Did Bank of America Miss the Point with My Work?

Thinking about adopting a flexible work program? Consider the Bank of America account below.

In late August, I listened to a Bank of America employee’s presentation on the My Work program.  My Work is supposed to be about employee options, yet I couldn’t help but feel it was more about cost cutting and corporate policy.  My impression wasn’t from the program’s goals and objectives, but from the presentation and the way the program was presented. Please allow me to explain.

In a nutshell, My Work is a flexible work program composed of a number of different parts.  Bank of America created satellite offices where employees needing to meet with team member can huddle.  These offices feature work stations that can be accessed by anyone.  Simultaneously, they are attempting to give employees the tools necessary to work wherever they are.  These tools include VOIP phones for home, VPN access, laptops, cross cut shredders for data security, and even task chairs for the associates home office.

The Bank of America representative made a number of claims about My Work.  She stated:

• The bank saved an average of $5,500/year if the bank could take back the vacancy
• Employee “sat” (bank speak for satisfaction) jumped 14 points (based on internal bank data).
• My Work associates reduced weekly travel by  ± 170 miles.

A number of us huddled after the presentation to discuss what we learned.  We all found the program fascinating, especially the way the bank was rolling out My Work to its Lines of Business.  Adoption of My Work is entirely voluntary within the bank’s Lines of Business.

None of us were interested in the corporate implementation work flow, the spider web diagram of associate “sat”, or the planned geographic deployment for Bank of America.  In fact, none of us cared about the presenters power point presentation.  Only Demetri Martin makes corporate presentations cool:

The entire meaning of the program became lost in the presentation.  We were told which business units declined to adopt My Work instead of why those business units were not adopting the program.  We were told what Corporate Real Estate’s deployment goals for My Work were, but not why there was resistance to adoption.  We were told of the man hour savings, the drive time reductions, but not of how mothers were spending more time with their sons.

The insidious truth is that being able to work from home does not mean working less.  Often times what employees gain in reduced drive times they put back into work.  Employees lives become less stressful because they have more time to accomplish work tasks, not because they have a more efficient work process.

So much of the innovation of the My Work program is enabling the employee to have more access to work.  I remained unconvinced that more effort in the office place and more access to work is the solution to our economic problems.  True innovation should free us from our chores, and allow us to focus on more productive activities. So while My Work empowers the employees with options, it does not solve the redundant and unnecessary work so many employees trudge though every day.

I am especially sensitive to our work load as the holiday season rolls around.  It’s my hope that Americans reestablish barriers to work, spend more time with our families and communities, and redefine productivity  as how much we accomplish with the hours we work and not how many hours we work.  So turn your Blackberries off, shut off your email, let your calls go to voice mail, and enjoy this holiday season by focusing only on what is most important to get your job done.  I promise you, the trivial aspects of your job will be waiting for you when you return, and I hope you learn to tune them out.

Cheers,
Eric

Posted by Eric Stroud on December 11th, 2008 in Commercial Real Estate

Tags: Bank of American, corporate real estate trends, My Work, work from home