Which type of work is better?

Which type of work is better?

Work From Home, Hybrid Work, Work in Office – which one is better?

Till the pandemic struck us in 2019, 90% of the world was thinking that the work can be done best only in the office and there are very few works that actually can be carried out remotely.

Since the industrial revolution, organizations have evolved a lot in terms of providing a better work environment to the employees. Initially along with stipulated work hours employees were given paid breaks to start with, which was more of a process oriented or a production centric work environment. Once the service-oriented industry started, providing highly friendly work environment became a prime factor for organizations. Right from coffee vending machines, different varieties of soft drinks, vending machines that can provide different processed foods, different cuisine outlets, gymnasiums, resting rooms, creche, etc., have become part of the new norm of work place. Different seating arrangements have also been provided for employees to work as per their comfort, moods, etc. Today when we look at the modern corporate offices, they showcase more of a democratic shopping mall environment when compared to a typical capitalistic, shop floor, task driven environment.

People had a mindset that work means it need to be carried out only in a set environment which has been called as office or work place. This mindset has existed and typically an employee’s life involved travelling to-and-fro, typical working at work place, chatting with colleagues over breaks and lunch, spending time in meetings, etc., and took a typical share of 10 to 12 hours of his/her day of 24 hours. People use to complain about the commute, traffic jams and the various difficulties especially when there were extreme weather conditions. Falling asleep during work hours is seen as a biggest sin and to overcome sleep, drinking coffee mindlessly has become everyone’s habit.

A big death blow hit this mindset with the pandemic and COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) has played its key role in changing this mindset. With in a week employees, employers and organizations have realized that 90% of the works can be managed from any where in the world provided there is internet connectivity and highly efficient collaborative tools are in handy to the employee. Both employees and employers have forgot the working environment norms that the industry has set in terms of ergonomics, work-place safety, etc. Work to be carried out without stop has become the prime factor and goal for the organizations. Everyone stretched and were forced (by the virus) to get adjusted to the new norm.

Suddenly, life has changed, work environments have changed, home environments have struggled to adjust to the new requirements of setting up of meeting halls – where bedrooms and halls were forced to convert to accommodate the office set up. Every house with children had to get accommodate an office and a school type of setups. Proximity has increased between couples and family members. Self-time took a big hit and many people had to face new psychological issues. Some relationships went berserk and ended up in divorces. Domestic violence increased with some. Some families went through a lot of psychological turmoil.

It took quite a while for the people to get adjusted to the new norm. Organizations have supported a lot in terms of providing required paraphernalia where possible. Counselling sessions increased because of the new challenges which people started facing for the first time in their lives. Psychologists themselves took some time to readjust their counselling pattern to the new norm challenges.

As people started realizing the new-norm challenges and the importance of non-verbal communication that it has played in F2F environment, the work hours got stretched longer and longer, more meetings occupied the calendars, multi-tasking has become inevitable as both family and work place have to be balanced. Parents got stressed out more. In addition to that virus was just around every corner to hit and was waiting for the immunity power in people to just drop due to the additional stress so that it can attack and fulfil its job.

Within the first six months of the new norm people started realizing that working from home continuously is not so effective and to be really effective, they have to stretch. The work hours increased from a typical 8 hours to a drastic 14 hours. The commute time, and self-time is now taken by work – may be in terms of meetings or other tasks. People started looking for ways to destress and started integrating yogic exercises, meditation into their life style. Those who could not integrate started facing severe issues. Till the first wave has elapsed and until the second wave has hit this has become a part and parcel of every employee.

With the second wave striking mercilessly, survival has become a major issue. Organizations quickly understood the danger and tried their best to help their employees and provided necessary assistance in whatever possible manner.

Post the second wave, employees and employers started looking at various options of carrying out the work effectively along with flexibility. The lessons learnt during the pandemic have put many questions in the organizations and the governments. The biggest threat that has hit due to pandemic is in terms of economy. The local governments revenue dropped drastically. Money rotation in the markets dropped by 70% due to which many shops and establishments got closed and new have come up in some places. Some went completely bankrupt. In some countries employees started thinking differently and this is where the “BIG QUIT” has hit. Every organization, government, individual started facing the drastic dynamic nature which is now forced onto them due to pandemic. People are more confused now than ever in their lives. Everyone wants to take some time to think, self-reflect upon how they want to navigate their future especially with all those hard lessons that the pandemic has taught.

While the continuous work-from-home has its advantages, if not controlled it will lead to long workhours which will take a toll on physical, mental and social well-being of employees.

Continuous "work in office" will repeat the same old problems of commute time, traffic jams, unable to meet some family requirements, etc. Organizations who have seen biggest savings during pandemic due to cost cutting on workspace will definitely rethink in terms of providing sustainable workspaces.

Having a hybrid approach with 50% of time working in office and 50% of time working from home or whatever percentages would have to be relooked and involve readjustments on many aspects. Whatever the percentage of "working from home" is involved, a proper work set up has to be organized where distractions and disturbances can be avoided to a major extent, if not nullified and work hours should not go beyond 8 hours so that a balance can be achieved.

Employees and employers now have to think on all the three aspects of physical well-being, mental well-being and social well-being of individuals.

No human being can stay alone without human interactions for a longer duration. Social well-being is very important and has taken a big toll during the pandemic. Many felt lonely even though their immediate family members were in proximity. The appreciation which people might have received regarding their attire, new bags, gadgets or accessories, a pat from their leaders or colleagues were missing during the pandemic. Most of the employees have missed the chats over coffee during their breaks. Networking has drastically reduced during pandemic as people were not facing each other. The non-verbal communication that happens when people are in a face-to-face environment adds up a lot in terms of comprehending a work aspect and arriving at a decision faster. Because of the absence of physical presence, more meetings have occupied the calendars while the efficiency and effectiveness of meetings have dropped. Organizations have to plan for initiatives where social wellbeing of employees is taken care even in hybrid environments. Leaders have to rethink on how their team members can balance and how well they can integrate their official work into their personal lives. Leaders also have to add value into every conversation that they have with their team members. Not only related to tasks, but also personal development of the employee has to be given importance during their 1:1 conversations.

On the physical wellbeing aspect, organizations have to provide more perks in terms of club memberships to employees, bulk purchases of ergonomic work stations and getting them installed in employees’ houses, etc.

In terms of mental wellbeing, help related to counselling, psychotherapy, mindfulness and meditative practices have to be provided.

Employees need to be made accountable and responsible for their own physical, mental and social wellbeing. Employees should be able to speak up regarding the work load and the number of extended hours they are spending in order to complete the work. Employees should stop feeling guilty if there is more work and left uncompleted even after working for 8 hours. Periodically they should be providing feedback to their leaders on the work load and the challenges they might be facing or they might anticipate to face in the future. Leaders should encourage their team members to take frequent breaks from work and go on vacation. Leaders should be able to bear in mind that their team members come under Theory Y rather than Theory X as per the social psychologist Douglas McGregor concept of Theory X and Theory Y. In every team meeting it should be made mandatory to openly talk about the physical, mental and social wellbeing of team members and leaders should think innovative ways of inspiring, motivating and helping team members on all these 3 aspects.

CONCLUSION

One work set up does not suit and meet everyone’s requirement. There have to be flexibility, discipline and proper work setup both in offices and at homes for the employee to work efficiently and effectively meeting the new norm which has been set into our midst. While fulfilling the business requirements is of utmost importance for organizations, the employees physical, mental and social wellbeing also have to be integrated into the work culture for a longer sustainability of the organization.