Neobank Zopa has outlined its approach to defining the future of work. With some organisations declaring an end to office-based working and others retrenching to the ‘known’ model by asking staff to return, Zopa is applying a test and learn approach for the rest of 2021. The neobank which has around 450 staff, has announced its trial to staff in order to work collaboratively with them to define ways of working in the post-Covid future. Zopa’s approach will allow it to create a model which enables the company’s ambitious growth goals whilst also creating an employee experience which is compelling and future focused.

Pre-pandemic, Zopa offered flexible working arrangements across the business, which allowed for a smooth transition to 100% work from home during the Covid lockdowns. Zopa was able to transition staff to home working rapidly to protect its workforce while continuing to deliver award winning customer service to over 400,000 current customers. In a year where staff have worked predominantly at home, Zopa has obtained its full bank licence, launched a successful savings account and credit card, surpassed £6bn lent out in loans and increased its customer base by 27%. Having re-opened its London office for optional use in March, Zopa is keen to apply what it has learned to shape its post covid future.

As part of the test, Zopa employees will be able to work from wherever they choose to throughout the coming year. Additionally, in 2021, employees will also be able to work worldwide for up to 90 days. This will enable people to travel or to return to see family abroad as the UK’s traffic light system continues to evolve. Zopa will also be making several changes to its London office, repurposing space to prioritise face to face interactions when employees are in the office and ensuring that the space is also well set up for distributed interactions between employees in the office and in other locations.

Prior to reopening its office, 80% of employees at Zopa expressed an interest in a blended approach between home and office working based on their needs and circumstances. This has manifested via an 18% increase month on month of staff coming into the office since reopening.

Zopa’s Chief Customer Officer, Clare Gambardella said: “Zopa as a business has been able to achieve a huge amount in the last year while our teams were working from home. However, we are aware that the pandemic environment isn't representative of a sustainable ongoing model for us or our people. By testing and learning with our employees throughout 2021, we can understand how a distributed working model functions in the longer term and what the differing preferences are for the people throughout our business. Our goal is to find a model which enables both Zopa’s continued growth and our ability to attract and retain the best talent.”

Official testing will begin on 1^st June, and Zopa will continue to review and adapt its approach based on a mixture of quantitative data and qualitative feedback from the business, employees and stakeholders.