The world has been rapidly changing due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and it will remain different in many ways. Perhaps, one of the most significant changes is the way that people work. Before the pandemic began, the uptake of flexible working was slow and only around 5% of the workforce in the UK were benefited from ways of working flexibly in the pre COVID-19 world (CIPD, 2020), but it has significantly increased at the beginning of the first lockdown to about 45% (ONS, 2020a and 2020b). Although, it is too early to predict the future trend of flexible working based on the current situation, but a recent survey by YouGov (2020) found there are now early signs that many workforces are willing to continue to some degree to work flexibly even when the current restrictions are lifted and the pandemic is over. (144) Currently, the main questions for a plethora of organisations, such as Leeds City Council, are what will the new post pandemic normal look like and which working practi

Over the past 12 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the majority of countries imposing a few consecutive nationwide lockdowns that have led to a large number of the workforce working from home to help organisations swiftly respond to the sudden lockdowns. The experience for many during the pandemic depicts how both employees and employers have rapidly adopted agile working methods and it is now important to take forward the potential benefits and opportunities of this approach into the post pandemic era. A research by Felstead and Reuschke (2020) revealed that remote working in the UK had a gradual upward trend and nearly tripled from 1. 5% in 1981 to 4. 7% in 2019, but the pandemic has significantly escalated working from home at a rapid pace and since the first lockdown in March 2020, the percentage of people who were working from home suddenly increased. For comparison, it has dramatically grown nearly eight times from 5. 7% in February 2020 to 43. 1% in April 2020. Although, the percentage slightly declined at the end of the first lockdown, but it still remained high at 36. 5% in June 2020. By the way, it is important to acknowledge that the current style of working from home is not a true picture of what it should be like as many employees need to find a right balance between the working time and other additional responsibilities at the same time due to the current situation such as childcare, home schooling and/or supporting vulnerable loved ones. In addition, working from home in its current form may not be reasonably possible for a long time as some employees are currently suffering from lack of work equipment, suitable place, technology, and/or concentration at their homes. Although, this is a good opportunity for organisations to review the benefits and opportunities that working from home can offer, but they should also be careful any decisions regarding the future approach shall not be purely based on this experience as there was only a very limited time to evaluate their capability due to the unusual nature of the situation. In addition, working from home is only one type of a wide range of flexible working. There are many types of flexible working and this recent experience was not the usual experience which will be expected from the future options of agile working. This report will first look at why there is an important need for a post COVID-19 workplace strategy and then, how the required strategy will be prepared, created, and developed in conformity with “the five essential questions at the heart of any winning strategy” (Lafley et al, 2013) in order to help the organisations to benefit from flexible working following the pandemic. Finally, the report will conclude whether adopting a more agile working environment in the long term may be beneficial to both employers and employees.