A look at flexibility, productivity, and mental health of working from home
ALBAWABA – Three years post the pandemic that sent countless professionals into remote working arrangements, the landscape of Working from Home is taking an unexpected turn, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
There’s palpable tension between employers yearning for the bustling energy of the office and employees who have grown accustomed to the convenience of working from home.
Both parties are making concessions. Bloomberg reports that some corporate leaders initially embraced the remote-work revolution, but are now experiencing an epiphany about the drawbacks.
For instance, Martin Sorrell, founder of WPP Plc and chairman of S4 Capital Plc, claims that what began as a productive arrangement later gave rise to concerns regarding diminishing corporate culture and engagement.
However, for employees, the reluctance to fully give up on working from home is well-founded.
The model has proven to be an invaluable resource, especially for parents and those with long commutes. It has offered unparalleled flexibility in managing work-life balance.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in March revealed that despite the downsides, about a third of Americans eligible to work from home still prefer to do so.
Rise of hybrid work
Recognizing the merits of both the traditional and remote working models, many companies are adopting hybrid arrangements.
This allows employees to work from home on certain days and requires them to be in the office on others. Google, for instance, mandated a three-day office attendance, making it a factor in performance reviews.
However, these hybrid models are not without challenges.
According to a PwC study, 50 percent of UK businesses report a decline in staff mental health since the onset of COVID-19. The UK-based business consultancy, Ayming, concurs that motivation levels at work have been on the decline for the past three years.
Pursuit of productivity
There’s growing concern among employers that productivity might be taking a hit with remote working. The United States (US) Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that productivity in the US declined in the first quarter of the year.
This is a critical issue that demands attention, as productivity is intrinsically linked to profits.
A crucial element to address is the absence of guidance on when employees should be in the office.
It’s essential to define circumstances that warrant physical presence, such as team meetings or onboarding new members.
Christine Armstrong, a UK-based workplace researcher, suggests that managers actively engage with teams to develop schedules that suit everyone’s personal circumstances.
Mental health and corporate culture
The isolation resulting from extensive periods of working from home can adversely affect mental health.
The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, likened the damage from social isolation to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This is echoed by Hannah Ingram, a marketing manager in England, who experienced loneliness and a drop in productivity due to the absence of social interaction, according to Bloomberg’s report.
To cultivate a thriving corporate culture, companies need to reimagine HR processes.
Jonathan Best, Chief Customer Officer at GoodShape, highlighted to Bloomberg the importance of informal interactions which are largely absent in remote working. Replacing these with structured virtual engagements is vital for sustaining team spirit and company culture.
Road ahead
As the debate over “working from home” versus “returning to the office” rages on, it’s evident that an equilibrium must be achieved. This requires adaptation, open communication, and understanding from both employers and employees.
Moving forward, it’s imperative that organizations develop robust frameworks that not only encourage productivity but also prioritize mental health and foster corporate culture.
The transition to a new normal is an ongoing journey, and collaboration will be the glue that holds the corporate world together in these changing times.
In conclusion, the Working from Home landscape is an ever-evolving one.
The burden lies on both employers and employees to embrace change, innovate, and adapt to safeguard careers, profits, and most importantly, mental well-being.
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Flexibility means Sarah can be a class representative in her son’s school, attend some activities she could never have hoped to before, and be on the playground building committee. She can also have integrated work/family life she thinks contemporary parents demand.
“For me to be present as a whole person in the workplace, my kids and my family are part of who I am – and [spending time with them] is what flexibility is to me. It’s not about being able to answer emails from the beach,” she says.
“I didn’t have any late afternoon meetings yesterday, so I could trot down to his [son’s] school fun run, that’s really nice for me and he was so excited, and he loves it when we come on school excursions. He just thinks that’s the best. For a long time, I just said, ‘I can’t ever do this’. But it’s important to me that he feels like we’re around.”
Many of Sarah’s peers with young children also expect the right to juggle work, home and family.
“There are lots of parents like me, who work from home, and would not have previously been able to do all this stuff; just have that presence at the school,” she says.
Seeing siblings or friends is more possible, but Sarah draws the line at doing domestic chores in work hours. She says conversations around domestic load have been “accelerated” by her husband also doing some work from home.
“I’ve got to be in work mode, I can’t be folding a load of washing – though I know a lot of people do that,” Sarah says.Credit: Shutterstock
“On a day I’m working at home, I might have a coffee with someone. I caught up with my brother for lunch last week for his birthday, but I know I’ve got to make the hour up somewhere else,” she says.
“But I’ve got to be in work mode, I can’t be folding a load of washing – but I know a lot of people do that.”
Her employer believes team work is linked to a sense of loyalty and, “if there’s no sense of community or team, it’s difficult to keep people’s loyalty”, but Sarah says people are more likely to do more – not less – work.
“The workplace is always getting the better end of the stick; mothers feel perennially guilty and always do more hours than we need to. I think there’s overcompensation in some areas, for flexibility.”
Even so, Sarah says “working from home is a blessing”.
How I divide my day:
5.40am: Get up and ready to exercise.
6am: Attend hot Pilates class.
6.45am: Get home, have a shower and make the kids’ lunches.
7.30am: Log on and do some emails to get a start on my inbox, so I can walk my son to school at 8.45am. At the moment I am also taking our four year-old to kinder (in a different suburb), I take him very early, it’s possible but creates enormous pressure. You feel like you’re careening on rollerblades, on ice, from one thing to the next!
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9am: I front-load all my meetings, so I can do the kinder pickup about 5pm as the centre shuts early, at 5.30.
On a Tuesday, if I don’t have a critical meeting at 3.30, I won’t put [her elder son] in aftercare, I would go and pick him up, then make that time up. On a Monday, my husband leaves work at 3pm and goes to pick him up. He does another hour of work at home and then does the kinder pickup, and swimming lessons at 5pm, and then he’ll work again after they’ve gone to bed.
We’ve got lots of friends who do that; they’ll pick up kids and take them to gymnastics or whatever and make up the hours.
3.30pm to about 8pm: On the days I pick up my son from school we’ll walk home, and then I’ll keep working until about 6pm or 6.30, and then make dinner. I’ll try to stop at a reasonable time. We try to feed the kids about 6.30 and then put them in the bath, and to bed. Last year I had a bigger job, and would then usually log back on and could do more work until about 11ish. This year isn’t so bad.
* Sarah is a pseudonym
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