Teleworking & Flex-office:
moving towards mobile
employees?

Why conduct this study?
“
In the digital age, companies have access to tools which
allow them to pursue having mobile workers both in and
outside of the company. They are referred to as
teleworking and flex office.
In 2019, it is no longer a question of whether or not to
allow flex office and teleworking, but of how to manage
the transition in a way that protects employees and does
not interfere with the organization’s performance.“

Definitions
Teleworking, telecommuting or remote
working means doing your job
somewhere other than on your client's or
employer's premises. There are many ways
to telework: at different company sites, in a
home office or in co-working spaces.
TELEWORKING
Flex office is a type of organization that gives
employees the freedom to work somewhere
other than at their assigned work stations.
Instead of having a designated work station,
they share their work space and can switch
places freely in accordance with whatever is
available. This is also known as hot-desking
or desk sharing.
FLEX-OFFICE

Methodology
This study was conducted between June and November 2018.
The interviews took place both in person and by telephone.
We collected data from 48 French and international
companies with more than 300 employees from the following
sectors: Banking and Insurance, Luxury Goods, Transportation,
Energy, Distribution, Real Estate, Consulting, Communication,
Audiovisual, IT, Telecommunication and the Public Sector.
The participants worked in their company’s Human Resources,
Transformation and Real Estate Departments.
Not all companies wished to be named, but some of the
participants included ENGIE, TF1, Benefit, CITEO, BNP Paribas,
Mazars, Loewe, RATP, AXA, and Groupama.

Contexte
Since the late 1960s, new goals have been emerging in
our society for more independence, greater
self-fulfillment at work and a better work-life balance.
Since the 1990s, the accelerated development of digital
technology has made it possible to be mobile both in
and outside of a company.
The costs of commercial real estate are rising
significantly in cities.
1
Today, 65% of French people are interested in telecommuting,
25% telework regularly and 77% of companies have already
experimented with flex offices.
So why is this happening?
2
3
65% of French people
say they are interested
in teleworking1
.
25% telework regularly2
.
77% of companies
already tested out
a flexible office layout3
.
Sources
1
Étude Ipsos Revolution@Work, 2017.
2
Ifop pour Malakoff Médéric sur le télétravail, 2018.
3
JLL sur le flex office, 2018.

FLEX-OFFICE
TELEWORKING
1930
1950
1972
1967
60’s
80’s
1980
1984
1989
90’s
1992
1996
2002
2005
2012
2012
2016 2017
After the Great
Depression,
American
lawyers sought
to reduce costs
by sharing their
work spaces,
management
costs, meeting
rooms and office
assistants.
Norbert Wiener,
the “father of
cybernetics”,
described the
imaginary case
of an architect
living in Europe
who supervises
the construction
of a building in
the United
States without
having to travel
there thanks to
data transfer
tools.
Emergence
of “office
landscape”,
an office-space
planning
movement
designed to
create less
hierarchical and
more open work
spaces without
walls to
encourage
greater
interaction
among teams.
The concept of
“flexible
working” was
introduced in
Munich to
minimize issues
related to
commuting to
work.
The term
“hot-desking”—
derived from
“hot-bunking”,
which denotes
the military
practice of
assigning more
than one crew
member to a
bed—started to
be used in
offices to mean
sharing
workstations.
Steve Jobs from
Apple Computer
Inc. launched
the Macintosh,
the first
personal
computer to
feature a
graphical user
interface.
A number of
companies,
particularly
consulting firms
(e.g. Accenture,
Arthur
Andersen, etc.)
realized that
many business
trips were being
conducted
outside the
office, and
began
implementing
flex office.
Tim Berners Lee
developed the
Word Wide Web.
In 1994, there
were 10,000
servers and 10
million users on
the web.
The rate of office
use fell, mobility
increased and
co-working,
teleworking and
flex office
developed.
In France as well
as the United
States, major
corporations
began to take an
interest in
mobility.
A teleworking
pilot project was
implemented in
the United
States’ and
Canada’s federal
public services.
The terms
“teleworking” &
“telecommuting”
were coined in
the United
States by Jack
Niles, the “father
of teleworking”,
while he was
refining a
communications
system for NASA
at home.
Gil Gordon
organized
the first
telecommuting
conference.
The National
Telecommuting
Initiative was
launched in the
United States to
promote the
implementation
of teleworking in
federal public
services.
A “European
framework
agreement on
telework” was
signed, outlining
the rights and
obligations of
both the
employer and
the employee in
a teleworking
situation.
The Euro pean
framework
agreement on
telework was
incorporated
into French law.
The concept of
salaried
telework was
introduced into
the French Labor
Code by the
Warsmann law,
which gives a
precise legal
definition of
telecommuting.
According to a
study conducted
by IPSOS, 65% of
French people
who work in an
office declared
that they were
interested in
teleworking.
WordPress
closed its offices
in San Francisco.
All its employees
transitioned to
teleworking.
They received
$2,000 to set up
a home office, or
$250 per month
to occupy a
co-working
space.
Macron's labor
law reforms
encouraged the
implementation
of teleworking,
even on an ad
hoc basis.

