TALK O PER AT I O N S
OR NOT TO OFFICE In March 2020, everyone abandoned their offices to work from home for what we all thought would be a few weeks, while the new virus that was sweeping through the country was brought under control; we genuinely thought schools would be deep cleaned, office spaces would be sanitised and there would be a quick return of pasta to the supermarket shelves! The prospect of working from home with laptops at the kitchen table or managing on smart phones didn’t seem too awful, as it was only for a couple of weeks and then we would be returning to the office to continue as normal. That didn’t happen! Over a year later, when many of us have had to adjust to home-working and businesses have made huge changes their processes to accommodate the prohibition of face-to-face contact, we are told it is now safe for us to start returning to ‘normal’. BUT WHAT IS NORMAL THESE DAYS!? IS IT STILL THE SAME AS IT WAS PRE-COVID?
Many businesses in Gloucestershire are like us. SMEs with a relatively small team, who have managed to survive, and even thrive, in a period of lockdown home working. Has it been the WFH dream for everyone? No. Are there some people for whom home working is beneficial? Yes. Do
the majority of employees want to find a new way of working that blends the two? It seems that way. From speaking with candidates, when recruiting for roles recently, for some it is not the salary or benefits package, but the option for flexible working that is becoming the biggest dealbreaker, especially those that have been wanting a more flexible approach to work for a long time. This lockdown period has enabled them to prove it can work and work well! On the total flip side, there are also lots of young single professionals who do not have a comfortable home-working space, or any other interaction and who long to return to an office! So as a business-owner, how do you find a
