The emergency has played an extraordinary role in hastening organizational and cultural change and has created the opportunity for making significant innovations that will last even beyond the emergency phase.
In May 2020, the Bank of Italy launched a project, open to input from Bank staff, to identify a new hybrid work organization model in which remote working coexists with and accompanies on site working.
After the publication of the White Paper, the project continued with a listening exercise open to staff proposals, an on-the-field pilot project, a staff climate survey and in-depth analysis of specific themes.
Based on the studies carried out, it is clear that hybrid working presents opportunities for the Bank, its staff and society as a whole. It also raises some issues requiring attention, especially when too large a share is given over to remote work, concerning: to what extent various processes can be done remotely; operational, health and safety risks; and the reduction in social interaction.
With the aim of always ensuring high quality services to the country and guaranteeing effective risk management, we intend to define a new model, which strikes the right remote/on site work balance, is attentive to staff needs, is adaptable to the different organizational subsystems and is decentralized as to some factors of application.
With the document 'The organization of work in the new normal' - first published internally for staff and now available to external parties - we would like to share the path of change that the Bank of Italy is following with an ambitious and coherent programme of projects to create a system which is adaptable, resilient and sustainable, result-oriented, sensitive to individual needs, and inclusive.
