Health and Wellbeing

Home-working brings multiple benefits

The rise in remote working due to COVID-19 has boosted the productivity and quality of life of workers, a new study has revealed.

The study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said two thirds of employers reported that home workers were more or as productive as when they were in the workplace. Improved work-life balance (cited by 61% of employers), enhanced employee collaboration (43%) and improved focus (38%) were all benefits of home-working.

However, the research also highlights the challenges of managing home workers, with employers highlighting reduced staff mental wellbeing (47%), problems with staff interaction/ cooperation (36%) and difficulties with line-managing home workers (33%) and monitoring their performance (28%). Nonetheless, the research shows that the benefits significantly outweigh the challenges, and that a large majority of employers are planning to introduce or expand the use of home-working once the crisis is over.

Peter Cheese, CIPD CEO, says: “The step-change shift to homeworking to adapt to lockdowns has taught us all a lot about how we can be flexible in ways of working in the future. This should be a catalyst to change long-held paradigms and beliefs about work for the benefit of many. Employers have learnt that, if supported and managed properly, home-working can be as productive and innovative as working in the office and we can give more opportunity for people to benefit from better work-life balance. This can also help with inclusion and how we can create positive work opportunities across our economies.

“However, it doesn’t suit everyone and increasingly organisations will have to design working arrangements around people’s choice and personal preference over where and when they would like to work, whilst also meeting the needs of the business.

“Employers will also have to redouble efforts to introduce flexible working arrangements for staff unable to work from home, otherwise they will increasingly have a two-tier workforce of those who have opportunity to benefit from home-working and flexibility and those who don’t.”

Hounslow Chamber of Commerce has been adapting to the current situation and its staff have largely been working from home since March.

Sally Smith, chief operating officer at the Chamber, says: “Initially I started working from the end of the kitchen table, thinking we would soon be back in the office. I was using a kitchen chair with cushions before upgrading to a proper back rest and now, since the second wave, I am based on my landing with a wonderful office chair, courtesy of Chamber member VentureX. I enjoy swivelling!”

However, the Chamber recognises that some workers are finding it difficult to adapt, perhaps due to cramped accommodation or additional costs that they can’t afford.

Sally says: “I am concerned especially about young people, in rented accommodation, who do not have the space to work from home and will likely incur extra costs for heating and lighting. At the beginning of the pandemic there were stories of people working from their ironing board, which is clearly not sustainable.

“Working from home does bring additional challenges. For example, it means that communication has to be more organised and there are fewer opportunities to learn from your peers by just overhearing what is going on in the office.”