Returning to the office at RSA Insurance: An interview with RSA Global CIO David Germain

'What am I most looking forward to about getting back to the office more regularly? Starbucks!' admits RSA Global CIO David Germain

Staff at RSA Insurance are beginning to return more regularly to the office following the enforced mass remote working of the Coronavirus pandemic.

RSA Global CIO David Germain emphasised the importance of making staff feel safe.

"We're looking to bring people back to the office where it makes sense, and in a safe way. We have to be open to individuals who don't feel comfortable commuting. You have to make your offices safe and secure so staff feel their wellbeing is being looked after. For us that means having all the right policies, restrictions and structures in place from a business, facilities and properties perspective, but also technically enabling your environment in a very non-restrictive way. That's very different from what we've done historically from a security perspective," he added.

He continued: "We've tried to enable our network and its capacity in such a way to allow our operations, our third party organisation that support our business, our staff and contractors to have that flexibility of working which we didn't have pre-Covid. Previously we had less than ten per cent of our business able to work from home."

The government advised the UK's population to work from home where able for much of the pandemic, with the current advice being for staff to 'gradually return' to the office where possible. Whilst the numbers of people being hospitalised and dying from the virus remain relatively low at the time of writing, a surge in numbers is predicted by some experts over the winter, with the government expected to raise restrictions at some point. It has announced a 'Plan B' to help the country cope with this potential surge, which could include a further spell of home working for many.