In short…
79,2%
of companies use
teleworking.
57%
for more
than 75% of
the workforce
68,7%
of companies use
flex office.
61%
for more
than 75%
of the workforce
94%
of companies using teleworking reported
that their employees are satisfied.
66,7%
of companies using flex office reported
that their employees are satisfied.
TELEWORKING FLEX-OFFICE

“
IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE TWO IDEAS
We assume that everyone knows what teleworking is, but that
is obviously not the case. I remember a colleague asking to
switch to part-time hours to be able to spend more time with
his family. His managers asked him why he didn't simply opt
to telework instead, which is entirely different! When you
telework, you work just like you do in the office!”
ANONYMOUS
In
of companies using
teleworking, less than 50%
of employees use their right
effectively.
25%
Challenge 1

>
21%
telework
at another
company site.
21%
telework at
a third-party
location.
“
MOVING AWAY FROM A CULTURE OF PRESENTEEISM,
AND TOWARDS MANAGEMENT BASED ON TRUST
After an initial testing phase with 200 volunteers, we
implemented teleworking on a large scale. This is a tangible
expression of our transformation process. Trust is a
cornerstone of the management model we use every day.”
FABIENNE CHOL, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HUMAN
RESOURCES IN THE ILE-DE-FRANCE REGIONAL COUNCIL
100%
telework from home, and
among them
Challenge 2

9,7%
only executives
38,7%
mostly executives
51,6%
same proportion
between
executives and
non executives
Who’s doing flex office
?
61% more than 75% of
the workforce.
21%
9% less than 25% of
the workforce.
9% between 25 and 50% of
the workforce.
between 50 and 75% of
the workforce.
“
CHANGING MANAGEMENT BY MOVING TOWARDS FEWER
STATUS BENEFITS AND GREATER EXEMPLARITY
Relocating to our new head office in Saint-Ouen was a unique
opportunity to revolutionize the way we work. For example,
the days of having closed offices are gone. Now everyone,
including the Managing Director of Services, works in an open
plan office, providing the perfect example of how to achieve
greater transparency.”
FABIENNE CHOL, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR OF HUMAN
RESOURCES IN THE ILE-DE-FRANCE REGIONAL COUNCIL
Challenge 3

“ “
PREVENTING EMPLOYEES FROM BECOMING ISOLATED
Teams will always need a place to meet up.
The company’s premises serve this purpose.”.
CATHERINE PAPILLON, DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT/CSR, BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE
DEMONSTRATING GIVE AND TAKE
These systems give greater responsibility to
employees, both individually and as a group.“
ANONYME
Challenge 4 & 5

Why to telework?
94%
of companies using teleworking reported
that their employees are satisfied.
Well-being
A better work-life
balance
62,3%
Adapting to new
forms of flexible
working
31,7%
Cost of real
estate
21%
Advantage 1
“
TELEWORKING IMPROVES ONE’S QUALITY OF LIFE AT WORK,
AND ENHANCES THE EMPLOYER’S IMAGE
I had already experienced teleworking and flex office in my
previous jobs. Once you get a taste of it, it's very hard to go
back!”
CLAIRE CAVALLUCCI

6%
work station
reservation.
27%
no reservation or
team zones.
67%
no work station
reservation, but
predefined team
zones.
“
SPACE IS OPTIMIZED FOR LARGER TEAMS
Teleworking makes it possible to decongest the office when it is
too crowded. For example, on days when we are going to have
more than 20 external visitors, we know that the shared spaces
are going to be crowded and that the open plan office is going to
be noisier. So we advise everyone to work from home!”
STÉPHANIE LEONOR, EXPERIENCE AND OFFICE MANAGER,
FABERNOVEL INSTITUTE
Advantage 2

66,7%
of companies using flex office reported
that their employees are satisfied.
“
FLEX OFFICE FACILITATES MEETINGS AND
COLLABORATION WITHIN TEAMS
Flex-office makes it possible to sit next to different colleagues and
thus to manage projects with various people.”
BORIS AUBRY, ENJOY PROGRAM DIRECTOR, AXA
Advantage 3

“
TELEWORKING IMPROVES PERFORMANCE
It is a win-win situation for the company and its employees when
you look at time spent working or concentrating on something.
The time dedicated to work is actually more focused and
productive.”
COLINE LAFON, DRH, CITEO
63%
organize the space
into multiple
environments.
“
FLEX OFFICE AND TELEWORKING OFFER WORK SPACES
ADAPTED TO SPECIFIC USES
It is essential to be able to choose a different space for each
different need throughout the day. We do not always need to be
deeply concentrated on something or communicating with our
neighbor. Flex office gives you this freedom!”
STÉPHANIE LÉVY, RESPONSABLE PROGRAMME DE TRANSFORMATION
DIGITALE COLLABORATEURS, RATP
Advantage 4 & 5

