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Bnl Bnp Paribas revolutionizes the network’s work organization and brings flexible working one day a week to 400 branches. The institute has in fact signed an agreement with the unions to extend the possibility of flexible working also to those who hold commercial roles in the network. «We are very satisfied to have signed this agreement with the unions – explains Géraldine Conti, chief people and engagement of Bnl Bnp Paribas. It is an initiative which, starting from listening to our people, is part of the constant desire to adapt and anticipate the transformations taking place in the sector, improving the satisfaction of colleagues and also customers”. The agreement, operational since September, will involve the bankers of approximately 400 branches, over 70% of the commercial network. The intervention will affect over 75% of the people in the network who will be able to take advantage of one day a week of flexible working. This is a choice which, also following the evolution of customer behaviour, goes with a view to the development of digitalisation and a consequent organization of work that allows for better social, economic and environmental sustainability, increasingly favoring the best work conciliation between work times and personal life.
The national protocol
Credit was among the first sectors to adopt a national protocol on smart working which then became part of the national collective labor agreement for bankers. The protocol was shared by Abi and the unions (Fabi, First, Fisac, Uilca and Unisin) shortly before the pandemic broke out and included in the contract at the end of 2019. Then, although there were many banks that were already experimenting with this working method, yes revealed a fundamental point of reference for the sector, especially for those who did not yet have union agreements. As often happens when we talk about work organization, however, there is always a “but”. In this case the “but” lies in the fact that if it is true that all, or almost all, bankers who work in the management centers can do smart working, it is also true that in the branches it is much more difficult due to the needs of physically opening the branches and customer relations. From the post-pandemic onwards, everyone can request qualification, but the tool is no longer so widespread and there are certainly not many trade union agreements that establish the right to request it. Yet it is highly appreciated.
The Intesa survey
A survey carried out by Intesa Sanpaolo on the flexibility package which includes smart working but also the short week and the flexibility of entry and exit times, revealed that everyone or almost everyone wants smart working: 95% of workers expressed a positive evaluation, but the perception among those who work in the management centers and branches appeared different: more positive for the former, less for the latter, also due to the concrete possibility of doing so. 33% of those who do not carry out their activities in flexible mode mainly motivate this by saying that the organization of the structure in which they work does not allow it, the activities they carry out are incompatible with remote activities and finally with the fact that there is greater involvement with presence in the office.
The agreement in the branches
A year ago, the first bank to sign a union agreement for testing in 280 branches was Intesa Sanpaolo, which thus gave bankers the right to benefit from smart working with the consequent possibility of people using it. Smart working in Intesa branches has already been operational since 2020 and, even if with reduced use compared to governance structures considering the need to manage a public utility service, the experimentation in around 280 branches has the aim of broadening the audience of those who can actually do it. At the end of 2023, 74,600 bankers, i.e. almost all, had signed up to flexible working at Intesa, proving that flexibility is one of the issues most requested by workers, especially to reconcile life and work.
