HOMEWORKING

It is clear that there are a number of benefits and challenges that need to be properly balanced and mitigated against to ensure that we, as an organisation, can work at home effectively. Based on this, we have identified some key recommendations and proposals:

1.

Mental health initiatives.

For many people, co-workers can be their main source of daily human interaction. Without opportunities to engage with others outside of their home, mental health problems and loneliness may be more prevalent. Several organisations have dealt with this problem by putting in place initiatives such as virtual happy hours, the recreating of morning coffee breaks and the creation of Wellness Wednesdays (a great opportunity to remind people to check in with their colleagues). As we move towards homeworking and we regularly carry out meetings and events digitally, screen time can be tiring on the eyes so we must ensure that staff look after themselves and look away from their screen every now and then to refocus. An idea may be for staff to go on walks and use voice call instead of video call so that they aren’t viewing their screen all day. It would also be increasingly important for managers to actively check in with their team’s mental health as working apart may make it harder to identify issues.

2.

Staying connected and keeping in touch. Conversing, speaking to people (both internally and externally) and sharing ideas is integral to our way of working at the Chamber. It is important that colleagues have access to platforms that make collaboration and team working easier from afar. Packages such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangout, Yammer and Zoom are platforms that can be used to allow colleagues to connect and socialise whilst working at home. Other things to consider are establishing virtual drop-in-hours and the setting up of a virtual office by using video conferencing software that allows people to pop in and out and have live conversations.

3.

It is important that staff are encouraged to promote the Chamber and our businesses as much as possible on social media. This not only includes sharing content, but also engaging by commenting on posts as well. Although this is an internal goal, it is an external focus.

4.

IT improvements will need to be made to ensure that people can work from home effectively. We are looking into several options on how we can communicate via telephone and transfer calls. Will the helpline still be useful for businesses going forward? (a question for the business survey).

Some contracts also require signatures so we will need to look into a process to obtain these.

5.

Homeworking can increase cyber security risk, therefore particular consideration should be given to our cyber security arrangements.

6.

Staff may not have the equipment and support to work from home so, if needs be, they will be given a budget for any work equipment that may be needed to enable them to work from home. A list will be drawn up for essential equipment that any employee may need e.g. including a desk, a suitable chair, new laptops etc., as we won’t want working from home to impact on people’s physical health.

7.

Training: data protection and security training will be required for all employees as homeworking increases risk in this area. Directors will also need training on the people management techniques needed to manage staff remotely and to ensure work gets done effectively, efficiently and safely.