Ireland’s Workplace Post-Lockdown: WFH, Parental Flexibility & the End of Business Travel

As Ireland strives to return to some sort of normality after the Covid-19 pandemic, its workplaces will undoubtedly have changed, hopefully for the better.

Before lockdown, those Irish businesses that allowed for extensive working from home (WFH) were in the vast minority, usually lying amongst large international businesses with the ability to provide the right equipment for their employees.

However, post-lockdown, Irish workers have got used to the working from home lifestyle; having flexibility for childcare and other routines. In fact, 60% of Irish businesses are now considering making WFH policies a permanent option within their organisations. But is this enough? Whether you like it or not as an employer, many of your staff will now expect this as a permanent option. No longer will they feel a need to travel for business when their work has continued to be completed via video call during the last few months.

Let’s explore the importance of understanding your employees’ expectations post-Lockdown, and how you can facilitate them.

Your Workforce Post-Lockdown: Expecting Too Much?

As an employer, you could be forgiven for thinking that your staff are beginning to get greedy. While you have stressed over your business during these past few months in the battle to keep it afloat, your employees have been working from the comfort of their own homes.

While it’s understandable that you may feel strained by this, your employees have remained working. They have not simply sat at home but instead have actively continued the work of your business, often while juggling home-schooling of children or caregiving responsibilities.

With that in mind, is it fair to accuse employees of expecting too much? After all, if your business has continued to perform and provide a service throughout lockdown, this means your workforce can effectively work from home.

During lockdown, your staff have become accustomed to the flexibility of being at home with their children, to ensure that childcare continues to be met. While some may be itching to return to the workplace and immerse themselves in the company of adults, having more flexibility to ensure they can pick up their kids or take them to an appointment will also, and should be, expected.

Travel restrictions will be in place, certainly until a vaccine is discovered; your colleagues who would often travel for business may be much more reluctant to do this. But surely this is, again, too much expectation? Answer: No. The health of your staff should be your priority; they have continued to perform for your business throughout lockdown via video calls instead of business travel. While some colleagues may be yearning to fly away for a couple of days, you must understand the risk that this imposes, and how it will be deemed unnecessary by many workers in the future.

Facilitating New Expectations

Whether you like it or not, the ‘new normal’ will include the above expectations. It’s time to take leadership, facilitate them & integrate them into your workplace policies.

1. The Art Of WFH

In March, many businesses scrambled quickly to provide whatever equipment they could to employees who were able to work from home. By integrating this as a permanent feature of your workplace, now is the time to perfect these procedures; invest in better equipment, reassess tasks and how these could be better performed from home.

By evaluating working from home structures, you can ensure that your business operations do not falter from this new policy whilst gaining the most from your employees, regardless if they are at home or in the office.

2. Remain Flexible for Parents

While working from home during the pandemic may have benefitted your colleagues with more time and less work commutes, many parents cannot wait to get their kids back to school and return to the office.

But flexibility for parental responsibilities will need to be facilitated - and not just by letting staff work an 8-4 rather than a 9-5. While many businesses allow for staff to leave for dental or doctor appointments with their children, if this is not within your workplace policy, the time to implement this is now.

Perhaps a staff member’s child will be taking part in a nativity play later this year - this should not require them to take annual leave unless they decide to do so. What is stopping them from picking up their work later on in the day? By cohesively joining your new working from home procedures alongside further parental flexibility, your business will not suffer. Instead, your colleagues can boost their job satisfaction and work-life balance while performing to their best capacity for your business.

3. Business Travel Ban

Business class, networking, dining out - many of your colleagues may miss their business trips. But do you really need them to jump on a plane for a meeting?

Throughout lockdown, your client meetings will have continued via video call. Deals will have continued to be completed; client relationships continued to be built.

While you may not want to head for the extreme, you could consider a workplace ban on business travel for the foreseeable future. Remember, you won’t lose clients! The health of your workplace is vital in building your business back up post-pandemic. By banning business travel, your staff will impose less risk to each other, while you will demonstrate your willingness to put your colleagues before business.

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