Working from Home - is it for you?
Almost all of us will have come across home working over the last few years (with exceptions for those whose jobs are impossible to do remotely).
It is something that, whilst not invented by/for the pandemic, has certainly flourished in the wake of Covid. What used to be a seldom offered perk is now something in which we are all very experienced. A distant memory are the days when a handful of employers would have ‘Work from home Fridays’ and the rest of us would look on in envy.
Employers have had their hands forced to set up practices that facilitate remote working, or deal with not having a functioning workforce at all. This has resulted in leaders realising that people can indeed be effective without all sitting under one roof. This in turn has led to a general, potentially global, change in mindset from ‘Employees have to be in a collective space and be monitored to be productive’ to ‘We can all work with some flexibility and still achieve our goals’. A whole new take on the workforce.
It comes down to one thing as an employer. Do you trust your employees?
I would imagine that this varies greatly depending on your business. A large customer services team for example, with a young workforce on low wages, may have concerns at giving everyone the freedom to work remotely. However, an accounting firm, with a more mature average age and highly skilled work force/higher pay grades, is likely to realise that if you treat people like adults they will respond by proving their trustworthiness.
As things open up and return to our new ‘normal’, how have things changed?
In our office at Global Pathways we have implemented ‘Work from home Mondays’ as a permanent change. Also, in light of the current heatwave in the UK, we have put in a policy that if London’s weather forecast says over 30°C we can work from home. Who wants to be on public transport and then sat at a desk in an office with no aircon on a day like that?
We are all – as individuals – wired differently. So with any change across a large scale, there will be those who love it, those who really don’t, and those who could take or leave it. The ‘What is in it for me?’ factors vary from person to person.
Do you hate your commute? Are you turned off by interruptions and small talk? Do you hate your boss breathing down your neck and questioning everything you do? The chances are you are likely to love working from home.
If you love getting out of the house, being around people and a change of scenery, you are more likely to be supportive of a return to work.
In our small team alone we have some surprises.
Being a hard-wired extrovert, I am 100% behind getting into the office. I literally feed off the energy of others, and am so much more productive, effective, motivated and engaged, having others around me and working to a common goal. People to bounce ideas off, share stories of the weekend, discuss current affairs. I struggled through the lockdowns and without those people interactions, and without the energy to feed off was basically reduced to being almost inert. I find myself severely lacking in ‘oomph’ when working alone for any length of time.
However, my colleague Lewis, also an extrovert (both according to Myers-Briggs and also based on sitting next to him) has a strong preference for working from home and we are often in good-humoured ‘tugs of war’ to determine when it is appropriate for us to get up and out, and into the office.
Conversely, Sandra, who Myers Briggs declare an introvert, is happy to get into the office a few days a week and spend time with colleagues, but is equally happy at home plugging away uninterruptedly.
Whilst trying to strike the right balance, treating your people well and giving them choices but also focusing on the wellbeing of the business, more research will undoubtedly follow in the coming months and years. I see it as my job as an employer at Global Pathways to consider all findings carefully. I do think it is important to work together, collaboratively, especially for new or inexperienced team members to learn the business and its ways of doing things. But am open to a flexible working pattern for all.
What is your company’s practice for balancing the return to the office? Have things changed? Or have you returned to pre Covid normality?
