A new organization of work after Covid-19: the Bank of Italy case

The Bank of Italy (BI) is an institution that pursues objectives in the public interest in the monetary and financial sector. This organization reports on its work to the Italian Government, Parliament, and the public. Employing around 7,000 people with multidisciplinary skills, the operational and governance structure of BI reflects the need to scrupulously protect the independence of this institution from external influences. The Central Administration, staffed by approximately 850 people, defines and implements strategic, managerial and operational guidelines. In addition, the 39 BI branches located throughout the country are tasked with state treasury services, banking and financial supervision, and consumer protection; these offices also handle payment systems and conduct economic analysis and statistical surveys on a local level.

In early 2020, with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to switch over to remote work, BI management had to contend with challenges that were not only technological and operational, but were also associated with organizational and relational aspects. This scenario provided an exceptional testing ground for the adoption of a work approach focused more on results than on time spent in the office, which inevitably required striking a balance between technical-functional and managerial perspectives.

BI’s management team successfully dealt with the first few months of the lockdown thanks to their identification with and commitment to the institution. To document and validate these experiences, BI organized an interdisciplinary task force with the aim of drafting a white paper on the organization of work after the Covid-19 emergency. This document was presented first to company management, then to labor unions, heads of services and branch managers; the white paper was finally shared with all employees. In September 2020, testing began on the new hybrid model, which was based on the work of the task force, involving 13% of employees who worked in 35 divisions. In December, to integrate what emerged from the test run, a survey was done on remote working and organizational climate which garnered participation from 55.5% of employees (more than 3,500 people).

In comparing work performed remotely to work done in the office, effectiveness (quality and timeliness) remained essentially the same for most activities, and was actually greater for operational and standardized tasks. Likewise, efficiency (production and time) was substantially unchanged, if not even improved for activities that did not require frequent exchange of information. As regards control of operating risks and business continuity, the number of operating incidents in 2020 was lower than in prior years, despite the perception of an increase in risks among personnel, primarily due to the greater use of domestic and public networks.

Information flow (cohesion, sharing expertise, innovative proposals) is one of the most critical aspects. More so than external communication, internal communication was negatively impacted by dispersion among multiple channels and a lack of spontaneous dialogue. Team cohesion remained unchanged or actually improved, according to 23% of managers who believed that their work teams pulled together more than before to deal with the emergency.

Telemeetings increased for everyone, but they had the same duration and effectiveness as in-person meetings, in the opinion of half of BI employees.

The expectations of personnel to have the chance to work remotely are higher than pre-pandemic; those most in favor are women managers from 30 to 39 years of age. More than 90% of employees do their work in a calm and satisfactory manner, and more than 60% feel that the right to disconnect must be regulated. As for work-life balance, 87% of employees said they had good balance between their professional and personal lives; 85% feel comfortable working from home. What’s more, every day that they do so, employees save on average one hour and fifteen minutes of travel time, which clearly positively impacts costs and the environment.

During the lockdown, there was a considerable reduction in accidents and sick days; the number of domestic accidents also remains low. What remains to be seen is the health impacts deriving from the continuous use of non-ergonomic personal equipment, as well as the effects associated with psycho-social risks.

Findings from a survey conducted in early 2021 show that the majority of all processes can be done either entirely remotely (56%) or for the most part remotely (31%). In 4% of the cases, processes have considerable constraints as regards remote working, while 9% of processes cannot be performed remotely.

• The white paper provided input for new organizational guidelines implemented in April 2022 with the support of the labor unions; the new approach consists of a hybrid model in which remote work coexists and complements in-office work.
• According to the model, people can work remotely up to 100 days a year, with a maximum of ten days in any given month.
• The right to disconnect has also been regulated. All this should lead to a new normal, with 30% of work performed remotely under normal conditions, and no longer in the office.