The May 2012 issue of “Talent Management” has a great article about Unilever’s flexible work model.  Unilever has made a deliberate decision to give its employees the ability to work whenever and wherever they like as long as the work gets done.  I am currently working onsite for a project and when I was hired, I was told I could work remotely as much as I wanted.  I was a bit skeptical but it has turned out to be true.  Although the workplace is extremely flexible, I still need to go in about three days a week.  I need to meet people, test procedures in the lab and ultimately feel connected to the project, the team and the processes. 

Unilever has resolved the disconnect between saying they are flexible with truly being flexible by investing heavily in technology and by eliminating the conventional idea of what an office is and is not.    They build their offices around activities rather than people.  They have three zones:

1. Focus zones where people come and go and there is no ownership over the work stations.
2. Connect zones which are spaces for virtual and face-to-face meetings.
3. Refresh zones are locations stocked with food and gyms.

Unilever has also invested heavily in technology  so that people have great laptops, smart phones and virtual collaboration technology.  Finally, Unilever trained their people on the agile model.  No doubt, some people struggle with the agile model.  I imagine there must be a boss or two that is still “stuck” in the old way of believing face time is best.  For me, disconnecting from work, when my home office is constantly looming is my biggest challenge.  Nonetheless, I applaud Unilever for not just saying they support work/life balance but instead putting together the infrastructure, tools and training to make life/work balance a reality for its employees!