The Covid-19 pandemic changed working practices forever – or did it? Suddenly we didn’t have to get up at the same time each day, have a quick shower, snatch some breakfast and catch a bus/train/tube/tram to work. We just walked across the hall and arrived at work.
So nowadays as an employer you’re going to be asked by your employees if they can work from home for all or part of the week. Here’s what you might be thinking about:
I’m sceptical when I read that home working is good for motivation, health & wellbeing, work-life balance and leads to improved staff retention. If each of your employees is working in a different, isolated environment then where is the innovation coming from? Ideas happen when people talk – over the coffee machine, at the sandwich bar, around the office, in the pub, in a meeting. Or even when just being immersed in the daily working environment. How are they being supported by their colleagues? Where are they going for a bit of advice?
How do people learn when they are isolated from their colleagues? How are newbies integrated if they don’t see their colleagues? How is time being allocated? How do you help people to grow their own skill-set if you don’t interact with them continuously?
My advice is to be very careful about home working. An existing team, where everyone knows each other, may function well. But introduce change – staff, customers, suppliers, strategy, competition – and a team that is isolated from working together may not adapt quickly enough, and the business may suffer.
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