FinTech Futures Jobs: How to master the politics of the new hybrid office

You used to know where you stood when you went to work at the office each day.

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You’d get on the 8.15am train, wedged against your fellow commuters, then grab a takeaway coffee on your way to the office before sitting at your desk for the next eight or so hours. Then you’d get the 6.23pm train home, wedged against… You get the picture.

Now with hybrid working, you don’t know if you’re coming or going. Sometimes you’re in, sometimes you’re not, and on occasion you even miss the encouragement, camaraderie and thoughtful chit-chat that came with day-to-day office life. Sure, you’ve found a better balance, but hybrid work comes with its own set of problems.

And that’s because it’s the only kind of work we still don’t know how to do properly. People mastered working from home. In-person is the way things were. But there are so many ways to get hybrid wrong. Office politics have always been there – and always will be – it’s just that they’re on multiple platforms now.

That’s why it’s never been more important to focus on interpersonal relationships with colleagues in “get-to-know-me” sessions and group activities, where possible. It’s very hard to build deep connections with those you only interact with online. But when you don’t, fragmentation begins to occur. Cliques become more obvious as full-time office-based employees are pitted against hybrid and remote workers.

No one-size-fits-all

It’s also clear the workplace is becoming increasingly personalised. It’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario anymore. A recent McKinsey survey of 5,043 full-time employees around the world found that people had diverse work-from-home preferences. Nearly equal portions of those surveyed said they’d prefer zero days of remote work per week (17%), three days (22%) or five days (19%). While these findings suggest many workers are flexible, this, of course, can be an issue in itself.

More than 80% of HR executives report that the flexible nature of work is proving to be exhausting for employees, according to a global study by employee engagement platform TinyPulse. Workers also reported that hybrid is more emotionally draining than fully remote or full-time office-based work. The reason for this? Lots of uncertainty and a lack of control as organisations continue to change policies around what’s required from staff when it comes to where, how and when they do business.

What is for certain is that a lot of companies, managers and employees still have much work to do when it comes to making a hybrid environment work for everyone. With better communication, less ambiguity and clearer work-life boundaries, we can finally not just adjust to, but thrive in these new ways of working.

Speaking of thriving, here are three great fintech companies who are looking for people to fill a whole host of hybrid roles, with plenty more to discover on the Fintech Futures Job Board.

Klarna

Klarna has offices spread over three continents, staffed by 100-plus nationalities. It introduced its new hybrid work model in May 2022, and this aims to provide employees with flexibility, resources and facilities optimised to support how and where they want to work in order to meet individual needs and maximise productivity. The company currently has a host of roles to fill. You can explore all open roles at Klarna here.

Zilch

Zilch is a payments technology company on a mission to create the best and most empowering way to pay for anything. Using Zilch’s virtual Mastercard that sits in a customer’s digital wallet, it combines the best of debit, credit and savings. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in the UK, Zilch went from launch to double unicorn status in just 14 months. It’s currently looking for an Engineering Manager, an IT Service Management Analyst, an Application Security Engineer and a Senior Backend (Java) Software Engineer, all hybrid remote roles. You can explore all of these here.

GoCardless

GoCardless is a global leader in account-to-account payments. Its global network and technology platform take the pain out of getting paid for 80,000 businesses worldwide. The company has rolled out its Adaptive Working and Work Away schemes. Adaptive Working allows staff to work flexibly while still ensuring teams can collaborate effectively and get together and socialise. Work Away gives you the flexibility to work away from your normal country of residence for up to 90 days in any 12-month period. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, GoCardless is hiring. You can explore all open roles for GoCardless here.

For thousands more opportunities in fintech, visit the Fintech Futures Job Board today.