Zeno Thinks: The WFA Effect
What does a working day look like when you’re not bound to the office or the city? At Zeno London, we get the chance to find out.
Our Work From Anywhere (WFA) policy has been in place since 2022. It gives every employee up to 30 working days each year to log on from anywhere in the world, as long as we keep to our UK core working hours (10:00am – 4:00pm). Whether it’s trading our Old Street office for new vibrant city, extending a holiday or simply heading back home to rest, recharge and be with family, WFA makes it possible.
This summer, I swapped crowded trains for quiet beaches, working from my family home in Little Haven – a small village on the Pembrokeshire coast. My mornings began with a walk along the coastal path instead of a rush-hour squeeze. By 9am, I was online ready to tackle the day. Instead of ending the day with a tube, train and a bus ride to get home, I closed my laptop to the smell of sea air, enjoying dinner with my family and watching incredible sunsets – a routine that showed the real value of flexibility.
I wasn’t alone in making the most of WFA, one colleague dialled in from a busy New York café, another from their family home in India, while others have enjoyed time in Spain, France and Switzerland. Each backdrop was different, but the impact was the same: motivation, healthier routines and the headspace to think more creatively. Of course, working from anywhere doesn’t mean working apart, with ‘London time’ as our anchor, our collaboration remained seamless. Calls were taken, deadlines met, brainstorms attended, ideas created, campaigns launched – whether from a desk, a beach or up a mountain.
In the past five years, we’ve seen the working day completely change – shaped first by COVID-19, then the hybrid and flexible working model was born, extended paternity leave came into effect and now the ability to Work From Anywhere. Today, for Zeno Group at least, that flexibility is an intrinsic part of the modern working day and having the WFA benefit is not just a bonus, it’s a necessity. As individuals, we are trusted and there’s a mutual understanding that the work will be delivered, no matter where we are working from.
For me this summer, WFA meant having my morning coffee on the beach; for others, it has meant embracing the buzz of a new city or spark of a new culture. However we choose to spend our WFA days, the benefit goes far beyond a simple change of scene - it nurtures our wellbeing. New research from the University of Oxford has shown that happier employees are around 13% more productive than their peers. That’s all the encouragement I need!
Where will the next WFA adventure be?
