Should you keep remote working in place?

At the start of 2020 the way we work suddenly changed. The government asked everyone to begin to work from home where possible, resulting in the majority of people starting remotely working from home. In turn, employers began the process of quickly ensuring that their staff had everything they needed in order to work from home, such as access to the correct IT equipment. Let’s all admit here that the sudden change to home working was a bit strange and challenging to begin with – all those calls that kept having connection errors at first, or family members walking in during calls, or your dog barking at the worst possible point in a meeting. Now, 2 years later, we’ve all become professionals at managing home working and employers have reported that staff are now more proficient working from home. This raises the question now that restrictions have lifted if whether it is even necessary to return to an office setting.

Restrictions have lifted, most adults have had their vaccines, and employers are thinking now would be a great time to return to that standard Monday to Friday 9-5 in the office. However, many employees aren’t so keen on this idea. There are many possible reasons for this, but employers should be aware of the benefits and pitfalls if they are considering keeping home working.

Firstly, home working gets rid of the stress of the daily commute to and from the office. That’s already a benefit for many employees, who may have to travel for up to an hour each day to get to the office. Getting rid of this commute will help an employee’s mental and physical help, for example that frustration from sitting in traffic will vanish and can allow the employee to enjoy that new extra time in the morning where they can get extra sleep, enjoy a good breakfast, or spend time with their family. However, there is a downside of not having the commute, which might initially sound crazy. Many people feel that the time they spend travelling to and from work is part of their methods of getting prepared for the day ahead, or de-stressing. The new commute now from the employee’s own office upstairs to the sofa downstairs (or wherever the workspace is) doesn’t allow them that time to fully switch off and relax.

Working from home also leads to overall increased productivity and performance. With each employee home working, it can lead to a decrease in office politics and a peaceful, quiet environment for staff which allows them to focus entirely on the task at hand. In turn, these factors lead to a happier and less stressful work life for employees. It is a chance to give employees the time and environment to eat healthier, exercise more frequently, create a comfortable workspace suited to their needs, the chance to pursue personal hobbies, as well as the most important one these days: less exposure to illness. Therefore, employers don’t need to worry about a potential coronavirus outbreak in the office that could shut down all work for a period of time. If an employee does test positive, then the virus will be limited to affecting that one person only.

The major downside to home working is the difficult in solving problems. Simple problems such as technical issues that can be solved easily in an office environment suddenly become a lot more challenging. If an employee has a software issue or perhaps loses internet connection, then they may be unable to carry out their work, which will decrease productivity levels and cause added stress to the employee. An added issue may be a lack of suitable office equipment owned by an employee. Good quality equipment can be expensive if an employer is not able to provide these, and without these then staff may face difficulties in the speed of which tasks are completed.

It is clear that home working will be here to stay for many organisations. A lot of employers may find it beneficial for a wide range of reasons to keep employees working from home or have some in the office and others at home. It is recommended and encouraged to keep home working an option for employees in order to keep the number of staff in an office space at once limited to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Remember to consider all the benefits and pitfalls of home working, and maybe even have a written work from home policy if one doesn’t already exist that sets out what the company needs and requires from employees who will be working from home. If you do decide to bring employees back into the office, make sure that they are entering a safe working environment with suitable distancing measures in place ahead of their return.

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