The pandemic has brought up many challenges in all areas of our lives, including how and where we work.
Many office workers have suddenly found themselves working from home, balancing childcare, and new remote working technology, but what might the standard 9-5 office job look like post pandemic.
Increased remote working
Many businesses have had to invest and adapt during the pandemic to facilitate home working. Ranging from remote monitoring software, portable equipment, and virtual meeting platforms. With this in mind many may move towards more remote working with a mix of in office and at home arrangements.
Working safely from home is crucial; employees may find themselves working from kitchen tables, spare bedrooms, etc. We recommend implementing a self-assessment tool for workstations/work environment to ensure safe posture, adequate lighting, and appropriate seating.
Another key consideration is to ensure that employees still follow relevant industry specific regulations e.g. are they GDPR compliant, who else may be able to access confidential information?
Everyone’s home life is different and remote working may not be possible for some. You need to consider if they can safely work from the office or if other arrangements can be made.
Flexible 9-5 approach
Removing the daily commute will help claw back time usually spent travelling meaning employees may want to start and finish earlier. Employees are likely to still face the same morning routine e.g school runs so working times may need to vary to accommodate this.
However, with access to emails and work 24/7 it’s also easier to not switch off. It is therefore paramount to remind employees to take regular breaks and to “switch off” mentally and literally for physical and mental wellbeing.
Some roles could move towards measuring productivity and output over presenteeism.
Returning to the office
A more flexible approach to where an employee completes their work could lead to changes back in the office. This may include less people onsite and in some cases the introduction of hot desks (if appropriate, this may depend on the role).
Employee care and benefit package
Increased remote working will impact on what costs and expenses employees incur day to day, though less money may be spent on travel more is spent on running the home especially Over the winter and may need to upgrade their internet package.
Employers may need to consider contributing towards utility and equipment costs to allow their employees to work safely and effectively from home.
