So many organizations were against flexi hours and giving the opportunity to employees to work from home so they could have a balance work/life balance; it wouldn’t work, they said!! Well, it just had to, didn’t it??
With the drastic changes that have been imposed upon us, and the restrictions to work from home, it wasn’t a case of ‘it may be an option’ but more a case ‘how are we going to get all of our staff working from home in a period of a few days’!! (In April 2020, statistics released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics showed 49.2% of adults in employment were working from home) Flexibility, adaptations, blue sky thinking have certainly been used during this pandemic to make the transition as smooth as possible.
OK, there are still a lot of people who are finding working from home a challenge, but actually a lot prefers it, (68% global employees say they are very successful working from home- Global Workplace Analytics) finally they feel as if they have a better work/life balance and enjoying more time with the family, being as productive, sometimes even more, because they have the space to be creative and still delivering great service because they feel a lot better now than they did before with the commuting, travelling, parking ect… not only has it worked but people are liking, and now… yes, now… we are asking everyone to come back to the office UMMMM…
As human being we hate change we are creatures of habits… change is scary and the unknown brings a lot of subconscious anxiety to people. So, now we have to go back!!
How is this going to work? one day I am here, one day I am there, do I have all my files with me? do I have meetings? any virtual meetings booked when I am actually in the office dealing with customers!!
Many organisations have been re-thinking their workplaces; however, the priority at the moment seems to be in reducing desk space to reduce costs and to create more hot desking areas for employees… BUT you need to offer environments which are going to be both creative and collaborative spaces. Your employee experience needs to be stronger than previously, as employees will now be coming into the office for very specific reasons; what they are not getting when working from home!
Employees want to know they have a choice in where they work, but they also now want to feel as welcome and comfortable as they do at home, they want to be arranging their working week around collaboration, focused work and social events which they are missing most. What do your employees expect from you, have you asked them the question?? Personalisation is just as important from you internal customers than your external customers. The facilities offered will need to reflect their personal needs.
Creating an environment which is going to support your employees is crucial, offering convenience and spaces where they feel encouraged to be just as productive working from home or from the office so they can deliver exceptional customer experience from either location
In April 2020, 49.2% of adults in employment were working from home
UK’s Office for National Statistics
