Well what a predicament we find ourselves in! Who would have a thought so many of us would be having to get used to working from home? Employers – many of whom have been against home-working – find themselves in the position of having to trust their staff. Employees are having to learn that working from home isn’t the great panacea they thought it would be. They are learning to apply some self-discipline and good working practices.
Nothing will ever be the same again…
I am hoping this situation will give employers time to reflect that home-working isn’t so bad after all. The world hasn’t come to an end just because they can’t physically see their team between 9 and 5 every day, and productivity hasn’t dropped. Some might even be more efficient because there are less distractions. Not only that, think of the travel time your staff are saving! Giving them a much better work : life balance AND the environment gains with less pollution –winners all round!!
Therefore, I hope one lesson we will learn when we come out the other side, is that businesses should now consider more home-working in the future. This will give them access to a much wider talent pool not previously available to them. Having your team meeting in the office one day per week, combined with regular daily Zoom or Teams meetings, is a worthwhile sacrifice, to the greater quantity of higher quality candidates now on their radar. And there is technology out there to measure productivity if you need a comfort blanket!
Check out this insightful interview by Sumit Bose of Future Net Zero last week with Mike Hughes of Schneider Electric. He suggests we need to build social and economic structures more in tune with sustainability, and that coronavirus is a powerful reminder that we need the planet more than the planet needs us!!!
https://www.futurenetzero.com/2020/04/20/sustainability-schneider-electric/
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