This Much I Learned: Giffgaff’s Ash Schofield on embracing fully flexible working

As restrictions start to lift and brands consider what a return to the office might look like, mobile network Giffgaff has already made the decisive move to introduce fully flexible working, allowing employees complete autonomy over their place of work.

Keen not to deny the team’s experiences over the past 16 months and simply return to a pre-Covid working pattern, Schofield asked employees what they wanted the future of the workplace to look like. While some asked for a return to five days a week and others wanted to work from home permanently, a significant chunk sat somewhere in the middle.

Given the variety of needs, Giffgaff decided to let employees define what’s best for them by offering complete flexibility, reflecting the brand’s overarching mission to disrupt the status quo in the telecoms industry.

While he still has “marketing blood running through his veins”, Schofield explains how he amplified his CEO skills during the crisis and thought hard about where to find his nourishment as a leader during the “culture defining moment” of lockdown.

In this podcast, Schofield discusses his commitment to flexibility, how Giffgaff used lockdown to outperform the market and why taking a step back helped him take the business from survival mode back to stretch.

From opening up about mental health issues to closing the career confidence gap, you can listen to previous episodes of Marketing Week’s This Much I Learned podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud and Spotify.