The third anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the plague of biblical proportions that devasted the UK and most of the world, has recently passed and the world as we know it, has permanently changed.
At the time, no-one on the planet had any real idea what the future would hold. Worldwide millions died, but for the survivors, many were left with ongoing problems caused by Long-Covid especially issues with ‘brain-fog’, and left wondering when or indeed if, they will ever fully recover.
Not only did our lives change but so did our normal way of working, with most individuals confined to their homes, apparently indefinitely. Now post-pandemic, all of a sudden both government and industry have suddenly discovered the benefits of homeworking, albeit with a few downsides.
Working life has pretty much changed for ever for many of us, with a majority of firms realising that homeworking can mean reduced costs, increased productivity and improved staff welfare. So, three years on, I thought it might be a good idea to take stock and consider some of the theories that have emerged in recent months about working efficiency.
Homeworking: Juggling act
Many firms are struggling to recruit good staff, or indeed any staff at all in many workplaces and this has undoubtedly coloured the views of managers of all types of businesses. Many firms, desperate for staff, have recruited thousands of remote workers, many of them from India.
As Jeremy Hunt recently stated, the British Isles and high productivity do not seem to be good bedfellows. No-one disagrees with the notion that increasing productivity is a good thing, unless it leads to global warming, here in the UK, we just don’t seem to know how to do it.
Pretty much everyone has their own theory about how to achieve the holy grail of optimising work-life balance and increasing productivity. Several firms have been experimenting with slightly longer workdays, but ditching working on Fridays.
Not universally popular, but perhaps a hybrid version might be worth considering. If you run a business that is seasonal. There’s a strong argument to suggest that you could operate a shorter week during the quiet periods and in return, ask staff to work longer hours when you’re at your busiest.
Homeworking Happiness
A recent survey of 23m people by the MIT Institute for Work and Employment of UK, US and Canadian workers showed that 10% of them would be willing to take a pay cut for “above average” happiness. If implemented, it could enthuse workers and boost productivity. A separate survey by the Equal Parenting Project in association with a number of UK universities, suggests that 75% of the managers surveyed believed that flexible working increases productivity and 62.5% that it boosts motivation.
So, to quote from Ken Dodd’s meaningful lyrics in his song ‘Happiness’, “A wise old man told me one time, Happiness is a frame of mind, When you go to measuring my success, Don’t count my money count my happiness.”
Homeworking: The office frame of mind
There is no doubt that few businesses would currently take the same amount of office space if their leases ran out today. Indeed, I was talking with my solicitor recently and he told me that his firm is planning to relocate at the end of their lease and cut space drastically.
Cutting down on space can only be achieved by cutting the number of days worked in offices. Already the norm for accountants and solicitors is trending towards spending 40% of their time working at home. This isn’t ideal for junior members of staff but otherwise has many benefits, most of which have been analysed to the point of boredom over the past three years.
A further option may be a move away from expensive office space in inner cities to cheaper locations slightly further out, on the basis that employees don’t need to attend so often. Another survey by LinkedIn determined that around 35% of UK workers (and 52% of women) would seek new jobs if they are asked to go back to the norm that we all remember, working 9 to 5 in an office every day.
Homeworking: Get the balance right
A switch to full or part-homeworking will obviously result in significant cost savings and usually outweigh any downsides. Occasionally though, you are obliged to meet a client face-to-face, which without an office may not be ideal. So, if you no longer have office space or it has been severely cut-down, there are many firms out there providing a meeting room for a day, or even an hour, albeit at a premium cost. If this option is used frugally, it can’t cost nearly as much as paying for office space seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
If you haven’t already done so, this might be a good time to take a serious look at these issues. Even if permanently closing the office is a step too far, working out an optimum home-office balance for different classes of employee should be easy enough. I would also urge firms to consider giving staff time off in quiet periods in return for an extra commitment when it really matters.
Tax Accountant’s view
In my opinion, the office frame of mind, as has existed for decades, was starting to slowly crumble before we were hit by the pandemic and has now permanently changed.
