underpin future growth, Watt said, emphasising that the Marlow-based outfit's headcount grew by 26 per cent during its pandemic-hit fiscal 2020 and 2021 years.
"I don't think many people have been recruiting for growth," he said.
"We need to make sure we continue to recruit the right quality and at the right pace, and that's not going to get any easier. Already in Q1, we've grown the company headcount by net 100 heads," he said.