Should we just keep Working From home?
I’m sure just like us, you are all feeling the fatigue from hearing about ‘the new normal’, ’working from home’ or a ‘Pandemic’. The unfortunate truth is that with the way things currently are, there is no way this is going to end soon. Some healthcare experts are even predicting this could continue until 2024… so.. what should we do when it comes to work? If the predictions prove to be right, we need to adapt to keep our businesses operating successfully, even if that means moving the entire staff from the office to home and back again.
There has been a lot fo debate around the continued use of home-working and if it is sustainable over the long period. While mega corporations like Apple & Alphabet can have tens of thousands of staff working from home for years, with policies and millions spent on working on new practises, that’s not the same for all businesses.
Today we want to talk to you about working from home polices and why you should implement them now to keep your business adaptable and sustainable. First thing your business needs to understand is the evolved needs and feeling of your staff and clients. When we asked one of our clients over at UNBXD how their staff were feeling, most didn’t want to return to the office. Some couldn’t return as they live with high-risk family members, and only one wanted to return to the office. This data clearly shows that anxiety, fear and care for others around them are affecting people’s work lives that can not simply be swept to the side.
The best implementation of work from home polices have been seen at companies where they are listening to their work force. A research survey from a recent study asked 3000 international staff members twice (once before the lockdown and then once again after) for their views on working
from home. Here is what they found:
– Peoples desire to work from home changed in that time period, Before lockdown less than 10% wanted to work from home, now its above 85%
– Commuting is the biggest issue for 68% of people
– Online communications such as Zoom and Teams are far more effective than they thought before
– 71% of people felt clients are more open to people working from home, up 9% from the original
survey
– Tech helped people see the difference between collaboration and interruption. People can focus far better without having other team members constantly ask questions by coming over to people’s desks
– 53% of people surveyed now think the disadvantage of working from home were not sitting with their team as well as socialising
– A negative is that 62% of people feel as if they cant strike the right home and work life balance while working from home
– The longer lockdown went on for, the longer people wanted to work from home. In fact, it’s gone from wanting a flexible 1 day per week to wanted at least 3 days
There is one clear sign from this, staff in general want to work from home. The best thing we can do its implement measures now so we can provide that flexibility to those who want it and those who cant return to the office.
If you are in the UK like us and have returned to the office, with the way things are currently (September 2020) the question isn’t IF we might go back into a lockdown, its when.
Let’s get ready now!