Digital toolbox
Flex office and teleworking require
dedicated digital tools.
You must acquire the tools you need
beforehand to limit the number of hard
copies you need to consult as far as possible,
and to enable remote organization,
communication and collaboration.
HERE ARE SOME DIGITAL
TOOLS YOU CAN USE FOR...
...BRAINSTORMING
CREATELY (known as MINDMEISTER among French
speakers) allows you to map out your thoughts and
ideas immediately and in collaboration with others
using templates.
...PLANNING
TRELLO or
BASECAMP: these
platforms allow
users to create a
board for each
project where
to-do lists, tasks
and the names of
the employees
assigned to each
task are displayed.
GOOGLE
DRIVE/DOCS
SLIDE SHEETS:
for working
on shared
documents and
benefiting from
your colleagues’
progress
in real
time.
...MEETINGS
APPEAR.IN, JOIN.ME and DAILY.CO
are video chat platforms.
CALENDLY: helps you schedule meetings
without the constant back and forth of emails.
UPSCOPE: enables you to share your screen
in order to facilitate collaboration.
...COMMUNICATING
SLACK:
a reference
tool for
communicating
within a team.
You can create
group channels or
communicate with
colleagues
individually.
This is also an
effective tool for
determining who is
online and who
is not.

MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE LEGAL
FRAMEWORK AND HOW IT HAS CHANGED
VARY THE LOCATIONS USED FOR TELEWORKING
(E.G. AT HOME, OR IN A CO-WORKING OR
CORPOWORKING SPACE, AND SO ON)
MANAGE THROUGH TRUST AND OBJECTIVES (RATHER
THAN PRESENTEEISM)
DEFINE A SET OF SHARED RULES FOR THE TEAM
MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT DIGITAL
TOOLS
ORGANIZE AND BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER
THROUGH RITUALS.
1
2
3
4
5
6
6 best practices
for successfully
transitioning
to teleworking
TELEWORKING

FLEX-OFFICE
8 best practices
for successfully
transitioning
to flex office
1
2
3
4
5
6
EXPLAIN WHY THE COMPANY MADE THIS DECISION
AND HOW IT BENEFITS ITS EMPLOYEES
CONSULT EMPLOYEES BEFOREHAND TO ENSURE
A USER-FOCUSED APPROACH
COMMUNICATE REGULARLY ABOUT
HOW THE PROJECT IS PROGRESSING
TRAIN AMBASSADORS
DESIGN YOUR FLEX OFFICE WITH ITS OWN RULES
AND PRACTICES
USE SIGNAGE TO MARK OUT AREAS
ENSURE MANAGERS SET A GOOD EXAMPLE
REINFORCE THE MESSAGE THAT THE SPACE
IS DYNAMIC
7
8

TRENDS 1 IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL HAVE ONLINE,
VERSATILE AND HYBRID OFFICES.
Exemples :
Amazon, IBM and Cisco are all aiming to bring virtual assistants into
the office, who will automate menial tasks, such as starting
videoconferences, reserving meeting rooms and improving the user
experience of work-related software.
Companies like PWC and Salesforce are reinventing their work
spaces by making them feel more “urban”. Their head offices have
become genuine living spaces with green parks, nap rooms, music
rooms, libraries and even spaces dedicated to seeking inspiration
and creativity.
Google, Microsoft and Cisco have created digitalized, connected
walls that are plugged in to the company’s network. These walls
make it possible for employees in meetings to write, draw, present
documents and share them easily using touch and swipes.
TrendsWhat will tomorrow's work spaces look like?

TRENDS 2 IN THE FUTURE, MANAGEMENT WILL BE
MORE HORIZONTAL AND PROMOTE INDEPENDENCE,
MOBILITY AND MORE PERSONAL TIME
Exemples :
At Spotify, independence is the driving force for innovation.
Managers do not directly control their departments, but work to
facilitate the execution of tasks instead.
Netflix and Virgin offer their employees unlimited holidays. They can
choose their dates and periods based on their own desires and
preferences. No more restrictions for taking time off!
Buffer and WordPress no longer have any offices (no head office
and no physical offices). Employees meet at least once a year for
integration events organized by the company, and occasionally
during trips.
Google has implemented an internal policy that requires 20% of an
employee’s work time to be allocated to personal projects, so that
they can develop and implement their own ideas, which do not have
to be related to their daily tasks.
TrendsIn the future, we will have online, versatile and hybrid offices.

There is no blanket solution.
It is up to each organization to consider how relevant these solutions are and to
adapt them to all the company’s specific characteristics, be they geographic,
organizational or cultural.
Flex office and teleworking are only tools for transformation.
They need to be part of a broader systemic managerial transformation policy based
on trust and exemplarity.
New weapons in the war for talent.
With an increasingly pronounced desire for better quality of life at work, these
systems offer new solutions for meeting changes in employee expectations.
In the 21st century, work spaces - both fixed and mobile - no longer demonstrate a
company’s power or act as its commercial showcase, but embody its culture and
organization instead.
It is an opportunity to enhance agility and well-being in order to foster innovation.
Take aways

Camille Kiejman
institute@fabernovel.com
Mathilde Lebatteux
mathilde@bureauxapartager.com
Contacts