Are your staff back at work yet?
A recent Morgan Stanley study of major European workers found that the UK came last when it came to the percentage of the workforce who had returned to their official workplace. Only just over half of UK workers have returned to their workplace (compared with 85% of French workers) but there are a number of factors for why this is. These include:
- Employees unwilling to return (due to a fear of their workplace being unsafe)
- Employers unwilling to re-open (because of insufficient remedial safety measures)
- Employers continuing to furlough staff (using the government state-funded scheme)
- Employers trying to keep overheads down (by keeping the majority of staff at home)
Given the Government's desire for workers to return to their workplaces (especially for the sake of city economies) - many employers are in two minds about whether this is the right time. There is, of course, a fear of a second spike as the infection rate increase again across Europe but a large percentage of employers have also found that their staff are happier at home and that productivity hasn't suffered either (as was predicted by commentators).
Another recent survey of 4,000 UK workers by YouGov found that 30% did not think they will be back in their workplace until at least next year and 8% thought that they will continue to work from home forever. Major employers in the tech sector such as Google have already decreed that most of their staff can continue to work from home until next year and Twitter has announced that most of their staff can continue to work from home 'forever'.
It's a similar situation in the finance sector with PWC preparing for the 'majority' if its 22,000 UK staff to continue working from home at least part-time, even once the coronavirus has passed (only 6,000 have ventured back to their official office so far).
Employers across all sectors have taken this pandemic as a chance to restructure their companies but also modify their work practices. Suburban hubs are springing up through local serviced office providers - whereby staff living nearby each other can collaborate nearby with each other but one practice that is really starting to take hold is the 2-2-1 practice.
The 2-2-1 practice involves an employee coming into their official workplace for 2 days, working from their home for 2 days and then deciding what to do themselves on the fifth day e.g. travel to a local hub, visit clients or undertake some work-based training.
The major advantage with this type of practice is that it empowers the employee to take responsibility for their own working week (which normally means that staff members are more invested because they are trusted and therefore more responsible and productive).
No matter what type of work practice you adopt - the normal working week has changed forever and workers now expect more flexible working conditions. If they don't get them - then they will ultimately be less invested, less productive and eventually go elsewhere (which is an added average internal cost of ï¿¡12k for that staff member to be replaced).
With the percentage of Gen Z workers i.e. under 25's increasing in the workplace too - flexible working will only increase as the number one benefit that employees expect from their employer. Employers had therefore better get on board with flexible working before their talent off-boards elsewhere!