REALISING ORGANISATIONAL BENEFITS CREATED BY LOCKDOWN - WORKING FROM HOME

For many of us working remotely or from home is nothing new, albeit we may not be used to doing so with partners and family around, or having to balance it with home schooling and entertaining family members, who are not usually home during the working day. For many organisations and individuals this is very new.

The big question is - will, or more realistically how, this will change the ways of working going forward as employees come out of the current lockdown?

Or, more significantly, will organisations recognise the benefits this has presented and realise them?

Despite advances in technology and a shift moving many systems to the cloud, many organisations have been reluctant to allow employees to work remotely on anything but an exceptional basis.

Organisations’ reluctance towards moving to flexible working has generally been down to not having sufficient technology in place to enable secure remote access to networks and systems, policy and management culture. The latter is often dogged by trust constraints or a preference to micro or over manage. Granted not all roles are suited to remote working and, within those that are, it may not be appropriate for all levels. There are many finer details to work out too, such as social dynamics, how to accommodate for junior and trainee staff needing closer mentoring and direct contact throughout the working day, and monitoring health and safety, staff wellbeing and stress.

There are significant advantages to implementing remote working practices. It has been largely recognised that, when implemented with the correct policies and management, average employee satisfaction and wellbeing increases, as does efficiency. There are costs to rolling out remote working, if not already incurred to enable this during lockdown, including hardware and access and security upgrades, but there are also significant cost savings due to reduced facilities requirements, downsizing office space, through desk sharing or hotdesking, and the knock on impacts to rent and utilities costs, all of which can add to a compelling business case.

However, it is imperative that organisations that have been thrown into remote working due to the lockdown realise the benefits they have already had and recognise the consequences and missed benefits due to subsequent inaction.

Benefit already seen

Following strategic organisational change to remote working there is inevitably a period of reduced efficiency as employees take time to settle into new ways of working, communicating, running meetings and using new technologies.

We should also recognise that following a strategic move to remote working, there are some employees who embrace it and others who don’t. The benefits of reduced travel costs, more energy and time from escaping the commute may seem like obvious benefits but there are a range of reasons some employees prefer to work at the office. These include a need for the social interactions in the workplace for the more extroverted or people who live alone, or lack of facilities and dedicated space available at home, especially if there are others either working or home during the day at the same address.

Technology departments may have had to bolster or implement technologies quickly in order to enable secure network and systems access. Being thrown into remote working due to the lockdown has meant that, instead of resisting, those employees who would have been opposed to new ways of working and technologies have been put into a position in which they feel they have to be visibly working and efficient, due to concerns over being seen to be taking advantage, or being let go due to reduced corporate financial stability.

This means there has been a transition to the new ways of working with the usual expected inefficiencies being significantly reduced as employees focus on demonstrating personal efficiency. This not only counteracts the resistance but also means new technologies have been embraced faster.

Missed opportunity

Before we come out of lockdown organisations should recognise that employees have not only settled into new ways of working but have, most likely, acknowledged the personal benefits to their work life balance. Therefore, organisations should expect some resistance, and resulting inefficiency, when returning to a fully office based routine.

Whilst we are in lockdown we will, or should be, working out ways to refine how things are done, often as they come to light. For example, mentoring staff, good communication methods and efficient ways to run meetings and workshops with dispersed attendees. This all needs to be captured, documented and evolved into updated policies and processes, so that organisations realise the benefits that have come about through these enforced changes. Employees will also be finding ways to maintain the social interactions with colleagues and there should be encouragement to ensure all staff feel included.

The technology changes and updates that have been implemented is investment from which benefits may not be fully recovered if organisations assume the position of fully office based working after the lockdown.